West Virginia has been outscored 89-24 over its first two Big 12 Conference games.
The Mountaineers have failed to score a first-half touchdown in league play, managing only three points during that time and allowing 45.
Last Saturday, WVU (2-3, 0-2) lost its first home game this season in lopsided fashion against Utah, 48-14.
“Utah was really able to take control of the game up front on both sides of the ball,” WVU Director of Athletics/Vice President Wren Baker said Monday in an appearance on MetroNews Talkline. “They had some transfers in that mix, but most of those were kids they’d had in their program for some time and developed. That’s what you’re trying to do. As coach Rodriguez and his staff really get feet on the ground here and year 1 underneath them, you’re going to try to retain the talent you need to retain and try to bring in high school coaches that you can grow and develop and supplement that with portal kids. People want it to be a straight ascension to the top, but it takes some time.”
Since an emotional come-from-behind 31-24 overtime win against Pitt on September 13, WVU has started two different quarterbacks in two games, played three extensively and a fourth in a limited role.
The Mountaineers have consistently struggled to move the ball, managing three touchdowns on 23 possessions of more than one play against Big 12 competition and none on 13 full first-half series. West Virginia’s three touchdowns in Big 12 play came while trailing by 31, 35 and 34 points. At one point in the most recent game, the Utes had four touchdown passes to the Mountaineers’ three completions.
“When you bring in new coaches, there’s already such a transient nature to rosters and that gets greatly enhanced,” Baker said. “You have to replace 80 players and you’re trying to bring in a staff to do it. They’ve been evaluating the portal. Like I told somebody the other day that asked when coaches start evaluating in the portal, our staff has watched video all summer long and watched and graded every underclassmen in the country at Division I and probably many at Division II and junior college as well.
“By the time a kid goes in the portal, many times, they already have it whittled down to where they want to go. So when you bring new coaches in, they really are behind the 8-ball in terms of getting their feet on the ground, and the more they have to go see, the more diluted your budget is for player acquisition and retention, and the more you’re not able to be as targeted on what your needs are.”
WVU has struggled offensively in each of its three losses and for a large stretch of the matchup with the Panthers until scoring 17 points on its final three series.
A Friday night game at nationally-ranked BYU awaits the Mountaineers before a bye week and West Virginia is nearly a three-touchdown underdog — the most an opponent has been favored by this season.
Baker recognizes tough times could be in store for what remains of the 2025 season that marks the first for Rich Rodriguez in his second stint as WVU head coach.
The path the Mountaineers appear to be on this year follows many Big 12 programs in their first season with a new head coach since 2023 — when the transfer portal and name, image and likeness began to have an even more prominent impact.
In 2023, Arizona State had a 3-9 record under first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham and Cincinnati finished with the same mark in Scott Satterfield’s first season. Also that year, Colorado finished 4-8 under Deion Sanders in what marked his first season as Buffaloes’ head coach.
Last season, Arizona was 4-8 under new head coach Brent Brennan and Houston had the same record under new head coach Willie Fitz. That same season, the Sun Devils made a massive leap and finished 11-3, winning the Big 12 and qualifying for the College Football Playoff. Colorado also was significantly improved at 9-4, while the Bearcats finished 5-7.
In 2025, the Wildcats are off to a 3-1 start and the Cougars are unbeaten and have already matched last season’s win total under Fritz.
“It takes a little bit of time,” said Baker, who referenced challenges Marshall has faced during its 2-3 start under first-year head coach Tony Gibson. “People don’t want to hear that and people will point to the instant success they had at Indiana [in 2024], but if look at the Big 12 coaches that have come into the league since 2023 when portal and NIL really became a massive factor, most of them have won either three or four games their first year, because it does take some time.
“Our team is going to continue to work hard and I know our coaches will and they’ll get better. You see moments like the win against Pitt where we show progress and then you get setbacks like we’ve had these last couple games, but you just keep fighting and trying to get better, and you’re much better-positioned from a financial standpoint in terms of your budget and from an evaluation standpoint and being ahead of the game for that next portal class.”
When the Mountaineers look to strengthen their roster through the transfer portal for 2026, they will do so exclusively in the winter after approval during voting earlier this month from the Division I Administrative Committee to eliminate the spring transfer window in football.
Last winter, the portal was open from December 9-28 and again in the spring on April 16 for an additional 10 days.
This change has a proposed portal window of January 2-16, though that has yet to be finalized.
Baker welcomes the change.
“I’m all for people having opportunities to find situations that fit them,” he said. “A situation where you could acquire a student-athlete in the December portal, have an agreement on what things were going to look like in terms of their revenue share and then they turn around and re-enter the portal to try and get a better deal three or four months later in the spring, you just can’t build a roster that way. It’s not a sustainable model. That’s a word I keep using when people ask me about the future of college athletics. The totally unregulated nature that we’ve had the last couple years is just not sustainable.
“You have schools like Ohio State win the football national championship, but have a $30-40 million budget deficit because they’re trying to chase a number that there’s not any kind of guardrails, restrictions, regulations or rules on. Getting that to one portal period still gives a student-athlete a chance to find another place that might fit them better, but it allows you to lock in on your roster after that initial portal period and really be able to focus in on getting the players on your team better.”