Four Rapid Takeaways From West Virginia's Heartbreaking Loss to TCU

The Mountaineers didn't snap their losing skid, but they showed a lot of fight tonight and put a much better product on the field, although it's still far away from where they need to be. TCU held on for the win, 23-17, dropping West Virginia to 2-6 (0-5) on the season.

My thoughts on this one...

More of that from Scotty

Let me preface this by saying I was very impressed with what Scotty Fox did tonight and believe there's a lot to build off of and be excited about. However, this was the 110th-ranked pass defense in the nation, entering this week worse than West Virginia's pass defense. Before we all put the cart in front of the horse, let's see him string together some performances like this one. Regardless, a huge sign of positivity and a glimmer of hope at the most important position on the field. 300+ yards is a statement.

There's something there with Hubbard

His final stats may not jump off the page at you, but there were a handful of times where it looked like Diore Hubbard was going to pop one in both the run and pass game. He's clearly the fastest back in that room aside from the injured Jahiem White, and if the Mountaineers can successfully rebuild the offensive line this offseason, he'll serve as a nice complementary back next fall.

Explosive plays continue to be a killer

In the two games leading up to this one, WVU's defense had allowed 26 explosive plays, which is obviously way too many. They gave up nine of them tonight, which is a slight improvement, but many of those could have been prevented if they wrapped up and finished the tackle. The big plays are such a backbreaker because even if you are able to eventually get a stop, you've allowed the field to be tilted, creating poor starting field position for your struggling and inconsistent offense.

Winning another game is certainly possible

The schedule doesn't get any easier, which you all know by now, but if they build on this performance on both sides of the ball, they'll win one more before the season comes to a close. It looks like you may have something there with Scotty Fox, so now it's about finding more ways to help him out up front and in the run game. Defensively, progress was made against what has been a pretty explosive offense. The confidence level in that locker room should get a little boost after this one, despite the result. They proved they could hang around.

More of that from Scotty

There's something there with Hubbard

Explosive plays continue to be a killer

Winning another game is certainly possible

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