If you’re been reading my stuff (anything) long enough, you know there’s a principle I hold teams to and evaluate teams with and that it’s just about undefeated: There comes a point every year where you are what you are and there isn’t much you can do about it. There aren’t enough practices left or parts available to change prevalent trends, be they good or bad.

In short, the cement always dries.

I have a feeling WVU is trying to buck the trend. Not only that, but WVU might be capable.

It can’t undo 4-5/2-4, but it can prevent a situation in which things completely unravel. Teams can get a little better and do a few new things in place of a few old things that weren’t working.

We’re looking at a small sample size, and we must not forget that the Mountaineers just lost three in a row before unwrapping a win against TCU, but there are some things that should have our attention. WVU doesn’t run plays with four or five receivers anymore. WVU uses Cody Clay a whole lot. WVU runs the ball a little differently than before. And why is that? WVU doesn’t really have a dearth of receivers (Aside: Dana Holgorsen told me yesterday that Ronald Carswell is suspended indefinitely, but I’ve also been told he’s off the team.). Clay is pretty versatile and serviceable. Some new running ideas have been uncovered.

This may be one of the side effects of this roster this season. Holgorsen needed and took time to figure out things. You saw a pretty dramatic reorganization of the offensive line. You saw three quarterbacks in six games. You saw a stable of receivers get their chances. And think of the carousel of philosophies and plays. Screens came and went and came again. Quarterbacks threw shorts passes and then deep passes and now throw a mix of each. Then Saturday you saw the most meaningful dose of power running plays. You saw Ron Crook’s Fingerprints.

“That’s him,” center Pat Eger said. “We were going to put it in before he got her.e Coach Bedenbaugh was going to do it. But when Coach Crook came in from Stanford and that’s all they run at Stanford. It’s been great having that experience running power because he can teach us all the runs. It’s brought a whole new element to the game.”

That three-play sequence  in the second quarter must be circled: Sims 29 run, Alford 27 pass from Trickett, Sims 31 run. (Oh! The quote from Holgorsen about his quarterback and the play action pass to Alford must not be forgotten, either: “Clint actually threw the post the way he’s supposed to.”)

It’s simple stuff with guards pulling out of their stance and sweeping across the line of scrimmage to lead on the other side of the play, but it’s effective and it was effective Saturday because TCU wasn’t really prepared for it. And how could Dick Bumpas have anticipated that?

Then WVU got lathered up and showed what you see above: Seven offensive linemen, no receivers, two tight ends in the backfield. That’s as Stanford as WVU is going to get and WVU got all Stanford on us in the ninth game of the season. I promise you that got the attention of one Greg Robinson.

Might have to bend my rule a little bit. Just a little bit.

How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the good and the bad of WVU v. TCU.

Good: Light switch
If this thing turns out good for WVU, which is to say there is a continuity of competence against Texas and then later against Kansas and Iowa State, and the teams ends up 6-6 or 7-5, we should probably remember this series. The Mountaineers had nothing going. I mean, nothing to the tune of 63 yards in four possessions. WVU then called the power plays, and watch Quinton Spain on the first play and Mark Glowinski on the third go to work. That’s tremendously tremendous and it made the score 17-10 when it looked like TCU might set the cruise control.

And don’t look now, but Spain has been great the last two games and Glowinski played about as well Saturday as I can remember an offensive lineman playing in quite some time. I’m not limiting their performance to the power plays, too. TCU does a lot of weird stuff up front with twists and stunts and it’s designed to put the two guards and the center in conflict. They handled it very well.

Good: Quitcowskee
This is the play that gave WVU the ball back for the aforementioned possession that got them back in the game. It should probably be a first down for TCU, and then who knows what  happens after that? But it’s instead a stop and a punt because Nick Kwiatkoski just shrugs off the (weak) block and makes it to the door in time to keep Aaron Green out of the club. That was big, both at that moment and then later when TCU basically refused to trust a conventional running game in short-yardage situations.

(Side good: Dan Hawkins was fun to listen to, I thought. I liked his yelps and his laughs and the fact he sounded  like he was just watching a game and reacting to what he was seeing. I also liked that he pronounced Kwiatkoski’s name properly.)

Good: Catches
This sounds like Pop Warner stuff, but the receivers caught the ball nicely Saturday. Alford, Daikiel Shorts and Jordan Thompson all made difficult catches while they were covered. Two things about that: 1) TCU covers opponents better than anyone else in the Big 12, to the point there are days they’ll draw their share and your share of penalty flags. 2) Trickett is going to throw you the ball. Geno Smith was really good at throwing guys open, which is to say he’d see a guy covered or somewhat open and he’d throw a pass that would pull the receiver out of coverage so that he could make the catch. Trickett has been like the complete opposite. He sees a guy covered or somewhat open and he wings it. It’s not the best trait, but on a day like Saturday, it’s sort of necessary and it’s based almost completely on trusting the receivers, which is something you develop over time.

