Rich Rodriguez Voices His Frustration With WVU's Continued Defensive Struggles

There's no other way to put it, the Mountaineers' defense has been one of the worst in the country halfway through the season.

Oct 10, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez walks along the sideline during the first quarter against the Arizona Wildcats at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's no secret what West Virginia's problem is right now. They can't stop anybody or anything. The run, the pass, play-action pass- you name it, opponents are gashing the Mountaineers in Big 12 play. It has everyone frustrated, from those in the stands to the guys on the field, and of course, head coach Rich Rodriguez.

“Like I said, these guys know ball. But, you know, it's not an excuse to say, ‘Well, we're still learning who our guys are.’ No, we've played six games. We've had most of them here since the spring. We know who our guys are. And so that part of it, you know, we can't use that as an excuse. We got to play better. We got to put them in positions to play better and then work really hard and play better football. Just play better football. And there's a lot to that, but it's not my first rodeo.

“But it is as frustrating as I've ever been as a head coach with one side of the ball," he continued. "It's not like they're not trying, trying to figure it out and not having progress like we need, if that makes sense. And, you know, we got to make that progress starting tonight.”

By the numbers

West Virginia University defensive coordinator Zac Alley | Christopher Hall - West Virginia on SI

Rodriguez has every right to be as frustrated as he is because the other two phases of the game, as I pointed out last week, are, for the most part, playing championship-level football.

Since the start of Big 12 play, WVU has given up chunk play after chunk play, leading to some really eye-popping numbers. Here are the totals through three league games.

Total yards allowed: 1,668
Passing yards allowed: 1,042
Rushing yards allowed: 626
Pass play explosives: 26
Run play explosives: 17
Downfield throwing (20+ yards): 12/17 (70.5%) for 446 yards, TD
Yards per completion: 14.8
Yards per play: 8.7
Pressures: 25 (8.3 per game)
Sacks: 3
Punts forced: 7

“Very frustrating because we couldn’t get a stop on defense, and then offensively, there's probably a little bit of feel like pressure that you can’t have a turnover. You got to score in every possession, and it's just extremely frustrating."

That's what Rodriguez said in his postgame presser on Saturday, and it could have been said following the losses to Oklahoma State and Iowa State.

This defense doesn't even have to be a middle-of-the-pack unit in the Big 12 to win football games. It just can't be what it has been the past three weeks. When you are rushing for 290+ yards, you should win the game. The Mountaineers have hit that mark in each of the last three games but don't have a league win.

If the defense can just find some answers, this thing can still get back on track, but it's not going to be easy.