WVU football defense not giving up, searching for identity
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia football's defense has been bad to start Big 12 play. No better way of saying it. The Mountaineers’ defense has allowed 40-plus points and over 400-plus yards of offense in four straight games.
Last weekend against Cincinnati, defensive coordinator Zac Alley's defense did make a couple of stops, including a big one at the end of the game to set up the game-winning drive to break the losing streak. But the Bearcats racked up 42 points and 622 yards of offense.
"Obviously, you win the game, you feel better since you won the game," Alley said. "But we had to give up six touchdowns to do that. I don’t ascribe to us being good enough yet. I don't think that at all. Obviously disappointed in where we’ve been playing and how we’ve been playing. We have to be better."
The Mountaineers have the eighth-worst scoring defense in the country and the second-worst in total defense. Rich Rodriguez said the defense has no identity. The offensive identity is running the ball. When all else fails, Rodriguez knows to give quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. or running back Cam Cook the ball, and they’ll make a play. The defense doesn't have that.
At this point in the season, finding an identity can be challenging.
"You typically find your identity in the first couple weeks of the season, right? Or even during camp," Rodriguez said. "I don’t know if that’s like the core problem, but it is something. Like you gotta have something you can hang your hat on. If nothing else, we'll go to this. They may score, but it's not going to be all those big chunk plays or something."
Alley had a plan for the defense coming into the season. From a mentality standpoint, Alley wanted the defense to be relentless and physical, showing the hard edge. But from a statistical standpoint, Alley really wanted to stop the run.
Last season, Alley's defense was in the upper half of the Big 12 in run defense. This year, WVU's defense is second to last. Cincinnati running back Cole Tabb had 118 yards on the ground and averaged 7.9 yards per carry.
Since conference play started, the staff has been searching for the best players to create stops, even if that’s starting fresh faces in new places.
"We’ve always stopped the run,” Alley said. “That’s been the number one thing that we’ve tried to do as a defense. Always. They give up 21 yards rushing, and they throw for 400. It’s 21 yards rushing. But right now we can’t do either. Without stopping the run first, you’ve got no chance to stop the pass game. That’s kind of the number one focus, and we’re trying to get that identity back."
The focus hasn't been lost, according to pass rusher Harper Holloman. The team just needs to be better at it, which includes improving tackling and filling gaps. Holloman has 1.5 tackles for loss and 13 solo stops to help in the run game.
"We still have the same identity," Holloman said. "We're just trying to work to get better each day. We know we have our challenges, but at the end of the day, we're still working towards the same goal."
The only problem is it’s not showing up on the field.
Rodriguez had long meetings with the coaching staff on Sunday and again on Monday, when the players were off. He said some of the discussions were hard, but necessary in order to get to the bottom of the defensive issues. It's even more frustrating when he believes the players and coaching staff are talented enough to succeed.
The priority is improving the run-stopping. Rodriguez, Alley and the defense aren't giving up to get there. At this point, it can’t get any worse.
"It’s a little perplexing how poorly we’ve struggled," Rodriguez said. "But we can’t stick our heads in the sand and say, 'Well, everything’s all good.' It’s not. You’re not winning games as bad as we’re playing defensively. Everything’s got to be on the table. We can’t be insane and expect a different result. That’s kind of where we’re at."