MORGANTOWN — West Virginia football has won back-to-back games for the first time this season. It’s hard to believe since WVU opened with Robert Morris and had Ohio scheduled the week after, but after 10 games, WVU has won two in a row.

The Mountaineers are building some momentum to close out the season, which is exactly what athletic director Wren Baker asked for when he had his press conference before the season. As Baker said when presenting the new press box renovations to the WVU Board of Governors, WVU hasn’t seen a lot of success, but had a lot of great moments, like the Backyard Brawl win and the ranked win over Houston.

The season could get better, which is crazy to say. WVU is 4-6 with two games remaining, meaning if it were to win its last two games, the Mountaineers would qualify for a bowl game.

“This is the first time I mentioned it, believe it or not, we still got a chance to go to a bowl game,” Rich Rodriguez said after Colorado. “We got to win out, but you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

After the UCF game, Rodriguez talked about how the program hit rock bottom. The fire “Rich Rod” comments were surfacing, and there were regrets about bringing him back. Three weeks later, and two more wins later, the narrative has changed to how good of a job Rodriguez has done turning this thing around to play in a bowl game, potentially.

That narrative can change very quickly, starting with this weekend against Arizona State, which is the more winnable game of the two remaining ones. But fans are overlooking the difficulty of this game.

Fans thought it was a more winnable game because ASU’s starting quarterback, Sam Leavitt, is out for the year. The Sun Devils are still legit and pose a lot of threats to WVU.

Leavitt is out, but the backup, Jeff Sims, might be even more difficult to stop for the Mountaineers. Sims, in his last start, threw for 177 yards and rushed for a whopping 228 yards. WVU’s struggled against rushing quarterbacks. Ohio’s Parker Navarro was a threat, Kansas’ Jalon Daniels rushed for 69 yards and Utah’s Devon Dampier didn’t really need to use his legs, but carried the ball pretty well. Sims is going to be another problem for WVU.

Arizona State has a lot of weapons, starting with projected first-round NFL Draft pick Jordyn Tyson. Luckily for WVU, Tyson has been ruled out. Then, there’s Jalen Moss and Malik McClain, who Sims could also throw the ball to. WVU’s secondary was lit up against Colorado, and the Buffaloes had a bunch of big catches late in the game to keep Rodriguez and fans uncomfortable.

After ASU, WVU has Texas Tech, who with a win over BYU, is the best team in the Big 12. The Red Raiders’ strength is its defensive line, which the Mountaineers’ offensive line has been an issue for most of the year. The Red Raiders’ offense is also nothing to sleep on.

It’s the toughest team WVU could have faced.

After winning two games in a row, winning two more might seem simple, and there are reasons to entice a fan, but it’s definitely not going to be easy, starting with a trip to Tempe this weekend. WVU plays worse on the road, too.

Without some key players, WVU keeps this close for a little, but the magic runs out before Texas Tech, and the Mountaineers lose.

— Prediction: Arizona State 28, West Virginia 17