MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — What began as a night full of anticipation for West Virginia turned into extreme disappointment as the Mountaineers were unable to overcome a sloppy offensive showing against a stingy defense in what amounted to a 28-16 loss to 11th-ranked Iowa State at Milan Puskar Stadium.
“Two things that stick out, we had two turnovers, they had zero, and that resulted in 14 points. We had six penalties and they had one,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “We were leading the country in that category coming into the game. Disappointing, and the table was kind of set, and in the second half when it was winning time, we didn’t win. Our guys fought and competed, but they made a couple more plays than we did.”
Donning black jerseys on what was dubbed a Coal Rush to honor the state’s rich mining tradition, West Virginia (3-3, 2-1) received the opening kickoff, twice converted on third downs and punctuated its 14 play, 75-yard series with Jahiem White’s 8-yard touchdown run as the tailback evaded multiple defenders on his way to the end zone.
Asani Redwood’s third down sack of Cyclones’ quarterback Rocco Becht on Iowa State’s opening series forced Kyle Konrardy into attempting a 47-yard field goal, but it missed wide, and the Mountaineers regained possession with a chance for an early two-score lead.
WVU appeared on its way to doing just that when Greene connected with Justin Robinson for 9 yards on third-and-8 to put the Mountaineers 5 yards short of the red zone, but after Rodney Gallagher was unable to hang on to Greene’s pass on third-and-3, Michael Hayes missed wide on a 36-yard field goal attempt — the kicker’s first unsuccessful field goal this season.
“I have to get clarity on that,” Brown said of the incompletion to Gallagher, which was originally ruled a reception. “The ball definitely moved. I want to see the view where they had beyond a doubt that he didn’t maintain possession. His knee is down. He does have to bring the ball down. That was big. We’d have had the ball inside the 10-yard line, and then we miss the field goal. We should never miss that field goal, but we did.”
The Mountaineers fell flat from that point forward, starting with Becht’s 60-yard touchdown pass to wideout Jaylin Noel, who capitalized on a coverage bust for an easy score that allowed the visitors to get even at 7 with 13:05 to play in the opening half.
“Momentum is real,” Brown said. “That hurt for sure. It hurt we didn’t convert and hurt missing the field goal, and we had a really poor communication on the explosive play.”
Brown said defenders got different defensive calls on the play, which the Cyclones caught the Mountaineers off guard on and capitalized in the form of the long TD.
“They tempo’d us and using the helmet communication, half of them got one call and half of them got the other,” Brown said. “I’ll have a better answer for you Monday.”
That was the start of a strong showing for Becht on a night where his father, Anthony Becht, was honored during a break in the action for being inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame this year.
West Virginia punted for the first time on its third series, and though it was able to flip the field and have the Cyclones start at their 9, it proved irrelevant.
Iowa State (6-0, 3-0) put together a 17 play, 91-yard drive and went on top to stay when Carson Hansen accounted for his first of three touchdowns on an 11-yard run. The Cyclones converted all three of their third downs on the long possessions that put them in front, including Becht’s 18-yard pass to Jayden Higgins on third-and-10.
“Something we have to go back and look at on film, the third down and fourth down conversions, we have to clean up,” WVU linebacker Josiah Trotter said. “Those hurt us.”
The Mountaineers countered with a quality series, but it stalled when Greene was brought down for a 2-yard loss on third-and-2 just outside the red zone, forcing Hayes into a 43-yard field goal that he converted 32 seconds before halftime.
Iowa State took its 14-10 lead into the break, and the teams exchanged punts to start the second half.
The Cyclones punted for a second time in the third quarter, and after the Mountaineers took over at their 14, Greene’s 14-yard pass to tight end Kole Taylor and the quarterback’s 28-yard run on the next play, allowed WVU to enter Iowa State territory.
However, two plays later, Greene had a pass intercepted by Jamison Patton on second-and-6 from the Iowa State 29. Brown felt the Cyclones got away with premature contact on Taylor.
“Looked like a two-hand push in the back, and that should be called not nine out of ten times, but ten out of ten times,” Brown said.
On the ensuing series, Iowa State got into the red zone and was faced with third-and-goal from the 6 when Becht threw an incomplete pass well out of the end zone, only for a defensive holding penalty on cornerback Ayden Garnes keeping the Cyclones’ offense on the field. Hansen reached the end zone on a 3-yard run on the next play and the visitors upped their lead to 21-10 with 11:57 left.
Any chance for the Mountaineers to rally from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit for the second time in as many Big 12 home games vanished when Greene threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Jontez Williams at the WVU 40-yard line. It marked Greene’s sixth interception in his last four games and the Cyclones’ 10th pick this season.
“I was trying to do too much. It’s my fault,” Greene said. “They’re a drop eight team and they want quarterbacks to do that. I fell right into it.”
After Hansen converted a fourth-and-2 with a 5-yard run on an option, the tailback scored his third touchdown on a 2-yard run with 4:42 remaining.
Greene’s 10-yard touchdown pass to White with 1:10 to play marked the game’s final scoring play.
