Warning: Longread!

The topic of if and how much West Virginia’s defense can and must improve is out there for public comment, and no doubt it’s a core issue for the eventual fate of the season. For now, though, let’s consider the reputation the Mountaineers actually have on that side of the ball inside the Big 12. Teams that saw WVU last season saw a group that was simplified, organized, aggressive and, as such, successful.

Not dominant, mind you, but certainly competent and even reliable.

The thought then is that if a group learning a defense for the first time can grow so much, it can make similar strides a year later with the same defensive coordinator, 27 letter-winners and 16 players who have starting experience.

But again, that’s all debatable. What’s not is that WVU was better on defense last season and foes had to notice it.

“Two years ago at the end of the season, I don’t think they had a chance to go to a bowl when we played,” Iowa State quarterback Sam Richardson correctly remembered. “I don’t know if that was it, but last year they just seemed to rally to the ball a lot faster.”

Tony Gibson was promoted to be the defensive coordinator before last season. He returned the 3-3-5 odd stack that Jeff Casteel popularized during his 11 seasons on the staff and then took with him to Arizona. Safeties coach Joe DeForest and Keith Patterson, now at Arizona State, would follow with variations of a 3-4 that required different disciplines and sought to be multiple as a way to confound offenses.

To hear opponents talk about it, that sometimes backfired.

“I guess you could say they were more comfortable with their defensive scheme last year,” Texas Tech running back DeAndre Washington said. “I remember that at some point in the previous seasons their guys were looking around. But last year, everyone was pretty much in the place they needed to be.”