Maybe it shouldn't come as any surprise, but it's worth saying as WVU football looks ahead to Week 5 after a 2-2 start to the season and a loss to open Big 12 play – it is hard for a football team to come out of the gate strong when the roster was mostly pieced together over the offseason. This is true for any team, and it's something that has already been proven by other programs in the transfer portal era.
But perhaps that fact is even more true for the Mountaineers than it is for any team in this era so far, as Rich Rodriguez and his staff added 80 new players this season between the transfer portal and their incoming freshman class. The team has really only been together and practicing for two months, in addition to the 15 sessions in spring practices a number of the players participated in. So amidst the admittedly accurate complaints and criticisms regarding WVU's offense through four weeks, it's somewhat understandable when you account for how much cohesion plays a role in an offensive system coming together.
No player on the WVU offense likely understands that as well as wide receiver Jeff Weimer. Weimer transferred in this past winter from Idaho State and spent just one season at each of his previous two stops before West Virginia after starting his career at the JUCO level. He understands that it takes time to build the type of chemistry that a team needs to get an offense rolling, and that at four weeks into the season with eight games and two bye weeks remaining, the WVU offense will continue to improve. It just requires more reps and more time together.
"I think sometimes it's just time and getting chemistry with everybody. I think getting into a rhythm as well. So I think it's trusting that," Weimer said during Tuesday's press conference. "I believe in Coach Rich Rod and the offense. I think we just – I think it's coming with time and more reps. So, I believe in it for sure and I think that time will tell."
Weimer has already seen the process unfold a bit, as he believes "100 percent" that the offense is further along than where it was when the team began camp on July 30. And it might not be fully showing yet, but there were glimpses of what this offense can look like in the second half against Robert Morris and again late in the game against Pitt. And while WVU fans may never want to hear about 'trusting the climb' again, there certainly is a process in place that fans must trust when it comes to Rodriguez's offense. And Weimer thinks that the process is headed in the right direction.
"More reps, more practice, more meetings – I mean, everything starts coming together. So I think trusting that and knowing that, you know, we're on the right track. We just need to get it rolling," Weimer said.