Iowa State finished with a 394-354 advantage in total yards. Becht completed 18-of-26 passes for 265 yards. Hansen rushed 20 times for 96 yards.
Greene was 18-for-32 with 206 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He was WVU’s leading rusher with 10 carries for 87 yards. White added 46 yards on 12 attempts, while CJ Donaldson was limited to 17 yards on nine rushes.
“We didn’t run it well enough to win, but we didn’t do that poorly running the football either,” Brown said.
The Mountaineers were plagued by several poor snaps from center Brandon Yates that led to negative plays.
“Yates has a little bit of a hand issue, but they were a factor,” Brown said. “Three resulted in negative plays, but there was probably eight to ten in the game.
“We did [consider changing centers]. Whether we should or shouldn’t have, that’s probably up for discussion. Brandon had played so well. He’s our starting center and he’s going to be our starting center this year.”
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They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
At this point, Paul Hardesty, President of the West Virginia Board of Education, must be on the precipice of losing his mind. During a recent call with reporters, Hardesty again emphasized the dire financial outlook for the state’s public schools. Enrollment continues to decline, and more school closures and consolidations may be coming next year.
It’s not the first time Hardesty has sounded the alarm.
Hardesty has repeatedly pointed out that public schools are withering under the current school-aid formula and burdensome regulations.
Some state lawmakers have received the message but during the 2026 60-day legislative session, while there was more discussion that legislative action is needed to address growing financial strains, ultimately, there was not enough political will for state lawmakers to take any action.
Senator Amy Nicole Grady, R-Mason, chairs the Senate Education Committee and is a public school teacher. She has spent the last three years trying to educate her fellow legislators about the frustrations teachers and school officials deal with on a daily basis.
“We know it’s nothing new. It’s something we have discussed for at least three years now, knowing that we need to move forward and change that formula in some way. But how we change it, that’s the challenge,” Grady said during an appearance on Metronews Talkline.
Grady recognizes the “how” is the major stumbling block for legislators who must make difficult decisions and must then face unhappy constituents.
“It’s very, very difficult, and this is something that’s big that really takes a lot of thinking, and it can require a lot of hard, difficult decisions, and you also have that model of self-preservation.
“A lot of people are thinking, this is hard for me to make this decision. I don’t want to make this decision because it could mean my seat. But when it’s the right thing, it’s the right thing regardless.”
House Education Committee Chairman Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, has also been on the front line trying to build a case for legislators to support major changes. Statler has repeatedly emphasized the gap in special education funding, where costs continue to outpace revenues.
The number of special education students continues to grow, now making up nearly 21 percent of the student population.
It is not only the legislature that has not found the political fortitude to address public education. It has not been a priority for the executive branch either.
Gov. Morrisey focused his political capital on accelerating the elimination of the personal income tax and preventing changes to the Hope Scholarship.
You can’t help but question whether the lack of action is due to a lack of political will or indifference to public schools’ failure. There’s no doubt that outside interest groups, many of which have supported legislative campaigns, have indicated a preference for alternative education choices.
Either way, if lawmakers continue to ignore the tidal wave of financial failures in the public education system, they will have abdicated their constitutional duty to provide West Virginia students with a “free and efficient” education system.
For the first time since the 2015-16 season, the West Virginia Mountaineers women’s basketball roster will feature a West Virginia native.
Wheeling product Alexis Bordas transfers in after having a tremendous freshman season up the road at Duquesne, where she averaged 15.5 points (ranked fifth in the A-10) and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 34.6% from beyond the arc. At season’s end, she was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team.
Morgantown’s Olivia Seggie was the last West Virginia-born player on the women’s hoops roster.
Of course, WVU was Bordas’ dream school. Pretty much her entire family went to school here and grew up coming to Mountaineer games, so Mark Kellogg probably didn’t have to do much convincing once he made it known that they wanted her.
“Chase Harler’s from Wheeling, so I came to a lot of his games. Jevon Carter, my brother, loved him. We watched a lot more of the men back then, but Kysre Gondrezick, she was someone that I always watched.”
When asked what it’s like to finally be in a Mountaineer uniform and practicing with the group, she responded, “Yeah, it’s great to finally be here and get to meet all my teammates and become such good friends with them already. It’s been super fun, and just seeing the difference from day one to now, and how much we’ve progressed already, it’s super exciting to see.
“All the fan support last night, we had an event, and just seeing all the fans and how it’s June, and everyone’s already so excited and rallies around this team,” she added. “I know it’s extra special being from West Virginia, and I’m sure lots of little girls will look up to me and hope to be playing here one day, so it’s great to be a role model for them, too.”
Nine times last season, Bordas registered 20+ points, and of course, as a true West Virginian would, she had her best performance against the Pitt Panthers, dropping 38 on them in an 84-69 win. She went 11/22 from the field in that one, including a 10/18 day from three-point range.
Bordas is a high-volume shooter from range, as 58.8% of her attempts came from downtown last season. When you shoot 34% from there and can maybe hit the high 30s, no one will care about the shot diet being so reliant on the three-ball.
Under the new rules, Bordas will have four years of eligibility remaining.
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