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MORGANTOWN -- Facing a Dana Holgorsen offense is tough enough if you bring a fully healthy defense against it, as Clemson learned in the 2011 Orange Bowl and as Baylor learned in West Virginia's first ever Big 12 game, scoring 70 points in each, but as West Virginia prepares to meet its former coach at 7 p.m. tonight in Houston, they do so coming off a string of physical battles that has left them shorthanded.
"That's just the nature of any season in our league," defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said during his Monday media session. "It's going to happen."
And with Trey Latham, a red-shirt freshman who was emerging as a budding defensive star, out for the season after surgery to repair a broken ankle and with the team's top defender, safety Aubrey Burks, questionable after being knocked unconscious and carted off the field against TCU, Jordan is faced with putting his defense back together again.
That, however, has not kept him from keeping his sense of humor.
"There's two things you're not going to do. You're not going to play with 10 and I'm not going out there," Lesley with a laugh. "Nor is Dante (Stills). We're not going to play a play, so you just have to figure it out."
"The pieces are the pieces and you have to figure it out … the where, the when and the how. Bad coaching is asking someone to do something they can't do. As long as we don't do that we'll be alright," he continued.
Lathan, who by Monday was recovered enough from surgery to visit his teammates at the Puskar Center, will be replaced by true freshman Ben Cutter and Lesley has no hesitation in making that move.
"He plays the game the right way … fast and physical. Like any freshman, there's going to be a learning curve, no matter when you start playing. We have to keep him in good situations and good positions. He'll be fine," he said.
As well as WVU has played defense -- which is one of the biggest surprises in all of college football this season -- it means they are riding confidently into the game despite the inevitable dings that come with the game that is football.
Holgorsen admits he was surprised that his Houston team was not scheduled to play at Mountaineer Field this week rather than to host the first ever meeting between the two schools.
"I'm shocked that didn't happen," he said in his Houston press conference. "My prediction was Week 3, year one, that was going to happen. We'll see them next year up there."
He knows, though, that the Mountaineer's fans presence will be felt in Houston.
"They're going to travel," he said. "They got a great fan base. Mountaineer nation is alive and well. They're playing well. They got tremendous support. They're coming."
No one doubts that the Big 12 Conference Holgorsen enters with Houston is different from the wide open, high-scoring conference he brought WVU into.
Times change and certainly the change in the Big 12 has kept up with the changes that have turned college football into a totally different game.
"This has turned into a really physical conference week to week," Mountaineer coach Neal Brown notes on Monday.
Not only is it physical, more ground oriented and better defensively, but it is more competitively balanced despite expanding to 14 teams.
"We're in a league where you have a chance to win every game," Brown said, sporting a 2-0 record and in a good spot to make it 3-0 after being picked 14th and last in the league's preseason media poll. "But you have a team that can beat you every week."
When WVU joined the conference, Kansas was among the worst college football teams in the nation, as was Iowa State.
Both now are highly respected and the dominance of Oklahoma is not nearly as strong as it was, despite the Sooners' 5-0 record and a victory over Texas in their win bank.