The West Virginia defense’s body of work can be broken down into two distinct categories this season.
There is the first eight games of the season and then there was what unfolded on the road against Iowa State.
The Mountaineers came into the matchup as the No. 4 total defense nationally permitting only 274 yards and No. 14 in scoring defense allowing only 17.8 points per game.
The Cyclones rolled up a season-high 42-points and accounted for the most total yardage (478), the most rushing yards (237) and the most passing yards (247) that the defense had allowed in a single game all season.
The Mountaineers uncharacteristically struggled on the edges to push the ball back inside and for the first time all season were handily beaten at the line of scrimmage.
Often times, defenses need somebody to step up and make a play in those situations to essentially be the match around the gasoline but that never occurred against Iowa State.
“Somebody has to light it up and we never found that Saturday. The game plan we practiced we have to execute it, but somebody has to make a play to spark the whole team,” defensive line coach and co-coordinator Jordan Lesley said.
It was a defensive effort that looked nothing like what the unit, which had been the strength of the team, had put on tape over the course of the first eight games. Even games where there were struggles, the unit was able to do enough to keep the Mountaineers in the game.
That wasn’t the case from the first 80-yard touchdown drive on against Iowa State.
“We just didn’t play well. My job is to get guys motivated and ready to play first and foremost, and we didn’t,” Lesley said. “We just didn’t play well. We weren’t ready to play. That’s ultimately on me and I have to do a better job than that.”
The bad news is West Virginia won’t get that performance back. It’s done and now in the past. But the good news is there is still a game left to showcase that performance was a one-off.
There is a lot of pride on the defensive side and while another massive challenge awaits in Oklahoma, this is about pride and proving to themselves that it was an aberration not a sign of things to come.
“Really watch this tape. For eight games, this is what we saw in ourselves. This is how we saw ourselves play and this is how we played Saturday. Let’s all look at it and say is this what we want? And the overwhelming answer with our guys defensively is no,” Lesley said.
Because there is such a time investment into playing college football, there is a sense of accountability when things don’t turn out the way that players had worked to achieve. But if it doesn’t go your way, that means something has to get right and players have to look in the mirror at what unfolded.
That has made it easier for the coaches to challenge the players to respond, because in actuality they had already been challenging themselves.
That also means quickly turning the page, something that the Mountaineers showcased last season beating North Carolina State after a similarly embarrassing loss to Missouri.
“Oklahoma doesn’t care about what happened. We have to reflect on it. If we harp on last week too much then we’ll see the same result,” linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo said.
College football is a testament to not getting to high or too low on any given week and while this past weekend was an unquestioned low point for the Mountaineers another game is ahead. And another chance to show that the first eight games was how this defense wants to be remembered.
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