The West Virginia Mountaineers are back in the win column for the first time since Week 3 after walking off the Cincinnati Bearcats with a game-winning field goal to secure a 45-42 Homecoming win. But while getting back to winning was a relief, it's unlikely anyone watching the game walked away feeling like West Virginia had solutions to the struggles that have plagued them all season.
Most of West Virginia's issues this season has boiled down to the Mountaineers struggling on the defensive side of the ball, and their offense had played well enough in league play to win at least some of the games that ended up losses due to the defense's inability to stop opponents.
West Virginia's defensive struggles don't appear to be solved despite victory
That appeared to be more of the case on Saturday, as West Virginia allowed a season-high 622 yards and gave up 42 points against the Bearcats, who, like Iowa State two weeks prior, were not exactly a prolific offense entering the game. And after the game, some of Rich Rodriguez's comments indicated that he didn't exactly feel like the problems were solved either.
"I felt comfortable that we could move the ball," said Rodriguez. "But it was the same kind of, I don't know if pressure is the right word, or the same kind of – oh my gosh, we've got to answer it, we've got to answer it, we got to answer it. You just needed one shot at the end, and didn't think it would start at the one."
"It's hard winning. It's just hard. And its very frustrating to know we have some pieces in the place, but we also have a lot of work to do, obviously, to clean up if we want to win any games going forward."
Those are particularly strong words at the end there – "a lot of work to do...if we want to win any games going forward." That sounds like the words of a man who thinks that the Mountaineers might not be back in the win column if something doesn't change defensively. Which, to be fair, is how a lot of fans and media members have felt in the past couple weeks about this team.
They managed to prove those thinking that before Saturday wrong, but it wasn't because the defensive problems were fixed. Rather, it's because Mike Hawkins Jr. seemed like he was tired of losing and put together a historic performance to lead a game-winning drive. And while the offense looked good, you can't count on Hawkins Jr. to do that every week just to barely win.
So hopefully, some sort of solutions are found to the defensive woes before this week's clash with TCU – who are a perfect opponent for West Virginia's defense to face really, given that they've averaged just 12 points per game in league play this season. But given the last four outings, it seems increasingly unlikely the problem's will be fixed this year.
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