WVU defense trying to block out the noise, build on positives
AP Photo/Annie Rice
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It’s been a rough last six games if you’re a player or staff member on West Virginia’s defense. The defense has performed really poorly and is the worst in the Big 12. The defense is second to last in all of college football and is the worst out of Power Four teams.
What makes it worse is the offense has done enough to win games. The Mountaineers have the best offense in the Big 12 and are 17th nationally. WVU’s offense scored 48 points against No. 15 Texas Tech, and still lost because the defense couldn’t stop anything. That’s been the story for every Big 12 game, even in the losses.
With what the offense has shown and the potential of what the team could be with a decent defense, WVU fans are upset. The defense is bashed every week on social media. Fire defensive coordinator Zac Alley here, and I hope no player returns on this defense there.
Alley has urged his players to stay off social media.
“I always tell them, never take criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from,” Alley said. “What happens in here, and the things we say in this building, I want that to matter to them because we want them to be the best.”
That’s not easy. Even if a player stays off social media, it’s not stopping a friend or family member from showing them what’s on there.
“You try and encourage them to be off of it,” Alley said.
It didn’t help that West Virginia’s defense had its worst performance of the season in the first half of the Texas Tech game. The Mountaineers allowed 41 points and 494 yards of offense. Defenses don’t allow that for an entire game, let alone a half. Luckily, the offense was making it somewhat of a game and had 27 points.
It was very easy for the defense to throw in the towel at the break. But Alley had a plan to get his side of the ball back in the game. He made some adjustments, putting players in better positions to succeed, but he also gave the team a simple message.
“Hey guys, they can’t stop the offense,” Alley told the team. “If we can get the ball back to them three, four times in a row, we can make this a close game. Then all the pressure is on the other side. Get your heads up, get ready to fight, and go back out there, and here are some things we think that can help execute it.”
Rich Rodriguez added that the defense needed more energy because they looked dejected on the sideline. It makes sense; Texas Tech put a full game total of 41 points and nearly 500 yards of offense on them in 30 minutes.
The defense came out of the second half and put together one of its better performances of the season. WVU forced Texas Tech to punt four straight times out of the locker room — three being three-and-outs. The Red Raiders had 16 yards of offense in the third quarter and -4 passing yards.
As Alley said, those couple of stops were enough for WVU’s offense to take the lead 48-41 in the final minutes of the quarter.
The defense was playing with energy once again after looking lifeless in the first half.
“We were talking. We were yelling like the rest of the game,” defensive back Andrew Powdrell said. “In the second half, we were just talking to the sideline the rest of the game. On the field, celebrating for each other, like little things that make a huge difference. I feel like us being able to do that, we’re able to get a couple stops, make them punt the ball, give the offense the ball back. We just need to do it from start to finish, not just at the end of the game.”
In the fourth quarter, the defense was close to closing out the game, but gave up a couple of big plays. Texas Tech drove down the field twice to retake the lead. WVU’s defense created a crucial fourth-down stop, giving the offense two opportunities to tie or win the game. But the offense stalled, and the Mountaineers lost the game.
Overall, it was still a very bad performance by the defense, and it was flamed on social media, but that third quarter and parts of the fourth quarter are something to build on in the final three games of the season.
The problem is getting the defense to play with that type of energy for all four quarters. Rodriguez said the defense hasn’t played a complete game all year, so it’s a lot easier said than done.
Alley is trying his best to get the defense to play with energy, and he still believes it’s possible.
“The guys believe, and they want to play hard,” Alley said. “They see flashes of what we can be. We want to get that consistency. I think that’s the challenge that I present to them every day, and I think they’ve accepted that.”