The West Virginia Mountaineers won their second consecutive game on Saturday with a 24-20 win over TCU, and it was a notable performance for a defense that has been near the bottom of several statistical categories for weeks. The Mountaineers forced three turnovers, recorded several big stops in crucial situations, and allowed the second-least amount of points to an opponent this season.
After the game, Ben Cutter gave a post-game interview after coming up with a fumble recovery on defense to end TCU's final possession in the redzone under 30 seconds to play in the game. And he issued a statement to everyone who has been down on the defense this year – he think they're a much-better unit than they've looked so far.
"We just have to remember we're a team, and we're a hell of a lot better than we've been playing on defense, and we showed that today," Cutter said.
Is WVU football's defense finding answers?
At the beginning of the game, the ESPN2 sideline reporter said she had talked to Ben Cutter ahead of the game, and he said the unit instituted player-only meetings this week, and told her that "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity."
She also said that Zac Alley had told her they had simplified the defense, and that they might run 5-or-fewer defensive sets during the game. Then you look at the result – three turnovers and 20 points. And that makes you feel feel like things might finally be turning around for the Mountaineers.
Now, you do have to take into account they were playing a TCU offense that was averaging just 12 points per game against Power 4 competition. A lot of times, it felt like TCU was beating itself offensively. And the Mountaineers did allow 484 yards. So it's not like West Virginia played exceptionally, or that they did this against a powerhouse offense.
But at the same time, it's a start. There was a lot of bending, but not a ton of breaking. There were a ton of turnovers. It looked a lot closer to what Zac Alley's defense has been advertised to be. And it came heading into a bye week, meaning you have a lot of time to build upon what worked and turn it into a base moving forward. At the least, it gives you something to be optimistic about.
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