West Virginia football finding themselves as the 2024 season continues

West Virginia football's 2024 season didn't get off to the smoothest start.

With losses to Penn State and Pitt setting the team back at 1-2 early, Head Coach Neal brown's seat began to feel a bit hotter amongst the Mountaineers' fanbase.

Now, fast forward three weeks and two games for WVU, and the vibes are shifting again. The team has pulled off back-to-back wins and is one of just five squads in the 16-team Big 12 Conference still undefeated in league. An undefeated Top 25 program is coming to Morgantown for a primetime game on national television as WVU debuts new uniforms and looks to black out Milan Puskar Stadium. With it all combined, excitement is at a fever pitch.

So one might wonder what exactly has changed for WVU for the energy around the program to shift as it has? Part of it likely sits in the mentality Brown is asking the team to approach each week with -- headed into the Oklahoma State game out of the bye week, brown discussed a new mindset he posited to his team.

"All I ask this team is, we're focusing on week to week. We talked about it in the press conference on Monday, is just go 1-0 and compete on every single play, just compete," Brown said after last week's game.

That mentality must have really clicked for the team after they dominated Oklahoma State, as the team's schedule and results in their practice facility was covered up with a sign when the press arrived for interviews this Monday -- it now just says "1-0."

Of course, there are lots of things that appear to have gone into the momentum shift. Defensive back Jaheem Joseph said the defensive unit, for example, decided they needed to take a look at themselves before Brown ever addressed the 1-0 mentality, and they held a player's only meeting after the Backyard Brawl late-game defensive collapse.

"We knew we weren’t playing up to our standards, so we had to come together,” Joseph said.

“What we are doing in practice is just not good enough. If we want to do what we want to do, we have to pick up the intensity in practice. We got to be consistent and keep that high standard no matter what it is.”

And Defensive Coordinator Jordan Lesley has made adjustments of his own as well. Part of the defense looking better during parts of the Kansas win and against Oklahoma State might be a decision he made to move to the press box from the field to call plays, which he believes allows him to monitor and understand the game in a better fashion.

"It changes what the look is and how you approach each play," Lesley said. "Obviously, you see more and kind of the bigger picture of things, and you are probably able to get your kids in some better positions than you normally would.

"There are a lot of things that go on on the sidelines, and there are a lot of moving pieces. Now, you can be two or three plays ahead, whether that's defense to special teams or offense to special teams. This kind of calms it down a little bit."

And now, all those changes and decision have the energy moving in the right direction and it feels like every day there's more good vibes in the program. Right down to the new uniform debut coming this weekend.

“So the uniform, they’re nice but I just think it gives a little bit more energy going into the game," Wyatt Milum said this week.

Hopefully for WVU fans, the Mountaineers continue to find that footing against undefeated No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday, as a win could put them in position to earn a Big 12 Championship and CFP spot.