The West Virginia Mountaineers lost to the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium,dropping their first game of the seasonand dropping to 0-1 in league play. It's not a great start to the Big 12 slate, and it put a damper on an electric atmosphere at Milan Puskar Stadium while likely keeping the AP Top 25 drought going for the Mountaineers.
And when evaluating what caused the loss, it's hard not to look at West Virginia's defensive performance. The Mountaineers gave up over 600 offensive yards to the Oklahoma State Cowboys, with Drew Mestemaker completing 74% of his passes for 389 yards and three touchdowns. West Virginia fans were unhappy with the performance, and itappears Rich Rodriguez was as well.
"It didn't work,"Rodriguez said about the defense. "I don't think it was good the whole game. Were you at the same game I was at? Did they move the ball in the first half? I thought they did."
"[The defense] didn't work. I don't think it was good the whole game. Were you at the same game I was at? Did they move the ball in the first half? I thought they did."
— Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247)September 27, 2026
What Rich Rodriguez had to say after the game -->https://t.co/pX5IBS4iIPpic.twitter.com/wom5AvNazc
Rich Rodriguez was not happy with West Virginia's defensive performance, and he's not wrong about it
Rodriguez also said that "we didn't give our guys a chance" with the defensive performance after the game. And the truth of the matter is that he's not wrong. Oklahoma State was inconsistent in the first half, but it was often self-inflicted wounds causing their struggles. And once they really got going in the second half, it was clear West Virginia couldn't compete.
Now, the good news is that Oklahoma State is likely a pretty good team, and Drew Mestemaker is a high-caliber NFL Draft prospect. So it's not like the defense got torched by a bunch of low-level team. But Oklahoma State is far from the only talented offense with NFL talent that the Mountaineers will play this season, and they'll need to be better than they were tonight.
So whether West Virginia fans are ready to swallow the bitter pill about their defense or not doesn't seem to matter, because the medicine has already been administered. West Virginia's defense is likely going to struggle against high-caliber offenses this year, and they'll have to outscore opponents in those situations. But whether they'll be able to do that own the road is another question for a late discussion.
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