Many WVU football players experiencing intensity of Big 12 for 1st time
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia wide receiver John Neider transferred from UConn this offseason. He played three seasons for the Huskies after walking on. Neider has never experienced a conference game. UConn is an independent and doesn't have a conference schedule. Instead, UConn schedules opponents who use the Huskies as a non-conference opponent.
On Saturday, the Mountaineers start Big 12 play against Oklahoma State for a night kick at 7 p.m.
For the first time, Neider will experience a conference game.
"I’m gonna go out there and see this weekend," Neider said. "But I think it’s just another football game. We’re gonna go out there and have fun and compete."
Neider is not alone. UConn transfer offensive lineman Carsten Casady also hasn't played in a conference game, but a lot of the roster in general hasn't played Big 12 conference games. A majority of the roster is made up of transfers from the Group of 6, a select few Power Four transfers, JUCO players or true freshmen. Very few have played in a Big 12 game.
Neider has heard from a few players on the roster from last year's squad what Big 12 play will look like.
"It’s going to be competitive," Neider said. "That’s what I’m hearing from everyone. It’s new to me, but I’m just hearing it’s going to be competitive, and we’re going to go out there and compete."
One of the returners is linebacker Ashton Woods. Woods hasn't played in a ton of Big 12 games, transferring from North Carolina last season and playing in just three last year before getting hurt, but he has some experience.
Woods has been advising the new players of what to expect.
"You want to go win no matter what, but Big 12 means a little bit more because you want to go get into that conference championship," Woods said. "Letting the guys just be as consistent as possible. Don’t get high on the wins and don’t get low on the losses. Just always come do your job and work as long as possible."
Like the players, Rich Rodriguez isn't changing up the routine now that conference play has started. The team will still have full practices Tuesday and Wednesday, and the other days are a bit lighter.
Those two practices will tell Rodriguez if the team is ready for the intensity of the Big 12.
"I told our guys, and a lot of it I determine by how we practice on Tuesday and Wednesday," Rodriguez said. "It’s like we’re back to work like it’s the first day of camp, and I’ll have to see that today and see that tomorrow to make sure we’re focused the right way."
This is Rodriguez's second year playing a Big 12 slate. He was at Arizona a decade ago, but that was when the Wildcats were in the Pac-12. Rodriguez's first year in the conference didn't fare well.
The Mountaineers, similarly to this year, entered Big 12 play off a big win over rival Pitt in overtime in the Backyard Brawl. WVU went to Lawrence to play Kansas and was rolled 41-10. The next three conference games looked the same, with blowout losses. In the sixth game, WVU and Rodriguez had their first conference win. The Mountaineers finished the year with two Big 12 wins, finishing third-to-last. It wasn’t a warm welcome to the conference.
When Rodriguez originally took the job in December of 2024 and leading up to his first season, he said his first goal was to win the Big 12. The only way to do that is to win conference games, starting with this weekend against Oklahoma State.
"Going into Big 12 play, all the games are going to be competitive," Rodriguez said. "As I said, the conference games always mean the most, except when you’re playing Pitt. That’s a little different exception. But outside of that, the conference games are the ones that are most important."