Bad: We used to be so close…
All this talk about what WVU can and can’t do and whether the team is figuring it out makes me sad to see our old friend Hot Potato in this condition. It’s just not the same without Tavon Austin and this might have been the last ride. WVU used Vernon Davis (Jr.) on a fly sweep last week (this is not a fly sweep) and it didn’t work, but I thought it was clever because it gave us all a look at whether he could handle something special. Well, Davis, who I hear nothing but good practice things about, gets the call here and I have to think with a bit more seasoning that he takes it outside and doesn’t cut it back like this.

Good: The familiar face
This was like being at a party and knowing nobody and then seeing your college roommate walk through the doors with a 12 pack. And a bottle opener.

Also, watch Spain and Glowinski handle a twist inside with aplomb. And look at Sims make a guy miss! He was spry Saturday.

Good: Good luck, gents
That’s a particularly hard play to defend, even if you know it’s coming. WVU didn’t see that coming because 1) Casey Pachall had hardly played this season and 2) TCU doesn’t do this.

Interesting.

OK, and raise your hand if you saw this and went, “LOL Darwin but for real he’s going to do something special later.”

You’re going to remember him for so long after he’s gone. He’s exactly who Grantland Rice was talking about, I promise.

Good: Special teams. I’m serious.
Josh Lambert was solid, and very quietly he’s made his last seven kicks and is 13-for-14 inside of 50 yards this season. Nick O’Toole was good again, save that costly 27-yard punt to set TCU up at its 33-yard line on the final possession of regulation. The punt and kickoff coverage teams were better than good against a team that’s better than good on returns. The return teams were mediocre, but at this point you’re probably happy that Thompson is simply catching punts without incident.

That said, Holgorsen chose to kick the game-winning field goal on third down. That’s the smart play, of course, because if you botch a snap you can cover it up and play fourth down from the spot of the cover-up, but let’s not pretend that scenario isn’t on the bingo card. I noted that when it happened and I laughed when I read a text pointing it out later.

My only nit pick with special teams was this touchback that obviously shouldn’t have been a touchback. Gotta make that play.

Good: Composed Clint
Look at everything that goes on during this play. There are a lot of actions and reactions for Trickett to track, and just for kicks, he turns his back to the side of the field that just opened the gate for the defense. When he turns back, he has to find Kevin White in a crowd. There were plenty of times Trickett was texting and driving during the game — I picked this one because White gave effort — but he looked good at it and he seems to enjoy it.

“It might be different if I had been in this kind of offense my whole career, but being in a pro-style offense at Florida State, we did a lot of play action down there, so I’m used to it,” Trickett said. “I’m used to turning my back on the defense and then turning back and facing them — and things change when your back is turned.”

Translation: That’s not something WVU does a lot, so it’s not like Trickett has been here for three years trained in something else and is learning this new skill. WVU found something he was good at that was going to have success against TCU and he managed it. Again, it’s not exactly who the Mountaineers are, but they’re finding out things about themselves.

Bad: Miss
Trickett has some thorns that keep you from embracing him. I get that. He makes a bad throw here, one that’s late, ill advised, too short and too far inside. The safety makes a good play, but the throw has to come sooner. But don’t simply state Trickett can’t make that play. He can, I promise …

Bad: TCU run game
Just awful. As bad as advertised. The Horned Frogs had minus-14 yards on the ground in the second half and in overtime. That’s hard to do. Now, part of that has to do with Pachall getting hot and WVU’s secondary getting cold and TCU deciding not to mess with it, but a lot of it had to do with WVU’s defensive front and TCU’s offensive line not getting along the way the Horned Frogs wanted.

I really think that earlier play by Kwiatkoski and some subsequent failures spooked TCU. As a result, the offense resorted to some weird things and asked Trevone Boykin to do a lot in the run game. It worked once. This was not that time. Watch the healthy Marvin Gross start outside and stunt inside to force Boykin outside. He sees a player coming but absolutely doesn’t see Kwiatkoski come in like a wrecking ball.

Good: Trevone Boykin
I like him a lot. Remember, that guy’s a quarterback who was supposed to be a running back. He’s out there Saturday running routes and snagging passes out of the air like he knows what he’s doing, and he’s obviously got some athleticism that will serve him well. I’d love to have him on my team, but I suspect the opponent would know that. And I suspect WVU knew that. The Mountaineers weren’t fooled on the attempted throwback to Pachall on the first play, and just watch on the second  as WVU communicates what it’s supposed to do, storms to its left and swallows Boykin way behind the 2-yard line, which was where that play started. TCU’s offense is in a bad spot and needs an X Factor like Boykin, so I guess that’ll get better over time, but the gimmicky stuff wasn’t effective at all against WVU.

Also, Bruce is The Man With the Iron Fist. How many times is he going to punch a ball out before we recognize this?

