Takeaways: WVU Football Showed Signs of Life in Loss to BYU

As the Mountaineers enjoy their much-needed week off, let’s look back at their last game and dissect what happened in Provo against BYU. WVU, who now sits at 2-4 and 0-3 in Big 12 play, fell to the Cougars by the score of 38-24.

A loss is a loss, but did West Virginia show something in Provo that can provide optimism for the rest of the season?

Offense 

• Khalil Wilkins played relatively well considering the situation.
• While Wilkins was far from perfect, he showed signs of being ale to have success against a good team on the road, a pretty tough scenario for a first start.
• Wilkins can clearly rely on his athleticism and speed when running with the ball, but he stills needs to become a crisper passer and make smarter decisions.
• There’s reason to have concern about Wilkins being able to handle running so often – he did leave the game briefly and was rocked all night after runs.
• Even with a spark from the quarter, the offense was still often hampered by a lack of production from the running backs.
• Rich Rodriguez’s offense will always require success on the ground and that can’t come only from the quarterback.
• The offensive line had another rough outing and left the game even more banged up.

Rich Rodriguez Evaluates Khalil Wilkins’ Play in ‘Tough Environment’ at BYU

Defense 

• Despite still allowing way too many big plays, mostly through the air, the WVU defense was able to generate turnovers again.
• The aggressiveness fans grew accustomed to seeing earlier in the season returned at BYU after being nonexistent against Utah.
• The secondary is still a weakness and a quality quarterback can pick it apart.
• There are clear vulnerabilities that probably can’t be fixed this season.
• There’s a lot of pressure on Zac Alley, especially as Rodriguez’s highest prices assistant (by far), to figure out a way for the defense to be at their best every week.

Special Teams 

• Oliver Straw found his booming leg again.
• WVU needs more from its return game, most notably due to the inconsistency on offense.
• Missed tackles led to a couple big returns.

What’s Next for WVU? 

Rodriguez and his team now know information more about their next game.

On Monday, the Big 12 announced that West Virginia’s Saturday, Oct. 18, game at UCF will kickoff at 1 pm ET and be televised nationally on TNT.

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

For a related story, West Virginia actually jumped up in the ESPN FPI despite their latest loss.