It's difficult to separate the disappointment of a narrow defeat to the gutsy performances of those who stepped up to play. WVSports.com will try to break down the positives from an agonizing loss as West Virginia fell in the second OT to TCU 39-38. The loss is the third straight for the Mountaineers, a feat not accomplished in Morgantown since 2004.


On the positive side there was an apparent maturation by the defensive unit as a whole. Overall the Mountaineer defense was able to put more pressure on TCU's quarterback than they have put on anyone else in the recent 3 game slide, perhaps even before. The defense played fast and with purpose. You could tell the unit had a chip on their shoulder and wanted to prove that they were better than their statistical ranking said they were. The team played fast and fundamentally looked sharp. While far from perfect the defense made open field tackles and even saw the much battled WVU secondary man up TCU's wideouts with some success.

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