West Virginia opened the 2026 season with a victory, but Rich Rodriguez was not interested in celebrating everything he saw.
The Mountaineers raced to a 24-0 halftime advantage over Coastal Carolina on Saturday before watching the Chanticleers make the game considerably more uncomfortable. Coastal Carolina outscored West Virginia 24-7 after halftime, turning what initially looked like a blowout into a 31-24 Mountaineers victory.
Rodriguez delivered a six-word assessment of the difference between the two halves.
“In the second half, we stunk,” Rodriguez said during his postgame press conference.
Rich Rodriguez Not Satisfied With West Virginia Win
Rodriguez expanded on his frustration while speaking with reporters after the game.
“I really thought coming out of the first half, we played well in all three phases,” Rodriguez said. “In the second half, we stunk. You know, didn’t do anything good. Not really happy about that. But it’s hard to win. You know, it’s really hard to win.”
Rodriguez continued by pointing toward the unpredictability already seen across college football before giving Coastal Carolina credit.
“You can see, I don’t know what the results of the games were today, but just in the last week what’s happened in college football with some games,” Rodriguez said. “But credit to those guys. They played hard and their little quarterback made a lot of plays for them. We got a lot to work on. We’ll take the win and correct our mistakes starting like in the next 15 minutes. I got a meeting here with the coaches, and then go on to the next one.”
The frustration was understandable.
West Virginia limited Coastal Carolina to 114 total yards in the first half and converted eight of its first 10 third downs. The third quarter looked completely different, with Coastal Carolina running 21 plays compared to only six for West Virginia and holding a 128-23 advantage in total yards.
West Virginia Gets Win and Immediate Warning
There were still plenty of positives for Rodriguez.
Cam Cook rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns, while Michael Hawkins Jr. finished with 132 passing yards and added 103 yards on the ground. West Virginia totaled 281 rushing yards in the victory.
But Coastal Carolina quarterback Deuce Bailey kept the game alive, throwing for 373 yards and three touchdowns. A game West Virginia appeared to have complete control over suddenly remained undecided late in the fourth quarter.
That may ultimately make Rodriguez’s reaction more valuable than a comfortable opening-day celebration.
West Virginia is 1-0. Rodriguez also already has several teaching points for a rebuilt roster that entered the season with plenty of optimism.
He did not wait until Sunday morning to begin addressing them, either.
According to Rodriguez, that process was starting approximately 15 minutes after he finished talking to reporters.
Rich Rodriguez Delivers Brutal 6-Word Message After West Virginia Win