WVU football’s struggling defense gets big stop to help beat Cincinnati
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley's had a bad couple of weeks. He's lost sleep, dropped F-bombs and tried switching up the mojo by calling games from up in the box for the first time since arriving in Morgantown last season. His defense has been poor in the first three weeks of Big 12 play, resulting in the Mountaineers being 0-3 in the conference. The defense allowed 40-plus points in those three games and 400-plus yards of offense. Fans were calling for his job.
Cincinnati had the ball at its own 26-yard line and needed to get into field goal range with 3:42 left in the game. WVU's defense needed a stop to send the game into overtime, or win the game, with the score currently tied 42-42.
The defense stopped Cincinnati running back Cole Tabb, who carried the ball for an average of eight yards a play, for a 1-yard loss. Quarterback J.C. French threw an incomplete pass the next play, bringing up third down. French took off for eight yards on the next play, but ran into a wall of WVU defenders, making him short of the first down. The Mountaineers forced a stop.
WVU's defense forced the Bearcats to punt, and set up the game-winning field goal drive from quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. to win the game 45-42. The win broke a three-game losing streak and handed the Mountaineers their first Big 12 win.
"It’s no choice," linebacker Cam Torbor said. "Like you got to make a stop. That’s all that’s on your mind during that time."
Alley's defense showed improvement. The Mountaineers had multiple stops throughout the game, providing the offense with the chance to take the lead. Cincinnati punted four times, including on its last drive, and turned the ball over on downs once. WVU forced a fumble, but couldn't land on it.
"We were just locked in for this game," Torbor said. "We’ve been trying to get better for weeks, and I think it just kind of came together a little more on those drives."
The Mountaineers could've had more stops, too. Cincinnati converted seven of 13 third downs.
It was far from perfect, though, and there's still a lot to be fixed. The Mountaineers allowed 40-plus points for the fourth-straight game, and gave up a whopping 622 yards of offense. The 622 yards were the most the Bearcats have had against a Power Four opponent this season. Cincinnati averaged 8.9 yards per play.
The tackling is still an issue. There were a couple of rushing touchdowns where the Mountaineers couldn't bring down the ball carrier. WVU was gashed by the run because of the poor technique. Tabb ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns. The team ran for 233 yards total.
There were big plays in the secondary, too. On Cincinnati's last touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, WVU's defense had a third and long, and French scrambled and hit Malachi Henry for a wide-open 59 yards. True freshman safety Matt Sieg was in coverage and looked a bit lost. The Bearcats had seven plays go for over 20 yards and three for over 50.
"We give up some big plays that are just head-scratching," Rodriguez said. "I’ve got to watch the film and find out how it happens. If we’re playing Cover 3, how does it happen? You got a wide-open deep ball. Those are the kind of things that we’re lucky, I say fortunate, to win when you give up some of those like that."
Tabb punched it in to take the lead two plays later. French had a season-high 389 yards through the air and three touchdowns. He averaged 17.8 yards per completion.
Looking at the stat book, the defense still isn't fixed and is one of the worst performances in the four-game stretch to start Big 12 play.
But when it mattered most, Alley's defense answered the call to help the Mountaineers win the game, breaking the three-game losing streak. It's not going to get easier, though. Cincinnati wasn't the best offense, and three of the last five games are against ranked opponents.
"They had to get a stop to win," Rodriguez said. "And they did. We don’t have that chance to win right if our defense doesn’t make that key stop."