MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When West Virginia takes on Iowa State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday inside Jack Trice Stadium, the Mountaineers will look to avoid an alarming trend that has plagued them in their last two road games.
In October losses at both Texas and Texas Tech, West Virginia started slow and created what proved to be an insurmountable deficit.
The first instance in Austin saw the Mountaineers trail 14-0 after one quarter and 28-0 before scoring their first points of what amounted to a 38-20 loss, though the outcome was never in doubt after halftime.
Three weeks and two games later, West Virginia allowed the Red Raiders to reel off the game’s first 14 points, and though the Mountaineers were still within striking distance when they went to the intermission trailing 17-3, there was no improvement over the final two quarters and Texas Tech won handily, 48-10.
“We’re going to exhaust everything possible,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “The goal is to start fast. Anytime you’re on the road, you want to start fast and try to keep the crowd out of it.”
West Virginia has yet to score a first-quarter touchdown in four road games this season, though the Mountaineers started far better at both Pitt and Virginia Tech in their first two road games this season.
The Mountaineers trailed the Panthers 3-0 after 15 minutes of the season opener and the teams went to halftime tied at 10.
Against the Hokies, West Virginia led 3-0 through one quarter and 13-7 at…
