WVU needs to pack a punch on the road

After four straight wins, I thought Bill Stewart and his staff had it all figured out.

While it may not have been pretty, the Mountaineers were winning.

They were doing well enough to earn some national respect to jump back into the rankings for the first time since after the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Then, in the humid Florida night, the promise all came crashing down with a 30-19 loss to South Florida, knocking the Mountaineers back out of the top 25 and, realistically, out of the conference championship race.

In a short season like college football's, it's not OK to just win home games.

In basketball, that's fine.

WVU isn't doing enough to win on the road.

Stewart praised his coaching staff after a late-rallying win over Connecticut a week ago for the way it was able to adjust at halftime. West Virginia has done its share of adjusting at the mid-way point, but it hasn't been working on the road.

Against Auburn, the Mountaineers struggled to deal with turnovers as Jarrett Brown threw three second-half interceptions en route to a 41-30 loss.

Again on Saturday, West Virginia was unable to find a way to work through its troubles of which there were many.

For some reason, WVU's coaching staff was unable to find a way to utilize the best and most versatile player on its roster – Noel Devine.

The Mountaineers have relied on him so much late in games that it finally caught up with them. In fact, he was so ineffective in the way he was used that Devine was basically a decoy late in the loss to South Florida.

I repeat, West Virginia's best player was used as a decoy at the end of the game.

I can remember just a week ago, Devine crushed UConn's hearts with a game-winning touchdown run late in the game.

Even against Auburn, the Mountaineers got away from Devine in the second half in the loss. He had two carries in the fourth quarter.

If it works at home, why not try it on the road?

While I will never dispute the coaching staff is trying to win the game and is not playing to lose, it sure looks like West Virginia is more reserved on the road.

West Virginia is 1-2 this season away from Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers were 2-3 last year, making Stewart 3-5 on the road.

At home, Stewart is 11-1 as head coach. In Rich Rodriguez's final three seasons, he had a 14-2 record on the road and was equally successful at home.

Remember the pistol offense WVU used earlier this season against East Carolina? How about the Wildcat offense? How about the vertical pass?

Where were those Friday night?

The offense, instead, was a mix of short passes and ineffective runs.

And the defense wasn't all that strong either. In fact, that might've been the worst job by the secondary I've seen with this group of players against a pathetic group of receivers.

The problem will escalate, as the Mountaineers play only two of their final four regular season games at home.

West Virginia shouldn't have trouble with Louisville, though Pitt will be a challenge.

Still, games at Cincinnati and Rutgers loom large on the rest of the Mountaineers' season.

While the loss to USF was bad, WVU still has a chance to win the Big East.

But let's be realistic – it's a very, very slim one.

Cincinnati is a buzz saw, and Pittsburgh looks better and better each week.

The Mountaineers have issues on the road. If WVU is going to have a say in the Big East, that needs to change.