MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s longest road trip of the year also happens to be its final one.
The Mountaineers look to keep hope alive for a non-losing season at 1 p.m. Saturday when they take on defending Big 12 Conference champion Arizona State at Mountain America Stadium. Ahead of the matchup with the Sun Devils, WVU (4-6, 2-5) has won consecutively for the first time this season, claiming a 10-point victory at then-No. 22 Houston and following it up with a 29-22 triumph over Colorado last Saturday.
The Mountaineers have been far better over their last three games, starting with a six-point loss to TCU, than what they showcased through the first four Big 12 contests, which were all losses and by an average of 27.8 points.
“We have played better. We were playing really poorly at times earlier in the season,” WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “There was no panic. I didn’t think we played really well all the time this past weekend. We played with more of a sense of maturity in the game. When we made a mistake, guys didn’t get down, weren’t looking at the scoreboard or panicking.
“Every win is a good win. We’re continuing to grow. We have two really good opponents left in the regular season and I know we’re going to have to play better to win those games. Any time you play well or win, it gives you more confidence. That’s the best thing about having a win is it gives our guys more confidence.”
In Arizona State (6-3, 4-2), the Mountaineers will oppose the preseason Big 12 favorite and a program that won the conference in 2024 after being projected to finish last in the 16-team league.
The Sun Devils still have hope for a spot in this year’s Big 12 title game, but will almost certainly need to win out and receive outside help. ASU has league wins over Baylor, TCU, Texas Tech and most recently last Saturday at Iowa State, and has been defeated by Utah and Houston. The Sun Devils, Utes and Cougars are the three Big 12 teams with two league losses, while the Red Raiders, Cincinnati and BYU have one each.
Five of the Sun Devils’ six league games have been decided by one possession, including all four of their victories, which have come by a total of 15 points and none by more than five.
That follows a similar theme to 2024 when the Sun Devils won six of seven one-possession games in the regular season and advanced to the College Football Playoff with 11 victories before suffering a double overtime loss to Texas in a quarterfinal.
“They have a lot of those guys back. They got on a roll and got a lot of confidence and that’s part of it,” Rodriguez said. “That confidence carried over. A little bit more bad luck this year. Not quite as much as us, but they’ve had some that they had to deal with. They’re adapting well. They beat one of the best teams in the country in Texas Tech. It’s going to be quite the challenge.”
The luck Rodriguez mentioned is in reference to the Sun Devils’ abundance of injuries. In their most recent game November 1 against the Cyclones, 15 Sun Devils were on the Big 12 Player Availability Report, including 11 designated out and two gametime decisions.
The most notable absences were quarterback Sam Leavitt and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson. Last year’s Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and this year’s Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Leavitt appeared in seven games but was shutdown for the season to underdog foot surgery following the loss to the Cougars. Leavitt, who also missed the Utah game, suffered injury September 20 against Baylor.
Tyson, the team’s top target, hasn’t played since October 18 when he hauled in 10 passes for 105 yards with a touchdown against the Red Raiders.
Despite being limited to seven games as a result of a hamstring injury, Tyson leads the conference with 57 receptions, is eighth with 628 receiving yards and tied for second with eight touchdowns.
He was downgraded from doubtful to out before the matchup with the Cyclones.
Tyson was an integral part of Arizona State’s success a year ago when he caught 75 passes for 1,101 yards with 10 touchdowns to earn All-Big 12 first-team honors as well as Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
“He’s not just one of the best receivers in the country. He’s one of the best players in the country — period,” Rodriguez said. “Just a tremendous amount of respect for who he is as a player and you can see how he works. He’s one of the best I’ve seen in years.”
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Perhaps the most intriguing storyline to come from West Virginia’s seven-point win over the Buffaloes last weekend was that two of the team’s three touchdowns were scored by Curtis Jones Jr.
A bandit often tasked with rushing the passer and/or holding the edge on defense, Jones got his first crack at tailback in college. He made the most of his opportunity with three carries for 9 yards, including a first-quarter touchdown run of 2 yards on fourth-and-goal and a 4-yard fourth-quarter TD run that proved to be the game-winning score.
It marked Jones’ first game action in the backfield since his prep days as a two-way all-state player at Cabell Midland High School, and he will continue to assume double duty in the immediate future.
“The whole thing of necessity being the mother of invention, it’s kind of one of those kind of deals,” Rodriguez said. “All of our running backs are getting hurt, it feels like our quarterbacks are getting hurt. Who’s played running back before? There wasn’t a whole lot of thought into that. With Curtis, we’re going to have to give him more reps. Diore [Hubbard] is banged up. He battled through it last weekend. We have two tough games left. We have to continue to get Curtis more and more reps.
“Going forward, a lot of these guys we recruit play both ways in high school. If they’re good enough to play both ways in high school and can transition to do a little bit of that in college, we’re going to play them both ways. It won’t be a lot, but you’ll see more teams do that. A guy can be a fullback and defensive end or a wideout and defensive back. We’re looking at that as we speak with some of the recruits we have.”