Zac Alley 'Mad' About Finish vs. Virginia: 'We Played to Not Lose, We Didn't Play to Win'

The WVU defensive coordinator was furious about how his unit finished last week's game in Charlotte.

Sep 19, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; West Virginia defensive coordinator Zac Alley along the sideline during the second quarter against the Virginia Cavaliers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

West Virginia's 38-27 win over Virginia last week can be a little deceiving if you just happened to glance at the final scores from Week 3 of college football. The Mountaineers had a three-possession lead with under three minutes remaining, sitting in a great spot to win the game.

Following a chip-shot field goal by Jack Cassidy to put WVU up 38-21, Virginia marched right down the field for an 8-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, leading to our final score of 38-27.

The game was never in danger for the Mountaineers late in the fourth quarter, but defensive coordinator Zac Alley was not a happy camper with how that last UVA drive went and made sure to get his message across to the team.

“We played to not lose on that drive. We didn’t play to win. And that makes me mad. I don’t like that. We don’t play to not lose. I’m playing to win," Alley stated. "Like, sometimes we didn’t challenge receivers; we didn’t play man coverage when I called it. We just did some things where I have no idea what we were thinking. I chalked it up to a little bit of immaturity from we got a lot of guys who’ve maybe not been in a stage or in a stadium, and that was a big moment. We’ve got to improve and be better in those situations.”

It is refreshing to see a defensive coordinator speak with that level of passion and frustration about something, even when the game was still well in their control and never became a down-to-the-wire finish.

Alley understands the importance of every single snap and every game. You have to play a full four quarters, which is something his unit did NOT do in the first two weeks of the season. You can't pull back. As a defense, you have to finish the job.

“We showed some of our potential when we do our job and play well- what we can be and how we can play. I still didn’t think we played to the standard of where we want to be. The last drive really made me mad, just not doing our job. You’re going to come down to critical moments in big games where you’re going to have to stop them on that series, and we’re calling things we’ve done since the first day of fall camp, and we’re just making stuff up, so I didn’t like that. We’ve got some improvement to make from that standpoint. There’s still, in my mind, a lot of things left to do to be where we want to be as a defense, but improving every time.”