MORGANTOWN –Just like that, West Virginia is back. The five-game losing streak was snapped after the Mountaineers went wire-to-wire and put up 45 points against one of the better defenses in the Big 12. WVU upset No. 22 Houston on the road. Rich Rodriguez needed that.

No, the outcome of the season hasn’t changed. WVU isn’t competing for a Big 12 Championship or a College Football Playoff spot with that win. But the scenario of WVU winning only one game for the rest of the season could be false.

Now, with that caliber of win, Rodriguez and his team proved they can play with any team in the Big 12 if they play their A-game.

WVU showed its A-game in the second half against Pitt, but other than that, it wasn’t there until against Houston.

That’s reassuring because many fans thought bringing back Rodriguez was a mistake because he couldn’t compete in the Big 12. He proved them wrong for the time being. And, Rodriguez did it with a true-freshman quarterback and multiple backups on offense, and some season-ending injuries on defense.

The future of the year looks favorable now, too. It might seem like a long shot, but WVU could still get a bowl game with three games left, sitting at 3-6. WVU would have to win out, which isn’t realistic, but it’s still possible.

Now that WVU looks better, it opens up more winnable games, starting with Colorado.

The Buffaloes are going in the opposite direction from WVU. In the past two outings, Deion Sanders’ squad lost to Utah 53-7 and Arizona 52-17. Colorado has the same 3-6 record and just one conference win over Iowa State, which, at the time, was a ranked win.

Colorado hasn’t been the same since Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, who had their numbers retired before the 2025 season, donned the uniforms last year. The defense was better last year, but this year, the defense and offense both look lost.

The Buffaloes have a quarterback problem. At the start of the year, Sanders didn’t know who to start between Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and true freshman Julian Lewis. Sanders even brought both to Big 12 Media Day.

Then, Sanders threw a wrench into the mix and started sophomore Ryan Staub against Houston, who wasn’t in the picture going into the season. Salter went back to starting after.

This week, Sanders is switching to Lewis. Lewis hasn’t played much and came in during garbage time against Arizona and threw for a touchdown.

It will be a battle of freshman quarterbacks, and WVU’s QB actually has more experience and a win under his belt.

With all that being said, WVU is actually favored in its first Big 12 game of the season, and its first game since Ohio.

With the trajectory of the two programs in recent games, it’s hard to pick against the Mountaineers this week. It also helps that Colorado has the worst rushing defense in the Big 12, so WVU’s offense, who went for 246 yards against a strong Houston run defense, should have a field day.

If WVU wins against Colorado, the rest of the season looks favorable to at least win one of the last two on its way to a bowl game. After Colorado, WVU heads to Arizona State, who doesn’t have starting quarterback Sam Leavitt anymore, and then hosts Texas Tech, which will definitely be a tough game.

But after beating Houston, the Mountaineers proved that nothing is impossible.

— Prediction: West Virginia 28, Colorado 17