West Virginia’s Walter Young Bear (54) and Kimo Makane’ole (56) looks to block during a game against Pittsburgh earlier this season in Morgantown. (Photo by David Pennock)

Utah, under head coach Kyle Whittingham, is known for its ground-and-pound offense. Big offensive lineman pushing guys into the second level. Whittingham’s been successful doing so as well. The Utes have been ranked in the AP Top 25 at least once in the last 12 years.

Last year, Whittingham’s squad took a major step back. Utah finished 5-7 on the season and 2-7 in the Big 12, which was tied for second-to-last. The defense was good, the offense was bad.

Whittingham had enough. He hired New Mexico offensive coordinator Jason Beck. The Lobos led the Mountain West in yards per game last year and rushing yards. Beck was a package deal with dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier, who had Heisman Trophy potential before the Texas Tech loss.

Now, the new offensive duo heads to West Virginia, facing Rich Rodriguez’s squad.

“Yeah, they brought the same coordinator that was from New Mexico, Jason, who coached [Dampier] in that system,” Rodriguez said. “They brought the quarterback and the coordinator over. It’s obviously a good fit. They’ve worked together. It’s a completely different thing than they’ve done before.”

It’ll be another challenge for young defensive coordinator Zac Alley. Alley’s defense had its ups and downs this season, and will have another physical game on its hands. Unlike Rodriguez, Alley said the new OC doesn’t change too much from what Utah has done historically.

“I think it’s similar,” Alley said. “I still think they’re trying to be a power run team. They just get to it in different ways. They’ll show you some more spread out formations, but they’re gonna run power, they’re gonna run counter, they’re gonna run downhill at you consistently. That’s still who they want to be.”

Utah’s offense is still ground and pound, even more so with the addition of Dampier, and is second in the Big 12.

Dampier leads the team in rushing and is 11th in the conference, and that’s in with the league’s running backs. He can take off.

It’s easier with the talent at offensive line. Utah tackle Spencer Fano is a first-round talent, and you could argue lineman Caleb Lomu is one, too. Alley’s strong defensive line could struggle breaking through.

“Their left and right tackle look like first-round draft picks,” Alley said. “They got some dudes up there. Physical. The quarterback is a good player. He can run. They use him as a primary runner a lot of times. Get the plus-one run game going. They can run behind the offensive line that way.”

Through the first three weeks, Utah had its way. The Utes earned a top 25 ranking after starting 3-0. Whittingham looked like he hit a home run hire with Beck. But Utah received a wakeup call against Texas Tech. Utah scored just 10 points in a 34-10 loss.

Alley watched and took notes.

“First off, Texas Tech’s really talented,” Alley said. “Their D-line got after [Dampier], got off the ball, made it hard on that quarterback all day, knocked him backwards. I thought they had a great plan as far as the run game, pass game, those type of things. They clearly studied them all offseason, with the plan to go in and win that game. You could tell that the preparation was there. They outphysicaled them, and they outplayed them.”

You can only watch, learn and prepare so much from the tape. The saying goes, everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face. Especially after a loss, Utah’s offense will come out swinging.

“Got a big physical group coming in,” Alley said. “We got to play well.”