COLUMN: Rich Rod showed no innovation on that fourth-down stuff
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MORGANTOWN - With the game at its absolute peak moment Saturday night, the innovator of offense got his hat handed to him.
Rich Rodriguez, there is no doubt you can draw up Xs and Os with the best of them, but with 39 seconds remaining in the third quarter, you made the wrong call.
Oklahoma State rolled from there, as OSU quarterback Drew Mestemaker torched a WVU secondary that obviously wasn't prepared for the moment. He threw for 389 yards and three scores. Oklahoma State piled on 609 yards of offense in a 41-24 victory inside Milan Puskar Stadium, the Cowboys' sixth consecutive win in Morgantown.
At the moment we're speaking of, though, OSU had just taken its first lead of the game minutes earlier, 28-24.
WVU was again on the move. A beautiful pass from Michael Hawkins Jr. to Cam Cook along the sideline produced a 22-yard gain and the Mountaineers were in OSU territory.
This was anyone's game still and now it was fourth down and half a yard.
WVU had to have it. Oklahoma State knew it. Everyone knew it.
True freshman Amari Latimer was stuffed for a two-yard loss. He never had a chance. Oklahoma State blew it up.
We flash back to last season, when Arizona State handed WVU a 25-23 defeat. Rodriguez's offense was stuffed on fourth-and-short in that one, too, which prompted one of Rodriguez's best rants of the season when he held his hands close together and complained about his offense not being able to gain a half yard.
"You gotta be able to run the ball this far to be able to win the game," he said.
Rodriguez may never admit this, but there is a major difference between that Arizona State loss in 2025 and what transpired on Saturday.
Yes, in both instances all you need is a few inches. A team that prides itself on running the football and being tough and physical should be able to gain a few inches on any given play.
Here's the difference: A year ago, Rodriguez had no choice - based on his team's injuries and overall roster talent - to play by-the-book football. He had to keep things simple and fundamental.
And when he went for it on fourth-and-short, he brought in all the big boys and rammed it right up the middle and hoped for the best. That was his only option for that moment.
That's not the case a year later. In his backfield is the nation's leading rusher from last season in Cook. His quarterback - even after Hawkins had a poor passing performance of 10 of 22 for 132 yards - is still one heck of a dual-threat option.
WVU even has a few options on the outside. D.J. Epps is a fantastic option as a jet sweep guy. Jaden Bray's big frame makes him a perfect candidate for a quick bubble screen or as a lead blocker for Epps on a bubble screen.
You can go with an option look, a spread look, even a spread-option look.
You don't have to relive that same poor moment from a year ago by bringing in extra tackles, a fullback and tight ends and simply hope for the best.
You're the creator of the hurry-up offense. You ask your guys to play like their hair is on fire. You have some horses to ride this season, which you didn't have in 2025.
You don't have to limit yourself to textbook football. And when Oklahoma State shows you a six-man front and a 10-man box, come on Rich, that's not exactly the time to be stubborn.
Barry Sanders likely would have been stuffed with 10 guys coming downhill at him.
"Offensively, we can't get a first down and we had one yard to get," Rodriguez said on Saturday, this time with his hands down by his side.
A first down there keeps WVU in the game. OSU may have still pulled out the win, especially with how poorly the Mountaineers played on defense, but a first down right there changes the overall complexion of that game by a lot.
Instead of innovation, we got 1930s-era football at that moment. Rodriguez simply made the wrong call.
"I'm the head coach and I'm responsible to make sure our plans succeed or fail," Rodriguez said. "That falls on me. The plan we had failed."