West Virginia’s season opener against Robert Morris may have resulted in a dominant 45-3 victory, but head coach Rich Rodriguez walked away with more questions than answers about his team. The blowout win, while satisfying for fans, left the coaching staff without the competitive evaluation they needed to truly assess their squad’s capabilities.
What Did Rich Rodriguez Actually Learn About His Defense?
When asked what he learned about his defense in the season opener, Rodriguez was refreshingly blunt in his assessment.
“Not much. We weren’t really challenged on defense and didn’t think so going in. They obviously were at a smaller level. And we gave up a couple of third-and-10s early, but outside of that, I thought they played pretty solid. We weren’t really challenged. I mean, Zach always does some stuff, but he didn’t do nearly all the stuff that he typically would do because he didn’t have to,” he said in a recent press conference.
The Mountaineers rolled up more than 600 yards of offense and controlled the game from start to finish, but that dominance came at a cost. With Robert Morris unable to mount sustained drives or challenge West Virginia’s defensive schemes, Rodriguez couldn’t rotate players as much as planned or test his defensive adjustments under pressure.
WVU HC Rich Rodriguez responds “not much” when asked what he learned about his defense. He expects to learn a lot more this week.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) September 2, 2025
The sluggish start also prevented Rodriguez from getting younger players meaningful snaps early in the contest, limiting his ability to evaluate depth and development across the roster.
How Will the Mountaineers Prepare for Ohio’s Hostile Environment?
West Virginia now faces a completely different challenge as they travel to Athens, Ohio, to take on the defending MAC champion Ohio Bobcats. With over 80 new players on the roster this season, Rodriguez knows preparation will be crucial for success at Peden Stadium.
WVU HC Rich Rodriguez says he’s going to pump in music and reiterate to his team the tough environment they will be at Ohio. He also added that it’s sometimes easier to get a team ready and focused for a road game because it’s more just about the team with less distractions.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) September 2, 2025
To combat the expected crowd noise and hostile atmosphere, Rodriguez revealed that West Virginia will incorporate extra crowd noise simulation into their practice routine this week.
“Yeah, we’ll have, we’ll do a little more crowd noise. We typically do that on Thursdays. We’ll probably do a little bit of it after each, at the end of five or 10 minutes at each practice just so our quarterbacks are vocal, where our guys are making their calls vocal a little bit, you know, and we’ll talk all week about, you know, the environment you’re going to be in and all that,” Rodriguez explained.
The coach also shared an interesting perspective on road game preparation, noting that the focused environment can actually benefit his team’s mental preparation.
“A lot of times it’s, you know, it’s, believe it or not, it’s easier to get your team focused on a road game because that’s all it is. It’s just them. It’s just us. It’s not all the other stuff going around, families and recruits and all that stuff. So, you know, hopefully that’s what our guys will get dialed in on this week.”
Saturday’s matchup against Ohio represents the first real test for Rodriguez’s revamped roster. Unlike the Robert Morris game, this contest should provide the competitive evaluation that was missing from the season opener. The Mountaineers’ performance in Athens will offer genuine insight into how this team handles adversity and whether the new faces can execute under pressure.
For a defense that Rodriguez admits he learned “not much” about in Week 1, the trip to Ohio provides the perfect opportunity to see what his unit is truly capable of when faced with a legitimate challenge.
