MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Let’s change the subject. I know, lose to Ohio University??? Not Ohio State. Ohio U.

Pitt upcoming, no offense, injuries .. West Virginia football suddenly is a mess.

Or is it suddenly?

Fact is, since 2010 WVU is a very so-so 83-77 against Power 4 schools. And over the past six seasons they are 37-36 overall and 32-34 against Power 4 schools … below .500.

They have had four losing seasons among the last seven, have not won 10 games in a season since 2016 and have lost their last 11 consecutive games against ranked opponents.

It’s been building toward this moment since Rich Rodriguez after the 2009 season and accelerated after Bill Stewart was replaced by Dana Holgorsen.

Think of it this way. Since 2010, which was Holgorsen’s first season as Mountaineer coach, WVU is 109-82 … which sounds good but seven of those wins were against James Madison Eastern Kentucky, Army, Long Island, Towson, Duquesne and Albany.

You can add Robert Morris from this year, if you want.

While they rightfully note that the Mountaineers rank 15th in all-time college football victories, you seldom hear that there are only two teams among the top 20 in victories that have a sub-.600 winning percentage.

Interestingly, the two are WVU at .594 and Pitt at .573.

When one puts this and the Mountaineers in the middle of an era of change in college football, where the game is converting to a professional model, it throws up more flags than were thrown at WVU in the Ohio U. loss.

Now here’s where we’re going with all this, and it’s not where you think.

This isn’t about Rich Rodriguez. His hiring was controversial but it serves no purpose to draw any conclusions from two games, just as it made no sense to draw conclusions from his first season in first regime, a season that ended 3-8.

Discussions of that make far more sense after two years than two games.

But what has become a stone in my shoe is the constant talk and focus upon West Virginia’s need for revenues in this changing world.

See, they put our releases on deals with their own mulch, whiskey, realtors and who knows what else. They changed the student seating, added a student fee, and are in the process of looking at selling naming rights to the Coliseum.

The appearance is that there is more emphasis on fund-raising than championship flag-raising for the football program, which is the cash cow of the athletic department.

And, prior to Saturday’s loss at Ohio U., athletic director Wren Baker was directed in his pregame radio appearance to talk about plans to build more luxury boxes at the Coliseum and how quickly that could happen.

He didn’t broach the subject but was more than willing to talk about it.

“If someone will call in today and writes a check it can happen a lot quicker,” Baker said, only half joking. “If you look at every stadium in the Big 12 and look at ours, ours look different. We don’t have the premium club suites, those amenities that a lot of other stadiums have.

“We have that scoped out. We have a rendering and some cost estimates, we’ve started having conversations with some of our bigger donors. We’re starting to feel good about the progress we’re making.

“I don’t know you could be better for the 2027 season even if someone wrote the check today. We would try, but that is tough.”

Why does a loyal booster have to step up and write a check?

Maybe first they ought to try and find a way to cut costs rather than continue to keep spiraling them upward.

Not just WVU. Everyone. Financial insanity is running these shows.

What WVU doesn’t need is more luxury seats. It needs more wins.

Who makes money?

Winning programs make money.

They fill their seats. They make the prime-time network appearances. They don’t find most of their games on stations ending with + or 2 or U.

They don’t schedule trips to Ohio University and get $100,000 for it, which is probably less than their quarterback gets for the game.

They want games against Ohio State, not Ohio U. If they want to be the best they have to beat the best.

And their fans deserve to see them play the best.

If their credit ratings are more important than their place in the standings, then something is wrong with the structure that has to be fixed or proud programs like West Virginia won’t have the place it historically has earned.

In the end, the game has to be the thing … not the unis, not the halftime show.

Get the home team winning against good competition, find a way to allow teams to have a regional flavor, make prices affordable and make going to the stadium feel like and seem like a football experience and not a night at the opera.

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