WVU HC Rich Rodriguez After UCF Loss: ‘I Hope This is Bottom’

ORLANDO – Losing is one thing, but losing the way WVU has been losing makes Rich Rodriguez hope this is the worst of his second tenure. Rodriguez literally said as much after West Virginia’s latest blowout loss, a 45-13 defeat to UCF.

“I hope this is bottom,” said Rodriguez, who appeared beyond frustrated after the game.

WVU HC Rich Rodriguez: “I hope this is bottom.”

— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) October 18, 2025

However, for as much as the game seemed to be getting away from the Mountaineers early, WVU built some momentum at the end of the first half. That’s until West Virginia’s fourth conference game exploded into the latest embarrassment in the second half. A 14-7 halftime score quickly became UCF outscoring WVU to the tune of 31-6 in the second half.

To further support this latest loss feeling worse for Rodriguez, UCF, like WVU, entered the game winless in Big 12 games. But after Saturday afternoon, it’s the Knights now able to argue having something to build on in Scott Frost’s first season in his return to the UCF sideline.

“We didn’t do anything well. Looked slow, out of position, poorly coached, poorly executed, poorly played, poorly everything,” a brutally honest Rodriguez explained.

Rich Rodriguez sums up WVU’s latest blowout loss at UCF. pic.twitter.com/A59MDL4uNN

— West Virginia Sports Now (@WVSportsNow) October 18, 2025

Statistically, UCF out-gained West Virginia 578 to 210 yards. Quarterback Tayven Jackson completed 68% of his passes, throwing for 277 yards and two touchdown strikes on fourth down attempts. On the ground, running backs Jaden Nixon ran for 166 yards highlighted by an 83-yard sprint up the sideline and Myles Montgomery added 88 of his own on just 14 carries.

But the stats didn’t even tell the whole story. West Virginia got beat in every way possible once again, and this time it happened against a program going through a similar situation and coming off similar struggles.

Now at 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12, there’s not much for even the most optimistic WVU fan to point to as a sign of better days to come. The hope has to be in Rodriguez and the belief he will fulfill his promise to make West Virginia great again, granted that may take more time than initially advertised.

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