MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia gets one final opportunity at Milan Puskar Stadium this Saturday afternoon against UCF.
 
The Mountaineers are coming off a 49-35 loss to Baylor last Saturday, dropping their home record to 2-4. It's the most home defeats since 2019, and the four double-digit home losses are the most since 1986.
 
Coach Neal Brown said earlier this week that he is still seeking consistency from his football team in all three phases. Two weeks ago, in a 31-24 victory at Cincinnati, he got it from his special teams and defense, which generated two scores, but didn't get it from his offense.
 
Last Saturday, the offense kept West Virginia hanging around in the first half with 28 points, but a third-quarter lull when the defense finally got some stops allowed the streaking Bears to pull away.
 
It's been a season-long pattern of up-and-down play in all three phases that has resulted in the Mountaineers' 5-5 record with two regular season games remaining.
 
"We've been inconsistent, and that's why we are a 5-5 team right now," Brown observed. "At times this year, we've played well on special teams, at times we've played well on defense, and at times we've played well offense, but we haven't put a complete game together where we've played well in all three phases for the entirety of a game.
 
"So why not here at the end? That's the goal and that's what we're pushing our guys to do this week," Brown added.
 
Inconsistency has also plagued UCF, which is making its first appearance in Morgantown since 2003. The Knights began the year with blowout, nonconference wins against New Hampshire and Sam Houston before opening Big 12 play with a 35-34 victory against TCU.
 
Then came a five-game swoon that saw UCF lose to Colorado, Florida, Cincinnati, Iowa State and BYU that ultimately led UCF coach Gus Malzahn to fire his defensive coordinator, Ted Roof.
 
The Knights responded with a 56-12 home win against Arizona, only to drop a 35-31 verdict at Arizona State two weeks ago. That leaves UCF 4-6 overall and needing wins in its final two games against West Virginia and Utah to become bowl eligible.
 
UCF, like Baylor last week, will have the benefit of an extra week of preparation against WVU.
 
"They've spent two weeks preparing for us where you normally only have one week, so I think you are going to see some new things," Brown said. "We saw some new things from Baylor, especially on offense with splits and a couple of things they did in the run game that were different. We can assume UCF will do some of the same things."
 
The Knights' attack revolves around 5-foot-9, 208-pound senior tailback R.J. Harvey, whose 1,328 yards rushing rank third in the country this week. The former Virginia transfer shows 19 touchdowns on the ground, plus two through the air, and is averaging 159.4 all-purpose yards per game.
 
Harvey had a season-high 196 yards in the Iowa State loss, 184 against Arizona and 180 versus TCU. He has rushed for more than 100 yards in seven of 10 games so far this season.
 
"Everywhere Gus Malzahn has been they've been able to run the ball effectively, and for us, it starts on defense with our ability to contain them in the run," Brown said.
 
Overall, UCF is averaging an impressive 262.8 yards per game on the ground, ranking second nationally, which includes a combined 57 yards per game from its two quarterbacks Dylan Rizk and KJ Jefferson. 
 
Rizk mopped up the BYU loss and took over the regular quarterbacking duties in UCF's blowout home victory against Arizona. The freshman completed 20 of 25 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns against the Wildcats and followed that up with a 24-of-34, 229-yard effort in the Arizona State loss.
 
Rizk is completing 72.9% of his attempts compared to Jefferson's 59.3 completion percentage on his 108 attempts for 1,012 yards and seven touchdowns with four interceptions.
 
Including Jacurri Brown and EJ Colson, the UCF passing attack is averaging just 201.8 yards per game, ranked 93^rd in the country this week, which is an encouraging statistic for a West Virginia pass defense that now ranks 127^th, giving up an alarming 269.6 yards per game.
 
West Virginia is also 128^th in pass efficiency defense, 126^th in opponent third-down conversions, 117^th in interceptions and 101^st in turnover margin.
 
Kobe Hudson, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound former Auburn transfer, is UCF's top pass-catching threat with 38 receptions for 623 yards and three touchdowns. Randy Pittman Jr. and Jacoby Jones are two other threats, combining to catch 45 passes for 634 yards and four scores.
 
Defensively, UCF ranks 120^th in fumbles recovered, 117^th in red zone defense, 96^th in pass defense, 94^th in turnover margin, 91^st in pass efficiency defense and 80^th in points allowed.
 
Those are areas West Virginia hopes to exploit.
 
"We could see some more adjustments on defense this week because they made a defensive coordinator change a couple of weeks ago and this is the first bye week they've had since that change was made," Brown predicted.
 
Senior linebacker Ethan Barr leads the Knights with 53 total tackles, to go along with 2½ tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery.
 
Senior defensive tackle Daylan Dotson and junior defensive end Malachi Lawrence have been UCF's most productive pass rushers with four sacks each.
 
The Knights are limiting their opponents to just 115.9 yards per game and 3.6 yards per rush, which provides an interesting dilemma for West Virginia on Saturday.
 
Will WVU try and run the ball against UCF or air it out against a vulnerable pass defense?
 
WVU is averaging 197.2 yards per game on the ground, including 129 and two touchdowns from quarterback Garrett Greene in last Saturday's Baylor loss. West Virginia ran for 262 yards versus the Bears but completed just 19 of its 39 pass attempts for 237 yards with an interception.
 
Greene will be down a key pass catching target in sophomore Traylon Ray, whose season ended in the third quarter of last Saturday's Baylor game with a lower body injury. Ray was WVU's third-leading receiver with 28 catches for 426 yards and a team-best four touchdowns.
 
Senior tight end Kole Taylor leads the Mountaineers with 35 catches for 388 yards and three touchdowns, followed by sophomore wide receiver Hudson Clement's 31 catches for 454 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Sophomore Jahiem White leads a balanced rushing attack with 639 yards, followed by Greene's 600 and junior CJ Donaldson Jr.'s 525.
 
Freshman linebacker Josiah Trotter and senior safety Anthony Wilson Jr. pace the Mountaineer defense with 78 tackles each. Senior TJ Jackson II is tops on the squad with 5½ sacks and 12 tackles for loss.
 
West Virginia's senior players will be recognized beforehand, and the game has been designated True Blue, presented by Supply Solutions, a division of Altec. All fans are encouraged to wear blue to the game.
 
"(Senior Day) important, and I hope Mountaineer Nation comes out and supports those guys," Brown said. "There are a lot of West Virginia guys in that group. It's always an emotional day and I'd love to send those guys out with a win. They deserve it."
 
Television coverage will be provided by ESPNU with Mike Monaco, Kirk Morrison and Dawn Davenport describing the action.
 
The Mountaineer Sports Network with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning will handle the radio coverage on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
Tickets remain and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.