Winning back-to-back games heading at any point in the season feels good, but it's especially nice when you do so heading into a bye week like West Virginia is. The Mountaineers are now two games above .500 for the year and are one win away from drawing even in Big 12 Conference play.
While things have certainly turned around for WVU following a dreadful three-game losing streak, QB Mike Hawkins Jr. believes there is more out there for this team to accomplish.
“I’d say our best ball is ahead of us," he said on Saturday. "We’re obviously playing pretty good, but I feel like we have a lot of things we could fix. Me personally, too. This bye week is big for us. We’ve been at it for eight weeks, so it’s a good feeling.”
The offense took a step back this week, but they did go up against the best defense in the league, one that ranks seventh nationally in yards allowed per game. WVU went away from the quick game that torched Cincinnati last week, and by doing so, Hawkins was unable to truly get into rhythm, going 0/6 on throws 20+ yards downfield. Two of those balls should have been caught, one of which would have been a big touchdown to DJ Epps to make it 17-7 in favor of the Mountaineers.
Hawkins isn't the type to make excuses, though, and he's always going to take accountability for anything negative that happens on offense.
“I really think the biggest thing for us as a whole was just mental errors. For me, connecting with my receivers. I missed a couple of throws that I shouldn’t have missed. Those are big moments in the game, but you live and learn, and you get back. There’s a bye week, and you can fix it.”
Although the Mountaineers have a difficult remaining schedule, having to face three ranked teams in four games, there is still a chance they can make some noise down the stretch. Hawkins said it perfectly: they haven't played their best ball yet.
The defense took a step this week against TCU, but still has a lot of room to improve, and believe it or not, even the offense can reach another gear once they find more balance in the pass game by working in some things underneath rather than taking several vertical shots every game.
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