COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The loss so fresh you could see helmet pad impressions on Tyler Orlosky’s skull, he began considering the bounce-back options.
West Virginia’s most accomplished, and certainly most candid, lineman already had processed the unfoldings of the previous four hours. Too many sacks, two red-zone misfires, the rapid evaporation of college football playoff aspirations.
The first two items fazed Orlosky, but not the third.
“We didn’t go into the season thinking about a national championship,” he said. “We went into it thinking about a Big 12 championship and that’s still on the line.”
That 6-0 start brought unexpected merriment and a top-10 ranking, ratcheting up expectations not only in Morgantown but also (guardedly) inside Big 12 headquarters in Irving, Texas. A decade since West Virginia survived the first half of a season unbeaten, and nine years since it factored into national-title race, maybe the law of averages said it was time to believe again.
Saturday’s 37-20 defeat at Oklahoma State revealed it was time to aim lower.
Yes, the final margin gave an inaccurate rendering. Maybe West Virginia’s second series nets points if Ka’Raun White isn’t victimized by a phantom offensive pass-interference flag. Maybe West Virginia’s second-half comeback gains propulsion if Skyler Howard isn’t victimized by White’s dropped-pass-turned-interception. Maybe WVU doesn’t fall into a death spiral if Howard isn’t victimized by his own urge to attempt a pass out of a 310-pound bearhug.
Any of these moments, reversed or removed from a game featuring 165 snaps, might have saved WVU from its first loss. Then again, losing by 17 to a victim of Central Michigan provides an obvious counter-argument.
If the Stillwater stumble proves an isolated incident, it would be a change from miserable stretches West Virginia endured in recent Big 12 seasons: Dropped four straight games in 2015. Had a three-game losing streak in 2014. Two three-game skids in 2013. Lost five straight in 2012.
Seniors such as Orlosky don’t ignore the history of one loss bleeding into subsequent ones. He suggests the current team’s improved chemistry could break the pattern.
“If not, we’re going to be the same old West Virginia team we’ve been the past five years, and we can’t let that happen,” he said. “We have a good opportunity with Kansas to bounce back and I think we will.”
When it comes to rapid-recovery options, Kansas is the ice bath of Big 12 football. Soreness dissipates, bodies rejuvenate, morale brightens.
What an ideal week for the Mountaineers to hit the tub.