Rich Rodriguez looking for new plan for WVU football after loss to Oklahoma State
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Rich Rodriguez looking for new plan for WVU football after loss to Oklahoma State
MORGANTOWN -- Through the first half, West Virginia looked like everything was going according to plan. The offense was moving the ball on the ground, as it had through the first three games of the season, and the defense created enough stops to keep the high-powered Oklahoma State at bay, forcing two punts and holding the Cowboys to two field goals deep in WVU territory.
The Mountaineers might've had some miscues here and there, but they took a 14-13 lead into the locker room.
Then in the second half, WVU started to break down. And it wasn't just one unit, although a lot will point to the defense. The Gold and Blue struggled on offense and defense.
After taking the lead 21-13 out of the locker room, the Mountaineers’ offense only registered a field goal the rest of the game. WVU was running the ball, but significantly less efficiently. The Mountaineers went from averaging 6.3 yards per attempt to 3.9. The passing attack looked off too, with quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. missing on some throws and receivers dropping passes. The offensive line couldn't keep the pressure off Hawkins, allowing the most sacks in a game this season.
The defense completely broke down. WVU didn't have a sack, so quarterback Drew Mestemaker felt comfortable, throwing for 389 yards and three touchdowns. The linebackers and secondary both struggled in coverage, but it didn't help that there wasn't any pressure on Mestemaker. The Cowboys averaged nine yards a play once the game ended.
Oklahoma State scored quickly, leaving it up to the offense to have a quick answer, and there wasn't. The Mountaineers ended up losing 41-24 and suffered their first loss of the season, moving to 3-1.
"The plan we had failed," Rich Rodriguez said. "I mean, pretty obvious. I’m a head coach, and I’m responsible for making sure our plans succeed or fail. That falls on me. But the plan we had failed for sure."
After the game, Rodriguez took most of the blame for the poor showing, even if he's completely hands off on defense. Rodriguez and WVU need a new plan.
Rodriguez mentioned how the team is still experimenting, though, because he doesn't know exactly what this team does well yet. There are a ton of new players on both sides of the ball playing in a new system for the first time. This group has played four games together.
There's the argument that Oklahoma State has a lot of new players, and they do. But most of the impact players, like Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and receiver Wyatt Young, all came over from North Texas with Eric Morris, so there's some continuity there.
Rodriguez isn't using it as an excuse.
"We should have it down by now, in my opinion," Rodriguez said. "That’s poor coaching if we don’t. But evidently today we still didn’t figure out what our guys could do well because we did not do things well today."
There are pretty obvious issues, and Rodriguez mentioned them after the game. The passing attack needs to get on the same page, and the defense needs to create more pressure. Those will be a priority this week.
Rodriguez and the Mountaineers don't have a ton of time to figure out a new plan. WVU is now fully in Big 12 play, and heads to Ames, Iowa, to play Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones were picked to finish last by a lot of outlets, but they've looked competitive through the first four weeks.
If WVU doesn't find a new plan, the Mountaineers season could be snowballing out of control, similarly to last season.
"We got to have a better plan," Rodriguez said. "It starts off with we got to have a better plan for our guys. If that plan ain't working to go to plan B."