Two weeks ago, West Virginia entered a matchup at nationally-ranked Houston with five straight losses and needing to win out to avoid a non-losing season.
Winners of two straight, the Mountaineers are still battling for bowl eligibility entering their final road game this season, which comes at 1 p.m. Saturday in the form of a matchup with Arizona State at Mountain America Stadium.
The contest will air on TNT.
For WVU, three straight weeks displaying progress, the last two of which have resulted in the team’s only consecutive victories to date, offer hope entering a matchup with the defending Big 12 Conference champion. The Mountaineers’ 23-17 home setback to TCU was followed by a 45-35 win against the Cougars and most recently, last Saturday’s 29-22 home triumph against Colorado.
Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Rich Rodriguez walks with his team as they arrive before their game against the Colorado Buffaloes at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images
“You would think you’d see some difference, but there really hasn’t been much difference in the preparation and approach from early in the year until now,” West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s been consistently the same. The results have been better the last couple games, but I said before when we weren’t winning and what have you, I didn’t see cracks in the wall, I didn’t see issues with their effort or focus. Maybe there was a lack of confidence and they’ll have more of that, but there never was a time like, ‘I don’t like coaching these guys or whatever.’ It was never that. That’s why I’m glad they’ve had just a little bit of success. They’ve put in the work and will continue to do that.”
True freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. will start his fifth consecutive game at the sport’s most prominent position against ASU, and the play of Fox has paired with an improved run game to lead to better offensive showings and 74 points over the last two games.
Whether or not that trend continues against Arizona State (6-3, 4-2), will go a long way in determining if West Virginia (4-6, 2-5) remains bowl eligible entering next week’s regular season finale against Texas Tech, the sixth-ranked team in the College Football Playoff and one of three in the Big 12 without multiple league losses.
The Sun Devils have allowed more than 24 points only once all season, though they’ve allowed exactly 24 on four occasions and at least that number in all three losses. ASU has surrendered 30 points on average in setbacks and 20.5 in victories.
“We’re playing good defense,” Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham said. “There are times we’re giving up explosive plays that are hurting us or getting penalties that are hurting us on third downs. We’re getting too many penalties on third down. But I’ve been happy for the most part with how our defense is playing. They’re flying around. Last [game], they answered the bell multiple times. We have to continue to do that and continue to build off that.”
Opposing West Virginia, which runs at a high rate than any other Big 12 team, could be a quality matchup for the Sun Devils considering they rank second in the conference in rush defense surrendering 123.2 yards per game on the ground. The Sun Devils have also gotten after opposing quarterbacks and their 2.7 sacks per game are good for No. 3 in the Big 12.
“They’re really big on the interior defensive line and pretty athletic,” Rodriguez said. “They’ll do some stunts and some games, but they don’t have to do a lot. They don’t have to overload you, blitz and play cover 0 to get pressure on the quarterback. They’ve been able to get pressure sending four a lot of times.”
As for its own quarterback, Jeff Sims will make his second straight start behind center for ASU after rushing for the most yards (228) of any player at that position in program history his last time out in a 24-19 victory at Iowa State back on November 1.
“We know they’re going to be fresh and excited,” Rodriguez said. “The biggest thing after a team has had an open date, you have to be ready for something different early. They may do something tricky on special teams or on offense or show you a different front or coverage that they haven’t worked on. You have to kind of be prepared for the things that they haven’t shown from a self-scout standpoint, but that’d kind of typical.”
Sims took over for Sam Leavitt, last year’s Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and the conference’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year in 2025. Leavitt played in seven games but has been ruled out for the season with a foot injury, leaving Sims in line for his third start of the year.
“They’ve done a good job of adjusting the offense to fit who he is and use his skillset and ability,” WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley said. “He’s a good player. He’s hard to get down and he’s big. We have to do a good job of corralling him and get him down in the run game.”
Sims will not have the luxury of throwing to one of the top wideouts in college football as Jordyn Tyson has been ruled out for a third straight game with a hamstring injury.
Like ASU, West Virginia has been better defending the run and ranks sixth in the Big 12 allowing 141.4 yards per game on the ground. But between Sims and ASU tailback Raleek Brown, who is third in the Big 12 with 770 rushing yards, the Mountaineers’ challenge will be significant Saturday.
“Running the ball and stopping the run is always a recipe to win football games,” Dillingham said. “If you can successfully run it and successfully stop it, you’re going to win games more often than not.”
