Faced with a season that began with so much promise already squandered in a way, WVU football will try to salvage what’s left of 2026 in a must-win matchup against Cincinnati.

And with both teams in a similar situation, below are the some of the key storylines to keep an eye on during the game:

Zac Alley Gives Plan to Fix WVU’s Defense; No Starter is Safe

Knowing the WVU defense has been the subject of most of the criticism during the three-game losing streak, defensive coordinator Zac Alley spoke to the media on Tuesday about his process for how to improve.

For starters, he made it clear that nobody’s starting role is safe.

“I told everybody, like, it’s an open job. I mean, ain’t nobody solidified as a starter. We weren’t good enough to say you got 11 starters out there. So we’ll try and put the guys that are the most athletic guys we can to give us an opportunity in positions that we feel like they can be successful,” Alley said.

Alley also emphasized simplicity in light of the possibility of making changes to the defensive personnel with an upcoming game Saturday.

“We’re trying to get our best 11 on the field,” Alley said. “So move some guys around, figure out where they are, and then try and be as simple as we can this week with still having the ammo to go win the game.”

Rich Rodriguez Offers Support, Explains Confidence in Zac Alley

Even with his frustration at an all-time high, Rich Rodriguez still believes in his defensive staff, namely defensive coordinator Zac Alley. Just three days after labeling a question about Alley’s job “fair” and leaving the door open to consider a change in play calling, Rodriguez offered his public support for the higher ranking coach on his staff.

“He did a really good job at Oklahoma as a d coordinator and those were against some pretty good teams in the SEC,” said Rodriguez before referencing Alley’s past success and track record of turning rough patches around.

However, Rodriguez knows what’s happening in games is unacceptable and needs fixed fast. He said he had a 4.5-hour long meeting with his defensive staff on Sunday as they work towards that fix.

West Virginia’s defense allowed Arizona to hang 45 of their 52 total points on them on Saturday, which followed giving up 577 yards and 45 points at Iowa State and 609 yards and 41 points against Oklahoma State.

“It’s really frustrating. I think our fans were fantastic. They showed up today. I thought it was a great crowd. They tried to lift our defense up,” said Rodriguez about the defense letting down the offense. Offensively, Mike Hawkins, Cam Cook, who did fumble twice, and company racked up 522 yards and 31 points. In the week prior, they put up 518 yards and 42 points, losing a shootout to Iowa State. And the week before that, they reached 476 yards in a 41-24 loss to Oklahoma State.

Frustrated as Ever, Rich Rodriguez Pledges WVU Football Will ‘Get it Fixed’

Despite recent struggles by the team, fans showed up and provided a solid home atmosphere for WVU. Their efforts add to the frustration of a lackluster performance for head coach Rich Rodriguez.

“It’s really frustrating. I think our fans were fantastic. They showed up today. I thought it was a great crowd. They tried to lift our defense up. We had great crowd noise, and we didn’t reward them enough,” Rodriguez said in the postgame press conference.

Arizona punted just three times on the day, which puts more pressure on the WVU offense to perform. But WVU was unable to keep up with the pace of Arizona’s offense.

“It’s very frustrating because we can’t get a stop on defense, and then offensively there is probably a little bit of pressure. You can’t have a turnover. You have to score every possession and it is extremely frustrating,” Rodriguez added.

Oddsmakers View West Virginia as Slim Favorite Over Cincinnati Despite Losing Skid

Placed as a 1.5-point favorite at the start of the week by both DraftKings and FanDuel, WVU hopes to find their first conference win and avoid falling to a losing mark overall on Saturday afternoon. West Virginia will host Cincinnati at Milan Puskar Stadium at noon ET.

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