Initial Thoughts: West Virginia Has to Learn How to Finish Stronger, Put Teams Away

Rapid reactions to West Virginia's win over Cincinnati.

Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The West Virginia Mountaineers held on to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats 31-24 Saturday afternoon, improving their record to 5-4 (4-2) on the season.

Here are a few thoughts from today's game.

Inability to close teams out

Two weeks ago, the Mountaineers led Arizona 24-7 with just under eight minutes to go in the third quarter. The Wildcats outscored WVU the rest of the way 19-7 but still fell short. This week, West Virginia had a 24-7 lead on Cincinnati and was outscored 17-7 the rest of the game. This can't happen regularly, even against average or above-average teams. It's eventually going to cost them a game.

Things turned when Nicco Marchiol was intercepted in the end zone on a circus catch. Had WVU found pay dirt there, the game would have been 31-7 and well in hand. One play after the interception, Cincinnati hit on an 80-yard pass to make it a 10-point game. For whatever reason, Neal Brown did not feel comfortable throwing the ball over the middle of the field, which allowed Cincinnati to sniff out runs and underneath throws.

No holes in the running game

The Bearcats entered the week toward the bottom half of the league in stopping the run, but they had no issue limiting the Mountaineers this afternoon. It's been a very up-and-down season for the offensive line in terms of paving rushing lanes for the backs, but CJ Donaldson's role has diminished greatly, and there's no explanation for it. He's the heavy-hitter and needs to be the tone-setter for this offense, not someone who gets a handful of touches per game.

Heck of a first game for Jeff Koonz

Even with the bye week, making a change at coordinator doesn't necessarily guarantee things will get fixed. Don't get me wrong, there's still a lot that needs to be cleaned up, but there was significant progress made today against the pass. Koonz's unit put up two touchdowns on the board off of turnovers, which is an area that this team has struggled at all season long.

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