Well Mountaineers this West Virginia Univerity Football team did just enough of everything to defeat a good but not great TCU Horned Frog team 24-20. TCU came into this contest with the toughest defense in the Big 12 allowing less than 12 points a game and had allowed over 20 points in a game just once in a 21-13 loss to Central Florida. They did a very good job of limiting the Mountaineer offensive production but WVU did find a way to put 24 points on the board and outlast the Horned Frogs 24-20 before 36,216 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth Texas. The 24 points was the most points allowed by the TCU defense all season.

There was a lot of support at the game for the two offenseive stars of this Mountaineer football team. WVU quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr and star tailback Cam Cook both of which were high school stars in Texas. Hawkins turned down a scholarship offer to TCU in favor of Oklahoma before transferring to WVU while Cook spent 2 seasons at TCU before moving on to Jacksonville State and then to West Virginia.

The talented duo we largely held in check by the tough TCU defense but still managed 177 yards on the ground and 2 touchdowns with Hawkins also finding Cook with a 13-yard TD pass. Cook rushed for 90 yards and Hawkins 87 but it was just enough with the surprising performance of the much-maligned WVU defense. To be completely honest the TCU offense is among the worst in the Big 12 but the Mountaineer defenders played their best game and it resulted in a much-needed Mountaineer Road victory.

Two weeks ago on my game report I stated that despite the poor start to the 2026 season their was a path to 6 wins and a WVU bowl appearance but it had to start with a victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats in Morgantown which they accomplished last week. In last weeks report I stated that the swing game on this path to a bowl game was at Fort Worth against the Horned Frogs. Going into this game I knew TCU had the best defense in the Big 12 but I still believed WVU would be able to score enough to be in that game and with just marginal improvement by the Mountaineer defense they could win this game. Well there was more than marginal improvement by the WVU defense and as such WVU came away with a very important road game conference victory.

Now the Mountaineer sit at 5-3 on the season and will now enjoy a much needed bye week after playing on 8 consecutive weeks. As we all know next up is a trip to Lubbock to battle the 13th ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders who are coming off a stunning defeat 37-24 by the Cincinnati Bearcats before 38, 088 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati. Prior to that game the Red Raiders were ranked #8 in the country. Tech will have another game before facing the Mountaineers when they host the #22 ranked Arizonia Wildcats in Lubbock this Saturday at noon on ESPN. Since WVU is not playing this week this is must viewing for Mountaineer Nation to see what we will be up against.

My path to a bowl game appearance for WVU was victories against Cincinnati and TCU but I also kind of figured the EERs would lose at Texas Tech and to the Houston Cougars in Morgantown and maybe even at Utah to end the regular season but they would defeat the 3-4 Kansas Jayhawks in Morgantown on November 14th leaving them with a 6-6 record and a low-level bowl game appearance. However, after the way the defense performed against TCU if this is what the WVU defense is going to look like going forward Im no longer convinced they will lose to Houston in Morgantown on November 21st or to Utah in Provo on November 27th.

After the TCU game I am convinced that the Mountaineers will at the very least achieve the 6 victories needed to make it to the post season but with continued improvement its not at all impossible to think of them at 7-5 or maybe even 8-4 if things fall their way. Now this Mountaineer football team can take it easy for a few days and then get back to work and with the off week they have time to install a wrinkle or two on offense that maybe the Texas Tech Red Raiders will not be expecting.