MORGANTOWN — The New Year is almost here, meaning a couple of things. It’s time to celebrate another year completed, and it marks almost two months since West Virginia concluded its 2025 season. Year 1 of Rich Rodriguez’s return to Morgantown was over.
It’s no secret that it’s not how anyone would want it to go. WVU finished the season 4-8, and tied for third-to-last in the Big 12, with just two wins in conference. This wasn’t a direct pick-up where you left off sort of deal for Rodriguez, who left WVU in 2007, leading the Mountaineers to a 10-2 season. It didn’t live up to fans’ expectations.
There were some highlights, though, and athletic director Wren Baker pitched it to the West Virginia University Board that way, too, when he wanted to upgrade the press box. There were some major wins over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl and against Houston, which was and is still ranked in the top 25.
Those two positives didn’t outweigh the negatives enough, though, but maybe they have bought Rodriguez enough time to get this rebuild on the right track in 2026. We’ll see.
But here’s my overall assessment of the 2025 West Virginia football season.
The good
Most of the time, when looking at the good, you look in the win column, and there weren’t many. Just four wins. That’s not going to cut it for WVU fans, especially since they chased out Neal Brown for hovering around .500.
There were some quality and exciting wins. WVU came back and beat Pitt in overtime, winning the last Backyard Brawl until 2029. That’s a long time to brag and hold it over Panther fans. There was even Rodriguez’s iconic line after the game.
“West Virginia Mountaineers never quit,” Rodriguez said in his postgame television interview. “God bless the Mountaineers, and God bless West Virginia.”
Then, when the season looked lost, WVU headed out to Houston to play a hot Cougars team, and the Mountaineers went into their place and pulled off the upset. WVU had six losses, but hold on, there was hope that in the final three games, a bowl game was possible after the win against Houston.
Why was there hope? WVU might’ve found its quarterback of the future. Scotty Fox Jr., the true freshman, provided the offense that looked terrible for five straight games a much-needed spark. Fox had a talented arm and played with moxie. There was nothing to lose for the youngster since he was WVU’s last option at QB with all the injuries, and he played that way.
Fox started the last seven games of the season and was WVU’s starter from start to finish for four games. The true freshman made WVU competitive again, even against better teams. WVU either won or was a score short in those four games.
WVU had its quarterback of the future. Then, Fox faced the Texas Tech defense, and the Mountaineers couldn’t register a point, so the brakes were pumped on that. But still, the offseason and midway through the regular season long question might’ve had its answer.
Rodriguez said earlier in the year you can’t win without a starting quarterback, and WVU might’ve found its one for the future, so that’s a positive.
The bad
There’s no question that there was a lot more bad than good. It started in the first game of the season.
Yes, WVU bested Robert Morris, winning 45-3, but if you recall, the offense struggled to score, and it was only 10-3 at the half. Robert Morris is an FCS school and was paid to get rolled by the Mountaineers. WVU broke it open in the second half, and fans didn’t bat an eye.
Then, with College Gameday for the Backyard Brawl on the line, the Mountaineers headed to Ohio, and the same issue reappeared. The Mountaineers struggled to score and lost to the Bobcats 17-10. It was an embarrassing loss.
Somehow, with the adrenaline of the Backyard Brawl, WVU upset Pitt, providing a false sense of success that blanketed the fact that the offense wasn’t good enough to compete.
Then came the bad five-game stretch to start Big 12 play. WVU’s offense couldn’t do anything again, and the defense couldn’t stop a common cold. The Mountaineers were blown out and hit rock bottom in Orlando, getting rolled by UCF, who was in a similar situation to WVU with a head coach return.
This was rock bottom.
WVU bounced back for a couple of games, but then was blown out by Texas Tech to bring the team back down to earth.
The bad started with the offense, and Rodriguez’s inability to land on a starting quarterback. Rodriguez went all spring without naming a quarterback, all summer and still didn’t name one the week of the first game.
The fans didn’t know who the starter was, beat writers didn’t know, and I don’t think Rodriguez knew either, because he kept subbing in quarterbacks left and right, not letting any of them build any momentum. Ultimately, it hurt WVU in the end.
WVU only had success when Rodriguez ran out of options because of injuries and had to start Fox. Hopefully, Rodriguez doesn’t wait until the last minute to decide on a QB in 2026.
The defense was very hit or miss, but the same issues persisted over the course of the season and were amplified in the losses. The team missed too many tackles and let up too many big plays. It was that simple.
Texas Tech was the biggest example. At some points, it looked like the defense just flat-out gave up. But the defense was a big reason WVU won some of those games, so you have to give Zac Alley some credit.
Final thoughts
This wasn’t the outcome fans wanted, but it was expected. I’ve said this all season. As an outsider, this was about what I expected for a team with 70-plus new players and a whole new coaching staff. There were too many new moving parts that it seemed nearly impossible to work in unison.
I do think there should be some optimism. Just look at the recruiting class coming in. That was a big win, and what Rodriguez can build on for the future.
My only thing is that fans are impatient these days. I think Rodriguez bought himself time with a shiny new recruiting class and some fun wins. But a recruiting class doesn’t mean anything to fans if you can’t put more wins in the win column, and ultimately, that’s all that matters.
