Asti: WVU Football Shouldn’t Be Behind Who They’re Behind

The date was Sept. 19, 2026. That was the day West Virginia beat Virginia and many WVU football fans all around the world thought Rich Rodriguez’s Mountaineers were back.

With Michael Hawkins cast in the Pat White role and Cam Cook as the new Steve Slaton, WVU ran all over a then ranked Virginia team believed to be a national contender.

But that was then, and that all feels like a distant memory now. Because just two weeks later, those same Mountaineers, still led by Hawkins and Cook, are now reeling off back-to-back losses at the start of the Big 12 schedule. And as fun as the 3-0 start may have been at the time, none of those wins count towards the conference standings. The two most important games of the season to date resulted in two losses that have WVU sitting at the bottom of the Big 12 at 0-2.

Beyond just losing, and losing due to a defensive effort Rodriguez himself labeled “atrocious,” the real problem lies in who West Virginia lost to and how it connects to the plan to rebuild the Mountaineers.

West Virginia, a program with a history not nearly as rich a blue blood, yet one to be proud of nonetheless, has dropped two games to schools they just shouldn’t be so far behind. Rodriguez, now in his second year back at the helm in Morgantown, has losses to two first-year head coaches in Oklahoma State’s Eric Morris and Iowa State’s Jimmy Rogers. He also lost to first-year head coaches in a similar situation last season, most notably Scott Frost and UCF.

So Rodriguez, who has consistently preached a need to look at the bigger picture, often bringing up the lack of recruiting time and lack of founds that derailed his first season, has two 2026 losses to two coaches, both with far less experience and accomplishments on their carer resumes. They are also simply trying to do what WVU couldn’t achieve in their year one – have a respectable debut season. West Virginia endured a miserable 4-8 campaign in 2025, marred with multiple blowout losses and a season that argues as one of the worst for the program in its history.

So why do Morris and Rogers have their programs on the right track so soon?

Despite being at an Oklahoma State program with a similar history to WVU, Morris is enjoying the benefits of an injection of finances Rodriguez didn’t receive last year, and has yet to see even now. However, per my sources, national reports and what Rodriguez has literally said himself, WVU did reach a level of spending few expected them to (estimated $21.5 million for the roster), showing an interest in investing in 2026.

West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez and defensive coordinator Zac Alley on the sideline during WVU’s 2026 season-opening win against Coastal Carolina. (WVSN photo by Kelsie LeRose)

But that’s not the case for Rogers at Iowa State, not by a long shot. Rodgers took over Iowa State as the school was trying to get up from the gut-punch of watching the coach who elevated the Cyclones to their best seasons ever walk out of the door for what he believed to be greener pastures. Rogers had to undergo a total roster overhaul, much like Rodriguez did when he took over for Neal Brown in Dec., 2024.

Rogers even had to reignite a fanbase feeling broken up with. And he’s still been able to guide the Cyclones to respectability right away, and doing so with a roster reportedly worth a tick below WVU’s.

And to address another issue, those holding Rodriguez to the Curt Cignetti standard are being unfair. Cignetti elevating Indiana, one of the worst programs in college football history, to instant grand success, culminating in two College Football Playoff appearances and a national championship to cap off a 16-0 undefeated season, will forever go down as something made for a movie. It’s an aberration, not the norm. And it will likely stay that way. It was also fueled by a flooding of a financial commitment only possible in this era of the sport.

However, Rodriguez, who currently has WVU, not just very far from Indiana, but in a more alarming situation – behind the fairer comparisons of Oklahoma State and Iowa State. It’s one thing if Rodriguez can’t duplicate what Cignetti and Indiana did. No one can. No one will. But to be behind the likes of Oklahoma State, and especially Iowa State, with a full year jump on their rebuilds, is a problem that needs answered. It’s also one that needs rectified, and fast.

Find more coverage of Rich Rodriguez and the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.