Rich Rodriguez vs. Joey McGuire: What the History Says About Bye Weeks

Ideally, you don't have to go through an eight-game stretch to begin your season before you hit the open date, but that was the case this season for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

The only positives that come out of the late bye week?

Rich Rodriguez and Co. will have an extra week to prepare for one of the best teams in the Big 12, and they will be a little fresher down the stretch than each of their four remaining opponents — Texas Tech, Kansas, Houston, Utah — each of whom already had their bye week.

The extra week to prepare and also recover is huge, but what about Texas Tech's side of this? I was curious, so I did a little research on how Joey McGuire's teams have performed against rested foes since he took the job in 2022.

Joey McGuire's teams on no rest versus a team coming off a bye

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire walks the field during a Big 12 Conference football game, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at Galaxy Stadium. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

2022: No such occurrences
2023: No such occurrences
2024: W 23-22 at Iowa State
2024: L 27-41 vs. Colorado
2024: W 56-48 at Oklahoma State
2025: W 29-7 vs. BYU

A 3-1 mark with two of those wins coming against a really bad Oklahoma State team and a top-10 BYU team that they beat convincingly. The Red Raiders are 1-1 at home in these situations.

Rich Rodriguez's teams coming off a bye

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

I did this research last year, so much of this should look familiar to you. I just updated it with the results from last season and his overall records as a Division I head coaching coming off a bye.

West Virginia

2001: vs. Kent State W 34-14, at No. 1 Miami L 3-45
2002: vs. East Carolina W 37-17, at No. 13 Virginia Tech W 21-18
2003: at No. 2 Miami L 20-22, vs. No. 3 Virginia Tech W 28-7
2004: at UConn W 31-19, at Pitt L 13-16
2005: vs. UConn W 45-13, vs. Pitt W 45-13
2006: at Mississippi State W 42-14, at No. 5 Louisville L 34-44
2007: vs. Mississippi State W 38-13, vs. Louisville W 38-31
2025: at UCF L 13-45, vs. No. 5 Texas Tech L 0-49

Michigan

2008: vs. No. 9 Wisconsin W 27-25
2009: Bye was after all 12 games were played
2010: at Penn State L 31-41

Arizona

2012: vs. Washington W 52-17
2013: at No. 16 Washington L 13-31, at USC L 31-38
2014: at No. 2 Oregon W 31-24, at Washington State W 59-37
2015: Bye was after all 12 games were played
2016: vs. Stanford L 10-34
2017: at Colorado W 45-42

Jacksonville State

2022: vs. North Alabama W 47-31, vs. Eastern Kentucky W 42-17
2023: vs. Eastern Michigan W 21-0, vs. Louisiana Tech W 56-17
2024: at Kennesaw State W 63-24, vs. Middle Tennessee State W 42-20

Rich Rod off of a bye, by the numbers

Overall record off bye: 21-10 (.677)
Home Record off bye: 14-2 (.875)
Away Record off bye: 7-8 (.466)
vs. Top 25: 4-5 (.444)

Even if Texas Tech drops to Arizona this weekend, odds are they will still be ranked. The one thing I didn't include above is that Rich Rod is 2-4 on the road against ranked teams off a bye. His two wins? No. 13 Virginia Tech in 2002, during his first stint with WVU, and an absolute stunner in 2014, beating No. 2 Oregon.

What I do believe is also in West Virginia's favor is that Texas Tech's offense is sputtering and is now giving more reps to backup QB Tommy Castellanos. Meanwhile, West Virginia has one of the most explosive offenses in the country, led by a dynamic ground game that hasn't been stopped yet.

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