“Nothing Was Good”: Rodriguez Reacts to Blowout Loss to Kansas

Head Coach Rich Rodriguez sat down with the media after West Virginia’s blowout loss to Kansas on Saturday. Read more: “Nothing Was Good”: Rodriguez Reacts to Blowout Loss to Kansas 

Rodriguez was clearly disappointed in his team’s performance and their effort, stating that “nothing was good”. 

While the disgruntled head coach didn’t have much to say, let’s talk about what he did say in his short press conference. 

Poorly Coached, Poorly Played 

Rodriguez started by saying he thought his team had an “okay” week of practice. However, he hinted at the fact that they may not have shown as much effort throughout the week compared to the week leading up to Pittsburgh. 

With that, he put a lot of the blame on himself and his coaching staff. Rodriguez acknowledged the fact that West Virginia not only played badly, but they were poorly coached heading into this game. 

Rodriguez also talked about his team’s lack of effort throughout the game. Notably, he talked about the defense’s missed tackles, especially in the second half. 

Though he was also not shy from mentioning how the offense didn’t help them much in the first half. 

Related: WVU Routed by Jayhawks 41-10 in Big 12 Opener

Most of all, Rodriguez was disappointed in the second-half opening kickoff return touchdown by the Jayhawks. Rodriguez said how that was just the second or third kickoff touchdown of his coaching career. 

Like he said, the team was trying to gain some momentum, and that was quickly halted with another touchdown by Kansas. 

All of these could be chalked up to a bad week of practice and a lack of effort throughout. 

Offensive Struggles 

When asked about the team’s offensive struggles in the game, Rodriguez pointed out the lack of a run game WVU was able to establish. 

While they did put up 182 yards on the ground, most of that was when the game was already far from reach. For the entire first half, the Mountaineers could never get a consistent run game going. 

A large part of this was the fact that Tye Edwards couldn’t play. Rodriguez said he traveled with the team and was a game-time decision. His absence was certainly a hit for WVU. 

Rodriguez also talked about how they weren’t precise when throwing the ball. While he didn’t specify anyone, he was certainly talking about Nicco Marchiol here. 

Marchiol was inaccurate throughout the time he was in and was consistently affected by the pressure Kansas was generating. 

Related: Mountaineers Open Big 12 Play with Road Draw at UCF

He also threw an interception in the third quarter to former Mountaineer Tray Lathan. 

Rodriguez did, however, give some praise to Jaylan Henderson. When brought in, Henderson led one of the most successful drives of the game, capped off with a rushing touchdown of his own.

Ultimately, though, Rodriguez was not pleased with the effort his team showed on all three levels in the game.

Moving On 

While Rodriguez couldn’t hold back his disappointment, he also understands that this is a long process. 

With the injuries piling up and all the new players on the roster, Rodriguez just hopes they can stay healthy and keep improving. 

You can’t control if injuries occur, but what you can control is the effort you play with. Rodriguez hopes his team adopts that motto as they look ahead to Utah next Saturday at home.