The Rich Rod 2.0 era of West Virginia University Mountaineers football hit an early stumbling block with an ugly, uninspired 17-10 loss to the Ohio Bobcats in Athens on Saturday.Â
No college football team, coach or fan likes losing. Losing to a non-power conference opponent (Ohio plays in the Mid-American Conference) makes it that much worse.Â
Unfortunately for WVU, this was a classic trap game. The Mountaineers have the Backyard Brawl with rival Pitt looming this weekend, and the team might've been a bit distracted. Ohio, meanwhile, was amped to play a Big 12 team at home, and the atmosphere in the intimate confines of Peden Stadium, which seats only 24,000, was as raucous as could be.Â
That doesn't excuse the loss by any means, but the conditions were ripe for an upset.Â
And MAC squads have a history of pulling this off. In fact, Ohio hosted Big 12 squad Iowa State in 2023 and knocked off the Cyclones in another low-scoring affair, 10-7.Â
Even Pitt dropped a game to a MAC school last season, falling to Toledo, 48-46, in overtime in the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
Last September, Notre Dame, ranked No. 5 in the country at the time, lost to MAC school Northern Illinois on a last-second field goal, 16-14. Even more shocking was the loss came in South Bend. Touchdown Jesus was unable to cover his eyes during the disaster.Â
These things happen, and there are some silver linings WVU fans might want to consider.Â
For instance, the loss at Ohio was far from the biggest upset in college football Saturday. Most eyes were on Group of Five program South Florida, of the American Athletic Conference, knocking off 13th-ranked Florida in Gainesville, 18-16. Then there was unranked Mississippi State (a program that won only two games last season) defeating No. 10 Arizona State, 24-20, in Starkville.Â
That might not make WVU's loss hurt less for fans, but at least the Mountaineers weren't the talk of sports TV, radio and podcasts for the entire weekend. The debut of the NFL season also helped with that.Â
The other potential upside of the loss is that it happened early. Early season flubs are more forgivable in college football if a team goes on to put together a strong season and is jostling for a decent postseason destination.Â
Fans might recall that, after losing to Northern Illinois, Notre Dame went on to run the table and make the College Football Playoff last season. In fact, the Fighting Irish went all the way to the final, although they would lose the championship contest to Ohio State, 34-23.Â
That's not to say WVU will be fighting for a playoff spot, but it's an example of a team not letting an early loss derail its entire season.Â
Sure, there are plenty of concerns among Mountaineer fans regarding the football team, and they're valid. But it is early, so everyone might want to take a breath. Now, if they lose to Pitt ... Â