Good: We have a development
His name is Noble Nwachukwu and he’s coming. He was swimming and clubbing guys all game and he was pestering Pachall whenever he put his hand in the yellow turf. WVU’s line was really, really good in this game. Will Clarke and Kyle Rose ruined and hastened plays and Shaq Rowell and Darrien Howard compromised blocks and runs in the middle. Even Dontrill Hyman had a few flashes in what looks like a limited capacity as he comes back from his ankle injury. Nwachukwu was consistently energetic and effective and I have to wonder where this came from all of a sudden. I mean, he was getting PT and he got a bit more than usual last week with Hyman out, but he was out there a lot Saturday and you noticed it.

Bad: Primary concern
WVU’s secondary has issues. The cornerbacks haven’t played near the level they were at earlier this season. Safety play is steady, but that’s not great. Depth is a problem and WVU’s situational stuff has struggled as a result. The good news is none of the final three opponents are prolific passers.

By the way, on TCU’s finally possessions, there were snaps with Howard, Gross, Daryl Worley and Jeremy Tyler on the field together. Obviously, that hadn’t happened in a game before.

Good: Told you!
Cook’s the greatest. He’s blitzing. He’s retreating. He’s hurrying over to a guy who’s wide open, but also standing still and then he recovers the fumble? And this happens because the pressure overwhelms TCU’s line. Clarke races around the tackle up top, Nwachukwu spins inside from the left as Gross takes the back road. Pachall feels it and steps forward and Kwiatkoski, who kept pushing, swallows the thing. I think we’re clear on this nine games in: If WVU’s line plays well, WVU has a chance. And vice versa.

Good: This play
Try and follow me here. It’s a very poor decision by Trickett, and the holding call against Jason Verrett behind the play is questionable even absent the very physical manner with which he and White competed throughout the game. Holgorsen could have benched Trickett right here and gained some fans and lost very few. He instead stuck with Trickett, perhaps because he didn’t have time to warm up Millard when the pick six was erased. So in addition to not giving up the touchdown, or the possession, WVU also doesn’t sit Trickett, which paid huge dividends because he was wonderful in the fourth quarter.

Bad: OK, OK, this did indeed happen
The Mountaineers played badly enough to lose this game. Don’t lose sight of that amid the many Goods I notice I’ve thrown out there. They won and they made a list of plays to do so, including the fumble Bruce forced right after this, but Trickett very nearly cost his team the game. Imagine 24-10 after this play. There’s no coming back from that.

Good: This happened, too
How about this play? He senses pressure is coming from the right, and I suspect Trickett still doesn’t entirely trust his offensive  line, but that works out fine here. He keeps the play alive, he rolls left and he makes a pretty good throw to Shorts, who, by the way, continues to ascend. That play woke me up in the press box. I wasn’t sure he had that in him at that point in the game. That awful interception had just happened, and he responds with that? OK …

Good: He’s not a lost cause
Earlier we broke down the interception when he threw late, high and inside on a play that was open and, I guess, could have been a touchdown. This is the basically same thing, with a few subtle differences. It’s not play action. It’s doesn’t start as a three-receiver set. On the earlier play, an extra inside receiver runs a shallow route across the field to take a defender. Here, the running back motions out and occupies a defender. From there, it’s the same. The outside receiver stops his route and takes another defender. It creates a one-on-one WVU likes and Trickett makes the throw before the safety can read and react and Trickett puts it in a spot where only the receiver can make a play — and I wonder if the timing was right because there was no play action fake here. Whatever the case, that’s pretty nice redemption.

Good: Sims!
Trickett was 11-for-14 for 124 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtime, which means he played like that after those two very bad interceptions on the almost pick six and the interception returned to the 2. Again, the Mountaineers could have easily lost this game had some things gone TCU’s way, but WVU could have also lost if Trickett hadn’t played the way he played when it really mattered.

This touchdown pass to Sims should have been the end of things, but WVU’s defense had a hard time on the next two drives to give up 10 points. Still, let’s behold Sims: 27 touches, 189 yards, two touchdowns. He looked quick in traffic and fast in space and he got better as the game progressed and as he got more touches. I mention this because he has to stay involved if WVU is to stay formidable on offense.

He’s WVU’s best running back, sure, but he’s their best player on offense, without question. He can’t be measured or tracked by carries or rushing yards because he’s more than that. WVU has to check out the opposing defense and find ways to succeed and then figure out how Sims can be used in those spots. The numbers are the numbers.

Sims is a running back, but that title limits his role and his impact. He is not to be solely measured by rushing yardage or by carries. He’s been used more lately in the passing game and is even returning kickoffs now, something he never did at Houston.

And why not? The numbers state that the Mountaineers do better when Sims is more involved. In WVU’s four wins, Sims has 24, 19, 23 and 27 touches – an average of 23.5 per game. In the five losses, he’s had 13, 16, 21, 22 and 15 touches – an average of 17.4 per game.

In wins, he averages 147.3 yards from scrimmage. In losses, he averages 93 yards from scrimmage. He’s more productive with more opportunities, too, averaging 6.3 yards per touch in wins and 5.3 per touch in losses.