Not since 2000 has WVU had the second week of the season off and in that season, as well as the 1998 and 1993 seasons that shared the distinction, the Mountaineers played only 11 regular season games.

What last week’s off week means is WVU will play six straight Saturdays and on 11 of 12 weekends. That’s a whale of a run, especially in this travel-troubled Big 12, where the Mountaineers make their only four road trips in the final eight games and nine weeks.

Whistling past Marshall preceded polishing throughout an open week before facing a talented, though still FCS, James Madison — and we’ll table the discussion about two tests quizzes in three weeks before facing a Maryland team that will have three increasingly difficult games (William & Mary, Temple and UConn) under its shell.

What the Mountaineers tried to do last week, and apparently succeeded in doing, was maintain the sharp edge that they showed off during the 69-34 win against the Thundering Herd.

WVU had basically eight touchdown drives — the ninth was one play and four seconds long after Doug Rigg returned an interception to the 1-yard line. The offense needed 9, 8, 5, 3, 9, 7, 9 and 3 plays and between 41 seconds and 3 minutes, 36 seconds to score.

That’s quick and efficient and WVU only encountered eight third downs all day.

Yet there were some pitfalls that kept WVU from doing a few things it likes to do, which is gain yards, play fast, pick up first downs and score points.

There were three offensive penalties that ended up not mattering and only asked the defense to pick up more yards before a touchdown, but they were still bummers.

More significant were eight critical plays. Three were what Dana Holgorsen called “reckless plays,” when K.J. Myers bobbled a pass that was intercepted and two players fumbled, only to be bailed out by a teammate’s recovery. There were also five negative yardage plays. The combination became the focus of practice.

WVU scored TDs on the three drives that featured the offensive penalties, but the negative-yardage plays were costly.

One was a two-yard loss by running back Shawne Alston that preceded a turnover on downs inside Marshall’s 5-yard line. Another was a 10-yard loss on a run by Tavon Austin set up a second-and-20 before a punt Marshall blocked to set up a touchdown.

Backup quarterback Paul Millard completed a pass to Jordan Thompson for a two-yard loss on first down and was sacked on second down before another punt.

The reckless plays and the negative plays were outside WVU’s mission on offense.

“If we can improve on those two things, we’ll be better offensively,” Holgorsen said.

Basically, if WVU is moving forward, WVU plays quicker and WVU is better when it’s in a rhythm and able to dictate tempo to the defense.