West Virginia scored 42 points Saturday.

They rolled up 518 yards of offense. They rushed for 291 yards. They averaged an ridiculous 8.2 yards every time they snapped the football.

And somehow, they still lost. Iowa State 45, West Virginia 42.

At some point, we have to stop dancing around the obvious. WVU’s defense can’t stop a nosebleed right now.

And personally, I don’t believe the problem is simply that West Virginia doesn’t have good defensive players. I think they do. The bigger issue, in my opinion, is the scheme, the play-calling and continually putting those players in bad situations.

 

How Many Points Does the Offense Have to Score?

Michael Hawkins Jr. and this WVU offense did enough to win a Big 12 football game.

Hawkins threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns while adding 149 yards rushing. Cam Cook ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns. DJ Epps had 114 receiving yards and a touchdown. WVU finished with 518 total yards and averaged 8.2 yards per play.

You score 42 points on the road in the Big 12, you should feel pretty good about your chances.

Instead, West Virginia’s offense basically had to play knowing that every possession mattered because the defense couldn’t be trusted to get off the field.

That’s not sustainable.

 

Iowa State Had 577 Yards

Here’s what makes Saturday’s defensive performance even more concerning. Iowa State entered the game averaging only 345.2 yards per game.

Against West Virginia? 577 yards.

The Cyclones had 312 passing yards and 265 rushing yards. They picked up 29 first downs. They averaged 7.6 yards per play.

Aiden Flora absolutely destroyed WVU.

Flora, a running back, rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns. And apparently that wasn’t enough. He also threw two touchdown passes.

A running back accounted for five touchdowns against West Virginia’s defense.

That’s almost unbelievable.

 

This Isn’t Just One Bad Game

If this were one terrible defensive performance, you could throw it away and move on.

It’s not.

Last week Oklahoma State put 609 yards on WVU in a 41-24 victory. This week Iowa State put up another 577. That’s 1,186 yards of offense allowed in two weeks.

Rich Rodriguez didn’t sugarcoat it afterward, either, calling WVU’s defense over the last two games “atrocious.”

He’s right.

You aren’t going to consistently win Big 12 football games playing defense like this.

 

I Don’t Think It’s Just the Players

Here’s where I may differ from some WVU fans.

It’s easy when a defense gets shredded to immediately say the players aren’t good enough. I’m not ready to say that. I actually think West Virginia has good defensive football players.

What I’m questioning is whether they’re consistently being put in the best position to succeed.

There were blown coverages Saturday. There were costly penalties. There were receivers running open. There were huge running lanes. And there were moments when it looked like WVU simply had the wrong defensive call for what Iowa State was doing.

Even Rodriguez acknowledged afterward that WVU wasn’t coached well enough and specifically pointed to coverage breakdowns.

That’s where defensive coordinator Zac Alley has to take some heat.

Players have to execute. Absolutely.

Players have to tackle. Players can’t commit pass-interference penalties in critical situations.

But when the same problems keep appearing week after week, you eventually have to examine the system those players are operating in.

 

The Most Frustrating Part Came Late

West Virginia fought all the way back. After trailing 28-14, WVU tied the game at 28.

Then the fourth quarter became a shootout.

Cam Cook scored to put WVU ahead 35-31. Flora ripped off a 63-yard touchdown run to make it 38-35 Iowa State.

WVU answered almost immediately when Hawkins found Epps for a 47-yard touchdown.

West Virginia led 42-38 with 5:04 remaining.

At that point, the assignment was simple. Get one stop. Your offense just gave you the lead. Five minutes left. Go win the football game.

Instead, Iowa State went 74 yards in six plays and scored the winning touchdown with 1:57 remaining.

That’s the part that has to drive Rich Rodriguez crazy.

You don’t need the defense to dominate. You don’t need a shutout. You don’t even need them to play great for four quarters. You just need one stop.

They couldn’t get it.

 

The Offense Isn’t Perfect Either

Let’s be fair.

West Virginia committed 10 penalties for 86 yards. And WVU still had an opportunity to answer after Iowa State went ahead 45-42.

Hawkins completed a pass to Epps, but Epps was stripped and Iowa State recovered with 40 seconds remaining. That’s a huge mistake in a huge moment.

So no, the offense was not flawless.

But I’m not putting a loss on an offense that scores 42 points and produces 518 yards. If West Virginia needs to score 50 every Saturday to win, there is a much bigger problem.

 

Something Has to Change

WVU is now 3-2 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12.

And right now, I don’t think the biggest concern with this football team is talent.

I think it’s defensive philosophy. I think it’s scheme. I think it’s play-calling. And I think Zac Alley has to figure out how to put his players in better positions.

Because there are players on this defense who can play football.

But whatever WVU is doing collectively isn’t working. 609 yards last week. 577 yards this week. 1,186 yards in two games.

Those aren’t numbers you can explain away.

The frustrating thing is that West Virginia’s offense looks capable of winning football games.

Hawkins is making plays. Cook is running the football. There are weapons on the outside. The offensive line is creating opportunities.

But none of that matters if every touchdown feels like it’s simply buying time until the opponent scores again.

WVU doesn’t need its defense to become the 1985 Chicago Bears overnight. They just need it to occasionally get off the field.

Because right now?

The offense is good enough to win football games. The defense can’t stop a nosebleed.

And until the scheme changes or the execution within it dramatically improves, West Virginia is going to keep wasting good offensive performances.