MORGANTOWN - Make no mistake, West Virginia's defense has figured out how to play without Karl Joseph. One reason? Jeremy Tyler isn't making mistakes.
He's an asset now for a defense that's shutting down opponents and steamrolls into Saturday's 4:30 p.m. Fox Sports 1 game at Kansas State (5-6, 2-6 Big 12).
"I've said this the past two weeks," safeties coach Joe DeForest said. "For Jeremy Tyler to play two positions in one game and not have any mental errors is a tremendous credit to him. Not one mental error."
The junior from Georgia was a backup at free and spur safety before Joesph was hurt in practice between the Oklahoma and Oklahoma State games. Part of defensive coordinator Tony Gibson's plan for finishing the rest of the season without the all-conference bandit safety was to have Tyler focus on spur and bandit.
Seven weeks later, with one spell away from the team following a death in his family, Tyler is backing up K.J. Dillon at spur and Jarrod Harper at bandit and playing free of errors. In last week's win against Iowa State, Tyler had his best game with the Mountaineers.
"In practice, I forget sometimes what position I'm at," Tyler said. "I'm at spur, and I feel like I have to get back on top of the roof in the back where the free safety's been. It's a mind thing. You just have to calm down and realize what you're doing, where you're at and know the play call."
Tyler has played clean games before, but he didn't play nearly as many snaps in the opener against Georgia Southern. As best as he can remember - and you tend to trust his memory given his track record now - he's had no more than three mental errors in a game.
That might be a normal game for someone in his situation. Spur is the most complicated position on defense and has a greater variety of responsibilities in coverage and with blitzes. It's a lot for a player to manage, and the weight of that duty is even heavier when he replaces Harper at bandit and has to recall all of the assignments over there.
"What he's doing is huge playing two positions," Harper said. "Sometimes some blitzes the bandit has the spur might have, too, but at the same time it might be a different type of blitz on the same play. Hat's off to him for preparing and knowing what his responsibilities are and going out and executing and not making any mental errors."
Tyler's playing time has increased, and that's allowed DeForest to keep Harper fresh and sharp. Harper had his best game and was perhaps WVU's best defender against Oklahoma State, the first game without Joseph.
WVU's defense struggled in the next two losses to Baylor and TCU, and Gibson hated to admit it but had to confess there were times he saw the void Joseph's absence created. If it wasn't on the field it was off of it, as Joseph's two replacements said all the right things and then tried hard to do them.
"We've talked about the expectations of what we lose compared to what we're getting," Gibson said. "Really, it wasn't fair to the kids. We had to watch as a coaching staff, and we told our defensive players they had to watch it. 'As teammates of theirs, you've got to go in and make sure you believe and make sure they believe that you believe in them.' "
The Mountaineers continued to lose, though, and that made it hard for anyone to feel good about anything. The 3-0 start was a distant memory. Losing Joseph still hurt. The opponents were going to keep coming, and they had no time for compassion.
Even the most experienced and most talented players had their low moments. Harper and Tyler had been parts of losing streaks before, but never as starters, never as players unexpectedly replacing a fallen star.
"You've got to watch them as a coach and make sure they're settled down and sort of gear yourself to, 'Why is he making that mistake? Is he too hyped or nervous?' " DeForest said.
Harper had a career-high five tackles, most of them noisy, against Iowa State. That matched the career-high total he had against Oklahoma State. Tyler had just one tackle against the Cyclones, but he recovered a fumble he forced and was where he was supposed to be on every snap. The Mountaineers (7-4, 4-4) have won four in a row behind a defense that's rediscovered its ways.
WVU has forced nine turnovers, recorded 12 sacks and allowed only nine points in the past nine quarters. Tyler's been solid in coverage and with blitzes. Harper's helped out against the run and the pass.
Most importantly, they understand they're not playing because Joseph's injured. They're playing because they're part of the team.
"We knew we had big shoes to fill when we had to go out there, but we know we're here for a reason and we were recruited for a reason," Harper said. "I don't think there was ever any doubt. Coach DeForest tells us all the time he has all the confidence in the world in us and we need to just go out and play. It's just football. We've been playing this game all our lives, so just go out and have fun with it."