After beginning their Big 12 slate with back-to-back losses that both featured embarrassing defensive performances, there were already concerns about the West Virginia Mountaineers as the season neared it's mid-way point. Unfortunately, the team's performance on Saturday against Arizona not only did little to alleviate those worries, but made things much worse for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia lost their third consecutive game with a 52-31 loss to Arizona. For the third consecutive week, West Virginia's defense looked absolutely atrocious, allowing 483 offensive yards to the Wildcats and tying the most points allowed by the defense this year (one touchdown came on defense for Iowa State).
Meanwhile, the Mountaineers also shot themselves in the foot repeatedly, giving up a defensive touchdown on a fumble return in the first quarter and turning the ball over inside the five-yard line late in the second quarter with a chance to tie the game entering halftime. They also saw multiple big plays called back due to offensive penalties.
What comes next for the West Virginia Mountaineers after loss to Arizona Wildcats?
The Mountaineers are now 3-3 overall, moving to .500 on the season after starting the season with three consecutive wins. And it's hard to imagine the vibes getting much worse in Morgantown.
The defense has now given up a combined 1,668 yards and 138 points over their last three outings, which marks just short of one mile worth of offense allowed by their opponents in Big 12 play. The 52 total points allowed by the Mountaineers is the most given up during Rich Rodriguez's second tenure with the program.
And with West Virginia suffering three straight losses in the conference, there is a legitimate discussion to be had about whether or not West Virginia is one of the worst teams in the Big 12 for the second straight season, and if they'll even make a bowl game in Rodriguez's second season back in charge.
Maybe it's not "fire Rich Rodriguez" time, but it's hard to imagine a move won't be made on the defensive staff soon. And overall, something has to change soon for the Mountaineers, or Rodriguez's seat will be getting quite hot by the end of the year.
West Virginia has three games left on the schedule that seem like almost certain losses at this point (Houston, Texas Tech, and Utah), and if they want to go bowling, they'll need to win their three remaining toss-up games (Cincinnati, Kansas, and TCU) if they want to have a real shot at the postseason. But after Saturday, it's getting harder and harder to picture that happening.
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