WVSports.com continues with our popular feature: The 3-2-1. We'll break down three things we learned that week, two questions we have and give one prediction.
Here is the next installment of the 3-2-1 looking at the West Virginia football program, the latest on basketball and what’s happening in recruiting.
3 things I learned:
1–West Virginia one win from bowl eligibility. After a change at defensive coordinator, the Mountaineers scored a pair of defensive touchdowns in a 31-24 win over Cincinnati. For the second consecutive game, the Mountaineers were able to go on the road with backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol and beat a Big 12 Conference opponent to move to 5-4 on the season and 4-2 in the league.
This one, like Arizona before it, got very interesting down the stretch but much like that contest the Mountaineers did exactly what they needed to do to find a way to win this football game and keep the hope alive for a strong finish to the year.
Marchiol wasn't as crisp in this one going 9-15 for 156 yards with a touchdown and an interception, but the sophomore remains undefeated as a starting quarterback.
The story of the game was the West Virginia defense who while they allowed 24-points, had only one true bust in the game on an 80-yard touchdown play and cashed in on an interception return and a fumble return for a touchdown. In the first game with Jeff Koonz over top the defense, the Mountaineers gave up 436 yards but held the Bearcats to 7-16 on third down and four three-and-outs.
The Mountaineers had only six turnovers forced on the season, but managed three in this game which obviously was a major focus coming into this contest.
West Virginia is now sitting one game shy of bowl eligibility with matchups at home against Baylor, UCF and then on the road at Texas Tech to close things out. This football team has surely had their issues at times this season but it's now won two in a row and has a chance to close things out on a high note.
That isn't possible without another narrow win on the road.
2–West Virginia makes schedule changes. The Mountaineers won't make a scheduled trip to East Carolina in the 2026 season as the program is set to buy out the $300,000 price tag to get out of that trip to Greenville.
