The West Virginia Mountaineers suffered an unfortunate loss on the road in Week 2 as the Ohio Bobcats knocked off WVU football in a disappointing effort that saw the Mountaineer offense appear absolutely stagnant against a Group of 5 opponent.
It's certainly not a loss that is going to sit weel with WVU football head coach Rich Rodriguez, the players on the Mountaineers' roster, or West Virginia fans. However, when asked about it during his postgame press conference on Saturday, Rodriguez made the point that he doesn't particularly like to dwell on such poor performances too long – even when the loss really stings.
"Whether you win or lose, after 24 hours, you got to move on. I think the biggest thing we have to do with the losses...is you got to learn as much as you can from then," Rodriguez said.
"I want it to hurt, and it's going to hurt all of us, I think it really does, for the next 20 hours or so. But we know who's next, and we've got to get to work and I've got to get these guys ready to go. They'll be ready to play next Saturday."
Rich Rodriguez press conference following WVU's 17-10 loss at Ohio: pic.twitter.com/JzLUmeLj9Q
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It's an admirable mentality, and one that could pay dividends if the tough loss ignites a spark for WVU ahead of a looming Week 3 matchup that brings archrival Pitt to Milan Puskar Stadium for The Backyard Brawl. Though it's also easy to see why fans might not be ready to move on from such a nightmare of a loss so quickly.
Alas, the Mountaineers do literally have to move on, and they will now have an opportunity to square off against the Panthers in front of a sold out home crowd for the final edition of The Backyard Brawl until 2029. Hopefully for WVU fans, Rodriguez is correct in his assessment that the team will be ready to play next week – because having to repeat these sentiments after a loss to Pitt won't endear him to the fanbase any further.