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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/hammer_it_out on 2025-11-10 18:07:07+00:00.

Author’s Note: Sorry y’all: I prefer to have these up on Sunday, but other jobs that sustain me with an income sometimes get in the way. I hope that Monday afternoon isn’t too late for people to care, and that someone enjoys!

MORGANTOWN, WV — If you were to hop in a time machine and travel back just three weeks and speak to West Virginia football fans, you wouldn’t sense a ton of optimism. The Mountaineers had just finished a bye week, and proceeded to get walloped by UCF in an absolute beating. They were 2-5 overall, had just lost what seemed like the most winnable game remaining on the schedule, and some fans had decided the season was a lost cause.

Meanwhile, Colorado fans at that time had some reason for hope. Yes, they were 3-4 overall, but they had just beaten an Iowa State team in the thick of the conference title hunt, and they were using their bye week to prepare for a shot at Utah in a game that could spring a season riddled with early troubles right back to life with a victory.

But three weeks later, everything seemed different after the two teams had clashed at Milan Puskar Stadium in a Week 11 showdown between a pair of teams in the bottom-half of the conference. The Mountaineers had never trailed in a game that they eventually won 29-22, and managed their first winning streak of the year after beating a then-ranked Houston opponent the week before on the road. 

Suddenly, the Mountaineers were 4-6, and staring down a road matchup with an Arizona State team that will kickoff at 11 AM local time without their starting quarterback. And if they can do that, they’ll have a bye week to prepare to welcome a Top 10 Texas Tech team to Morgantown with bowl eligibility on the line.

“Our guys are battling back a little bit, and I told them, this is the first time I’ve mentioned it to them. But believe it or not, we’ve still got a chance to go to a bowl game,” Rich Rodriguez said during his press conference. “We’ve got to win out, but you’re telling me there’s a chance? There’s a chance.”

Meanwhile, the Buffaloes had dropped their third consecutive game and fell to 3-7 overall on the season, watching their postseason hopes disappear into the dustbin of history. Deion Sanders, affectionately known as ‘Coach Prime’, is now 16-19 overall in his nearly three full seasons in Boulder, and has just a 9-16 conference record. But he’s confident he still has a grasp on the situation, and that the team is still working to improve and finish the season strong.

“These guys hadn’t quit. Contrary to what people may write, what they may say, these guys are still fighting,” Sanders said after the game. “They still want it. They’re still coming over the sidelines, saying things to me, you could tell they’re upset. They’re holding themselves and each other accountable. The coaches are holding them accountable, and I’m holding the coaches accountable, and I got a few people holding me accountable.”

The Game

The Mountaineers arguably won the game not through any amazing offensive feats, but through being able to keep a firm grasp on the game defensively. WVU’s defense kept Colorado from moving the ball consistently, and stuffing the run and keeping freshman quarterback Julian Lewis under pressure was a big part of that. The Buffaloes were held to just 51 rushing yards in the game, and West Virginia’s defense recorded 15 tackles for loss, seven of which came as sacks. 

“We got to the quarterback today for sure, and that was a big part of the gameplan,” said WVU linebacker Reid Carrico, who had two sacks in the win.

Carrico admitted that there was a midseason stretch for WVU’s defense that “was tough for us” and that they had “lost some confidence” as a team, but that the 23-17 loss to TCU and the week of practice leading up to the game was a turning point for the defense.

“We just have done the same thing the last couple weeks and we’ve been putting in more time getting the defense together as a whole, getting the DBs and everything all in the same room watching the same tape and communicating the calls and everything like that. And I’d say that everybody as a whole is, you know, really starting to pick it up,” Carrico added.

WVU also got a boost from one defensive player on the offensive side of the ball. With four of the team’s top six running backs injured, and two out for the season – including Tye Edwards, who was the team’s 6-foot-2 short-yardage back – the Mountaineers called upon bandit Curtis Jones Jr. in the backfield. Jones is a 6-foot-4 and 226 pound sophomore, and the Huntington, WV native was a two-time first-team all-state selection at running back for Cabell Midland High School.

Jones, who had rushed for over 3,300 yards and 46 touchdowns between his junior and senior seasons of high school, did something few players do – he got his first collegiate carry and his first collegiate touchdown on the same play. With the Mountaineers toting a 2-0 lead and the ball sitting on Colorado’s 2-yard line. Jones proceeded to use the opportunity to break one defender’s tackle and dive through another pair of Colorado defenders to cross the goal line and score. He would be called upon twice more in the redzone, and added a second touchdown scamper on a four-yard run to give WVU a 29-19 lead with just over 4:00 minutes to play in the game. 

“It was a surreal moment. I was speechless,” Jones said. “Just getting back in the game and back on the offensive side, I was very anxious. I was very excited as well."

“We had no backs that I think weighed more than 180 pounds,” Rodriguez said. “The first time we were down on the goal line, I turned around and he’s standing right there breathing down my neck…he can be a weapon; he was obviously a really good high school running back and, yeah, our running back health situation has been kind of crazy, too.”