ATHENS, Ohio — West Virginia left Peden Stadium on Saturday with a 17-10 loss to Ohio that marked the Mountaineers’ first regular season setback to a Group of 5 opponent since 2008 at East Carolina.
In the process, WVU failed to start 2-0 for a seventh straight season. This was the only one of the seven that didn’t include a Power Conference foe among the first two games.
“Whether you win or lose, after 24 hours, you have to move on,” WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “The biggest thing we have to do with the losses is learn as much as you can from it — players, coaches and everybody in the program.”
The Bobcats, winners of 31 games over the last three seasons and now eight straight and 18 of 19 at home, largely had their way with the Mountaineers with the exception of three second-half interceptions thrown by Parker Navarro.
While each of the three setup the Mountaineers with better than average field position, the visitors failed to take advantage on each occasion, never gaining a first down and totaling minus-7 yards over nine plays on the three series that followed turnovers.
West Virginia’s defense pitched a second-half shutout for the second straight week, but the Mountaineers went scoreless over six straight series to end the contest, generating a paltry 57 yards over 26 plays during that time.
With tailback Jahiem White out for the entirety of the second half and likely longer due to an injury that forced him to be carted off, the Mountaineers had next-to-no ground game. WVU finished with 72 rushing yards on 28 attempts. All but 8 rushing yards came in the first quarter when West Virginia produced its only touchdown on an 89-yard drive capped by White’s 32-yard dash to the end zone.
“He’s a great player, so you lose some of his explosiveness, but we weren’t executing even before then,” Rodriguez said. “That’s my job. I take responsibility for a lack of execution. We had two really good practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, but that didn’t show up for sure.”
As WVU tries to turn the page to the Backyard Brawl against Pittsburgh at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, it does so likely minus its featured ball-carrier in White, the team’s leading rusher each of the last two seasons.
The Mountaineers also lost wideout Jaden Bray to what looked to be a significant injury. Bray was the team’s leading receiver at OU with 69 yards on four receptions, including a 45-yard catch that served as the game’s longest play and made up all but 13 of the Mountaineers’ total yardage in the third quarter. Additionally, linebacker Reid Carrico left for good early on with an injury.
Should West Virginia be without both White and Bray against the Panthers, the quest to avoid a losing record in non-conference play for a second straight season becomes all the more difficult.
The Panthers (2-0) are a 4.5-point favorite for the matchup in Morgantown.
“We have to be better, learn from this and have a goldfish memory and prepare for next week,” said WVU linebacker Ben Cutter, who had one of the team’s three interceptions. “Obviously correct our mistakes, but after that, we’re on to Pitt.”