Photos by Jackson Saunders
Homecoming week is officially here in Morgantown, and WVU fans are hoping the Mountaineers can give them something they have not had in a while. A win.
The Mountaineers are getting ready to take on Cincinnati this Saturday at noon, and while the football season has not exactly been going as planned, Homecoming is giving fans another reason to get excited.
Or at least try to.
WVU started the season with three straight wins, but things have gone downhill pretty quickly since
then. Three straight losses have left fans frustrated, and at this point, asking for a win on Homecoming does not seem like too much to ask. But if there’s one thing WVU fans are good at, it is showing up no matter how many times this team breaks their hearts.
Homecoming is one of the best weekends in Morgantown. Alumni come back to town, students get to celebrate, and everyone has an excuse to wear even more gold and blue than usual. There’s the Homecoming Parade, tailgates, packed bars and, of course, a football game that everyone hopes will not ruin the weekend.
Because let’s be real, WVU fans have been through enough.
The Mountaineers are coming off a 52-31 loss to Arizona, and they are still looking for their first Big 12 win of the season. Not exactly what fans pictured when the season started. One minute, fans are starting to believe. The next, they are staring at the scoreboard wondering what just happened.
It’s basically become a weekly tradition at this point.
But maybe a little Homecoming magic is exactly what this team needs.
Or maybe just four quarters of football that do not leave fans questioning every decision made on the field.
The good news is that the Mountaineers have had plenty of success against Cincinnati in the past. WVU leads the all-time series 18-3-1 and has won the last four meetings between the two teams. So, if there’s ever been a good time to get back in the win column, this would be it. WVU is also bringing back its “Stripe the Stadium” theme for Saturday’s game. Fans in even-numbered sections will wear gold, while fans in odd-numbered sections will wear blue.
At least we know the stadium will look good, regardless of what happens on the field.
And while the football team has struggled lately, there’s still something about Homecoming in Morgantown that makes it special.
It’s seeing old friends, walking around campus, hearing “Country Roads” and being surrounded by thousands of people who love WVU just as much as you do. Of course, there will be fans who swear they’re done getting their hopes up, only to be right back inside Milan Puskar Stadium by kickoff.
That’s just part of being a WVU fan.
Saturday is not going to fix everything that’s gone wrong this season. One win will not erase three straight losses or suddenly make all the frustrations disappear.
But it would be a start.
The Mountaineers do not need to put together a perfect performance. Fans just want to see a team that looks prepared, plays with energy and finds a way to finish the game on top.
That does not sound unreasonable, right?
The tailgates will happen, the gold and blue will fill the stadium, and fans will once again convince themselves that this is the week everything turns around.
Maybe this time they will be right. Because there’s nothing better than a Homecoming weekend in Morgantown. Except maybe one that ends with a Mountaineer win. And at this point, WVU fans would probably settle for winning by one point.
Just please, win.
