Sometimes it helps to find a silver lining in a gray cloud, and that's something WVU football was able to do on Saturday.
The situation has been gloomy for the Mountaineers this season, and things did not technically get any better on paper for WVU as they lost a closely fought game 23-17 against TCU during Homecoming weekend.
But some things improved for the Mountaineers compared to previous games, and the team looked much more competitive than they had in over a month – and certainly more competitive than they did a week prior in a massive loss to UCF. And while WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez knows that it's still another loss in the in column, and plenty of opportunities were still missed, he also seemed a bit optimistic about his team's performance.
"Couldn't have played much worse [than against UCF]. Played harder, that was good. Guys didn't quit. Probably going to be mad after watching the film. Left a lot of stuff out there. Had chances to win the game. Got a lot of stuff to build on," Rodriguez said following the loss.
"The last game was embarrassing. We were loafing, not hitting, not physical. I do think we were physical today. They tackled physical. There's stuff there that was better, which it needed it to be."
So what was better? The passing offense looked much less dreadful than it had in recent contests, and the Mountaineers' 301 passing yards against the Horned Frogs nearly doubled their season average in passing yards per game (158.7). The defense, which had allowed 38-or-more points per game in all four prior Big 12 games, managed to allow just 23 points while also racking up six tackles for loss and six pass deflections. And for the first time in over a month, the Mountaineers played a game that was competitive late into the fourth quarter. It is a foundation to build upon, and it will be interesting to see what Rodriguez can do with the positives from this performance.