WVU football walked away from Week 5 winless in Big 12 play and below .500 for the season after a second consecutive blowout loss, this time to the Utah Utes. Mountaineer Nation found themselves pretty upset with what they saw from their team on Saturday. And it's safe to say that Rodriguez felt the same exact way.
When addressing the media during his post-game press conference, Rodriguez made it very clear what his thoughts on the disheartening loss to Utah were, and he probnably wasn't the only person in the WVU community to use similar language to describe the game.
"It's embarassing how we failed to execute," Rodriguez said.
WVU HC Rich Rodriguez on the 48-14 loss to Utah: "It's embarrassing how we failed to execute." pic.twitter.com/MlM7CPNhp4
— Joe Smith (@joesmithwrites) September 27, 2025
He's certainly not wrong about what the team showed on Saturday against Utah, as the Mountaineers didn't seem to execute much right at all. The Mountaineers allowed Utah to put up 532 total yards of offense, and were outgained by over 185 yards in the loss. WVU allowed 30 first downs by the Utes, but gained a measly 13 first downs themselves – WVU also went just 4-for-13 on third down conversions, lost the time of possession battle, and made into the redzone just once during the 60 minutes of action.
The Mountaineers didn't do a lot of good things on Saturday, and no one is walking away from that game praising WVU's effort or their execution. As Rodriguez put it, "the coaching wasn't good and the playing wasn't good."
But with a short week ahead before a Friday night trip to the Rockies to face BYU, the Mountaineers have to figure out a way to bonce back and try to even their record at .500 entering their first bye week.
"I don't think anyone in that locker room will lay down or quite or anything like that, and it's my job to make sure we get this going in a better direction in the next four days," Rodriguez said. "We'll work hard to get it fixed in a hurry."