There鈥檚 no way to sugar-coat what happened to West Virginia at Texas Tech Saturday afternoon.
Just nine days removed from their best win of the season against Baylor, the Mountaineers fell completely flat in Lubbock, losing to the Red Raiders in about every way, shape and form.
Not only was 成品人视频 blown out on the scoreboard (48-10), but it was dominated in most statistical categories as well. Tech had 594 yards of total offense (355 passing and 239 rushing) compared to West Virginia鈥檚 282 total yards (209 passing and 73 rushing). Add in a 4-0 TTU advantage in turnovers, and it was a recipe for a Mountaineer disaster.
鈥淲e never got going on offense, and that was very disappointing,鈥 stated West Virginia sophomore center Zach Frazier. 鈥淲e may have put one (good) drive together, but other than that we just couldn鈥檛 finish.鈥
成品人视频鈥檚 defense has had struggles much of the year, but for its offense to be stonewalled by the Red Raiders was surprising.
West Virginia was held to its lowest point total of the season, as its 38-20 loss at Texas was the only other time the Mountaineers did not manage to score at least 30 points in 2022. Their 283 yards of total offense was also a season low, as the 314 yards at Texas (61 rushing and 253 passing) was the only other time 成品人视频 failed to reach at least 400 yards of offense.
鈥淚t was just little things, little mistakes, but you can鈥檛 have that,鈥 explained Frazier. 鈥淵ou have to have all 11 guys on the same page. If one is off, that鈥檚 going to stop us.鈥
Injuries have been a growing problem for the Mountaineers on both sides of the ball. On offense, the biggest absence Saturday was at left guard where veteran James Gmiter was unable to play after being hurt the previous week against Baylor.
成品人视频鈥檚 center didn鈥檛 want to use Gmiter鈥檚 absence as an excuse, though, as Jordan White and Tomas Rimac filled those shoes
鈥淭hat wasn鈥檛 really an issue, I didn鈥檛 think,鈥 stated Frazier. 鈥淕miter went down, and Tomas and Jordan White stepped in. I was proud of them in how they worked this week and prepared.
鈥淚t does suck,鈥 he admitted of the injuries, though. 鈥淚 feel we鈥檝e had a lot of problems with injuries lately, but we just have to have a next-guy-up mentality.鈥
West Virginia鈥檚 defense has also sustained a large number of injuries. While the Mountaineer D has struggled most of the season, things have been particularly bad the past couple of weeks, as 成品人视频 gave up 590 yards of offense to Baylor, albeit it in a West Virginia victory, and 594 to Texas Tech.
鈥淲e know different teams will try to beat us in different ways,鈥 stated Mountaineer sophomore safety Aubrey Burks. 鈥淭exas Tech was really good with tempo, and we knew that coming into the game. At times we were slow with our communication on the backend and we miscommunicated.
鈥淲e worked hard in practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, trying to adjust to the tempo Texas Tech runs,鈥 continued Burks, who had a game-high 10 tackles Saturday. 鈥淲e worked on lining up fast, because this is the first time we faced a team that did this. We had to be basic with our play calls because they play so fast. That鈥檚 no excuse for the backend or whole defense not playing hard or playing with a lot of effort. The miscommunication was the real problem I thought, though.鈥
For the Mountaineers, any improvement has to begin well before game day.
鈥淚t really needs to start at practice,鈥 explained Burks. 鈥淲e have a lot of new guys, and we have to come together at practice and then after practice, watching film and things like that.鈥
For West Virginia, its redemption opportunity comes next Saturday when it entertains TCU at noon in a game that will be televised by ESPN.
