After West Virginia jumped out to a 27-0 halftime lead and eventually buried BYU 37-7 two years ago at Milan Puskar Stadium, reporters who cover the Mountaineers loudly questioned in the press box whether the Cougars really belonged in the Big 12.
Making his first start, BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff looked overwhelmed and out of sorts at times, but fully capable at other times. BYU was dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball and the Mountaineers outgained their visitors 567-277 along the country roads of Morgantown.
A sellout crowd of 50,266 belted out John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” after the game, as is customary when the Mountaineers taste victory, and BYU coach Kalani Sitake made his players watch the spectacle to the bitter end, perhaps as a motivational technique.
It was one of the worst performances by a BYU football team in recent memory, and it got worse, as Iowa State rolled into LaVell Edwards Stadium and pulverized the Cougars 45-13 the following week in Provo.
“West Virginia is a really good team with a lot of talent. … I do know that they have an amazing head coach (Rich Rodriguez) that’s proven and has connections. I know he will have those guys ready.”
— BYU coach Kalani Sitake on the Mountaineers
Since those dark days of November 2023, however, BYU has been among the better teams in the Power Four ranks, and West Virginia has been at the bottom half. As fictional character Michael Scott famously said in an episode of “The Office” — “Well, well, well, how the turntables.”
The Mountaineers (0-2, 2-3) come into LES for Friday night’s Big 12 showdown (8:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN) with No. 23 BYU (1-0, 4-0) as the decided underdog, beat up and bruised, while the Cougars are flying high.
The Cougars, who have scored in every quarter this season and in 27 straight quarters dating back to last season, when they went 11-2, are 19.5-point favorites and coming off a 24-21 win at Colorado, while West Virginia was pounded 48-14 by Utah at home.
What’s more, WVU is making the long cross-country trip on a short week and will be without star quarterback Nicco Marchiol, who announced this week he is redshirting to recover from a foot injury and expects to enter the transfer portal.
Redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins is expected to make his first career start. Wilkins, from the Washington, D.C., area, has rushed for 106 yards and completed 3 of 6 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown this season as one of four WVU QBs who has seen action.
On paper, it looks like an epic mismatch, but Sitake is having none of that kind of talk this week.
“West Virginia is a really good team with a lot of talent. … I do know that they have an amazing head coach (Rich Rodriguez) that’s proven and has connections. I know he will have those guys ready.”
The Cougars are 32-4 in their last 36 night games, but one of those losses was the aforementioned outing at West Virginia. If there is a team accustomed to playing after dark, it is BYU, noted receiver and punter returner Parker Kingston.
“I think we love it. Our sports scientists and everyone, they do a great job of getting us prepared, waking us up, telling us when to take naps, getting food in us at the right time,” Kingston said Monday. “We just come out under the lights and we like to shine. It has been fun.”
Said safety Faletau Satuala: “I just think the repetition of playing that late gives us a little edge over everyone else. But I would say that any time (of day) we are going to put up a good game.”
It could also be something of a trap game, with BYU’s schedule stiffening immensely after Friday’s encounter. The Cougars are at Arizona, at home to rival Utah, and at Iowa State to finish out October. November’s schedule includes trips to Texas Tech and Cincinnati and home games against TCU and UCF.
ESPN’s FPI analytics give BYU a 94.9% chance to beat the Mountaineers, who should get at least one weapon back against BYU. Running back Tye Edwards is listed as “probable” to play on Friday. He ran for 141 yards on 25 carries and scored three touchdowns in WVU’s 31-24 upset of Pitt in overtime.
“It’s definitely a tough challenge for them,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “But Rich Rod is at his best when his back is against the wall.”
Kingston said the Cougars will rely on their culture of staying humble and hungry to ward off overconfidence.
“We have guys who don’t get to see the field as much, but they are ready to step up at any given time, and I think that’s what really sets us apart. If someone goes down another guy steps up and you don’t really see a difference,” Kingston said. “I think that is just a testament to who we are as a team, who we are as individuals. Everyone just wants to play and they are working as hard as they can to get on the field.”
A lot of the Cougars still have memories of that beatdown in Morgantown on their minds, and are eager to show how far the program has come in two years.
“The last time we played them, it didn’t go our way. It was a pretty tough game,” said redshirt junior Bodie Schoonover. “We are looking forward to this rematch. They have some good runners. Their line is pretty solid. So (we need to) just do our thing, stop the run and dominate the line of scrimmage. Just do our thing, play our defense.”
And then sing their own version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
