There were bright spots for the future to be taken away from WVU football's loss to the Utah Utes in Week 5, but for the most part, the game was a brutal beatdown for the Mountaineers that left head coach Rich Rodriguez "embarrassed" at the lack of execution.
But the Mountaineers still have over half their season left to play, and before they even get to their first bye week, they must turn around on a short week for a late-night road trip against a BYU team fresh off a win against Colorado that moved them to 23rd in the AP Top 25.
So WVU can't let their loss to the Utes get them too far down, which is something linebacker Chase Wilson imparted on his teammates on Saturday. But Rodriguez knows better than anyone what this team must do – and what they must not do – in order to make sure things don't spiral as the season goes on, and he addressed those concerns after the game in his press conference.
"We're not halfway through yet, but you don't want to sit back and say this is okay, either. I've done this a long time – I've won big, and lost big. But the thing that you got to make sure is that your process and the things that you're doing is right, and I study that every day," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez made it clear that times like these do make him sit and reflect on what's currently going on with his team, as well as what other coaches are currently doing better, and similar situations from previous points in his career that he can learn from.
But Rodriguez also seems to believe in his culture and his system, and is not giving up on that in particular. And at the end of the day, while experience and the ability to change certain things on the fly are going to play a role in getting the Mountaineers' season back on track, there are some areas in which Rodriguez thinks he just needs to see his team improve upon and execute better, and that could be the difference between righting the ship or watching it sink further into the darkness.
"I'm looking at what I did now, a year ago, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and what other people are doing. And I don't just sit back and say, 'well, I'm going to do the same old thing and be stubborn' and not adapt the way you got to adapt. But there are certain things in the process that are non-negotiable, and that's the things we've got to get better at," Rodriguez said.