MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's time for West Virginia to hit the refresh button this week.
 
The Mountaineers (4-1, 2-0) overcame a 21-14 halftime deficit to beat the two-touchdown favorite TCU Horned Frogs 24-21 last Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
 
West Virginia got 222 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Garrett Greene in a gutsy performance. Greene was not 100% after suffering an ankle injury on the sixth play of the Pitt victory in week three, requiring freshman Nicco Marchiol to take over the team's quarterbacking duties.
 
Marchiol also led the Mountaineers to a 20-13 win over Texas Tech and was anticipating his second career start last Saturday, but he rolled his ankle in practice on Wednesday forcing coach Neal Brown and his offensive staff to do a 180 with their game preparation.
 
They scrapped the game plan established on Tuesday and Wednesday when it became clear that Marchiol was not going to be ready to go last Saturday.
 
Then, during the game, WVU saw at least five starters go down to injury – two, safety Aubrey Burks and linebacker Trey Lathan, requiring medical carts to transport them off the field. Both were taken to a local hospital for observation, and Lathan's injury to his lower leg resulted in season-ending surgery.
 
Also, starting left guard Tomas Rimac reinjured an ankle, starting left tackle Wyatt Milum got poked in the eye and starting spear Hershey McLaurin was watching from the sidelines with his helmet off at the end of the game.
 
Last Saturday's victory culminated a demanding (and successful) September that featured physical games against now-sixth-ranked Penn State, Pitt, Texas Tech and TCU.
 
"This group has really given everything they have for the last three weeks, and four of our five games have been really physical contests," Brown pointed out. "They've been close games, and I'm proud of what our team has done, and I'm really excited about it because I really don't think we've played our best yet.
 
"We really didn't play very well at all at TCU, but we played really physical, we played really tough, and our competitive spirit is kind of what pushed us through – that and our special teams play," Brown added. "We've still got a lot of growth, and I think our best football is yet to come."
 
The TCU victory came down to a pair of field goal blocks by Mike Lockhart and Sean Martin, the second one by Martin coming with just 32 seconds left and the Horned Frogs trying to tie the game and send it into overtime.
 
It's the first time in 21 years the Mountaineers have blocked two field goals in a game since they did it during a home victory against Boston College in 2002.
 
Brown said those two blocks were a result of great individual effort.
 
"Sean Martin has got extremely long arms so he can get his arms up on those field goal attempts. Then, the people who don't get talked about as much like Mike Lockhart, and whoever our other defensive lineman that's in the game, they're doing a really good job of getting push and then getting their hands up," Brown explained. "We were so close against Penn State and then it really paid off for us against TCU."
 
Brown said he is treating the open week much differently than he has in the past because so many of his players need time to heal.
 
"We will only practice (today) and Friday this week," Brown explained. "We will get into Houston prep on Friday and then game-week mode on Saturday. We need some time. It's not only been a physically grueling first five games, but it's been mentally tough. 
 
"Our staff needs to re-charge and our players need some time to get treatment, get recovery and get refreshed for what's going to be a really important stretch run for us," he concluded.
 
West Virginia has won four straight games for the first time since Dana Holgorsen coached the team in 2018, and the Mountaineers will face Holgorsen's Houston Cougars on Thursday, Oct. 12 in Houston. The game will be televised nationally on FS1.
 
The Cougars lost 49-28 to Texas Tech last Saturday and show a 2-3 overall record with victories over UTSA and Sam Houston, and losses to Rice, TCU and Texas Tech.
 
It will be the first time West Virginia has faced a former coach since meeting Bobby Bowden's Florida State Seminoles in the 2010 Gator Bowl – Bowden's final game as a collegiate coach.