Coming off a much-needed win, WVU football has another winnable matchup this week, granted one on the road at TCU.

Below are some of the storylines to keep an eye on during the game:

Cam Cook Reveals His Mindset Heading Into Return to TCU

Now West Virginia’s featured running back, Cam Cook started his college career trying to prove himself at TCU. This Saturday, two years after leaving TCU in search of an increased opportunity, he will return to Fort Worth, Texas to face off against his former team.

Well aware of the significance of his return, Cook discussed treating the matchup as just another game on Tuesday.

“I’ve definitely thought about it, but to me, it’s just another game. Just trying to go out there and get another win with the guys,” said Cook when asked about his mentality ahead of playing in Amon G. Carter Stadium as a visitor. He also added that it might be a little weird to be in the visiting locker room there, a place he’s never been before.

While Cook looks back on his two years with TCU fondly, he knows he had to leave to fully prove himself. He ran for 518 yards off 135 carries in two season with the Horned Frogs, totaling 460 of that production and all nine of his touchdowns in 2024. He then transferred to Jacksonville State, although just missed Rich Rodriguez, who had already left to go back to West Virginia, and led the entire nation in rushing with 1,659 yards while averaging 5.6 yards per attempt. Cook also found the end zone 16 times with the Gamecocks in Conference USA.

Rich Rodriguez Gets Honest About Continuous Defensive Issues

Even though West Virginia snapped their losing streak and beat Cincinnati, the defense endured arguably its worst overall performance of the season. WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez knows the defense has to be much better moving forward if the Mountaineers can complete a respectable season.

However, he’s also willing to admit he’s still not sure how to fix the unit. Rodriguez opened up about the latest coaches meeting, one that included trying to determine why the defense has struggled so much after a solid start to the season and what can be done to improve enough to compete throughout the rest of the season.

“We have no identity. There’s nothing that we’re hanging our hat on, and so we got to find that the best we can,” admitted Rodriguez on his radio show on Monday night.

West Virginia allowed Cincinnati to rack up 622 yards of offense, the most the Mountaineers have surrendered so far and the second time an opponent supposed 600. This came after the WVU defense let Arizona hang 45 of their 52 total points on them the week prior, which followed giving up 577 yards and 45 points at Iowa State and 609 yards and 41 points against Oklahoma State.

Several Outlets Place WVU Football Back in Bowl Projections

A week after a third-straight loss saw WVU football fall out of most national bowl projections, they’re back in. Following a 3-0 start, the losing streak caused a belief West Virginia would once again suffer a losing season and miss a bowl game for the second consecutive year.

However, one historic performance from Mike Hawkins, one final stop by the defense to make up for another rough day and one big kick by Jack Cassidy to beat Cincinnati, and that perception has changed again. Sitting at 4-3 and only needing two moire wins to become bowl eligible, multiple outlets are once again predicting some type of postseason play for the Mountaineers.

While one ESPN has WVU still missing a bowl game, Mark Schlabach has them in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl against California on Dec. 21.

For a more intriguing matchup possibility, Athlon Sports has West Virginia facing off against an old Big 12 foe in Oklahoma in the Liberty Bowl, one of the recent bowl wins for the program from the Neal Brown era.

And speaking of past bowl success, the College Football New has WVU paired with Army, who Brown’s team defeated in that Liberty Bowl, in the Armed Forces Bowl.

CBS Sports and On3 Sports continue to leave West Virginia out of their possible bowl game matchups.

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