MORGANTOWN - WVU defensive coordinator Tony Gibson spoke in a low voice Tuesday afternoon.
His defense, his secondary, has been getting torched of late.
And Gibson, on this day, seemed tortured.
It was a different look from the man. He's what used to be called a pepperpot or a fireball.
Yet his somberness was understandable.
You might remember as WVU headed toward this season it was Gibson who threw down the gauntlet. "I'm not going to hide behind it," he said. "If we're not great on defense, that's directly on me. I told our defensive kids that. If we're not really good on defense - the best in this [Big 12] league - I'm going to be disappointed."
Today, the defense is ranked sixth among the Big 12 teams, allowing an average of 431.4 yards. It is No. 97 nationally of 127 FBS schools. The Mountaineer passing defense is No. 97, allowing an average of 255.3 yards. WVU is No. 80 in rush defense, allowing an average of 176.1 yards.
Yes, more than half of the competition has been top-flight, but ...
"It's been rough," Gibson said.
Indeed. And the defensive coordinator believes the TCU loss was rougher than necessary. This is what Gibson said when asked what jumped out at him from the game's tape:
"Other than the penalties? I mean, three or four third-down penalties kept drives alive and they got points out of them. That's the biggest thing that stood out. We couldn't tackle No. 2 [Trevone Boykin] and that was rough."
The follow-up question was how to eliminate the penalties, especially those of the pass interference variety.
"Hopefully [the officials] won't call them because I didn't see them, but that's my opinion," Gibson responded.
He said, yes, the coaches sent the film and a protest to the Big 12 office. Later, he added that WVU isn't "changing our approach because I think a couple of [the calls] were B.S. I'll probably get in trouble from the Big 12, but that's my opinion."
On TCU's first drive, Daryl Worley was whistled for interference on third and 13. On the same drive, Terrell Chestnut was called for one on third and 8. On the Horned Frogs' second possession, K.J. Dillon was flagged on third and 14.
At game's end, though, TCU had 388 passing yards. Boykin completed 32 of 48 passes. And WVU's secondary was both staggered and hurt. Asked on Tuesday the status of the secondary, Gibson shook his head.
"We don't have enough to play today," he said. "Hopefully we'll get some guys healthy by the end of the week."
That would help because Texas Tech's passing offense is ranked No. 2 nationally averaging 413.4 yards. Asked about the Mountaineers' nickel and dime packages, Gibson again shook his head.
"Don't have it," he replied. "Try to field 11 [players], put the best 11 we have out there."
The chagrin was written all over Gibson's face.
"For the most part, I thought Daryl Worley had his best game [against TCU]," said the coach. "I thought he did some good things. [Terrell] Chestnut, while he lasted, was playing well. Nana [Kyeremeh] had 50 snaps. That's probably the most he's had in three years combined. But he went in and gave good effort and played hard. Jeremy Tyler - most snaps he's had in three years. They all played hard. The effort was there. We just didn't execute. We dropped two easy interceptions in the first half that could have changed the game ... Just frustrating."
WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen said he expects Chestnut, Dillon and Ricky Rumph to all play Saturday. But then there's Karl Joseph, who is out of the season. Ask Gibson about his preseason quote now and that's where he'll point.
What has disappointed the defensive coordinator the most?
"Getting guys hurt," he said. "You lose your first-team All-American, your best player, that hurts. That's the thing. We're not where we were a month ago. We're not where we were two months ago. We're a totally different defense right now without No. 8. No. 16 [Chestnut] is banged up. I mean, we have guys banged up all over the place. I know that's part of it, but when you lose such a significant player ...
"I'm not making excuses. I mean, but that's the reality of it. People don't like to say the reality of it. They like to write and say different things. When you lose your best guy, that's the reality of football. Take away people's quarterbacks. That's what we lost on defense. When that happens, you're not going to be as good."
One can't completely lay the collapse at the feet of Joseph's injury because before that happened Oklahoma laid 44 points on the Mountaineers. Yet it certainly didn't help WVU's cause.
Too, Gibson said fans need to adjust perceptions.
"The days of shutting people out are over with," he said.
Maybe. But TCU held WVU to 10 points. Oklahoma shut out Kansas State. Just last week, Iowa State blanked Texas. Heck, the Mountaineers shut out Georgia Southern and held Maryland to six points.
Whatever the case, Gibson said the WVU staff has altered its way of thinking.
"We set our [defensive] goals to be really good on third downs, three-and-outs and takeaways," he said. "It's crazy when you look at our scoreboards, but I think we're still Top 25 in three-and-outs, we're No. 9 in third-down defense and we're top five in takeaways. But the results haven't been going our way."
WVU is No. 9 in third-down conversion percentage defense and tied at No. 27 in takeaways.
Gibson sighed.
"We've thrown different kinds of approaches each week [at the WVU team] and right now we're just in a slump," he said. "We need to get out of it and start making plays ... We have to get our juice back. Right now, we don't have it. What does that come from? The teams we're playing are pretty good. That has something to do with it ..."
His voice trailed off.
"I know our kids have to be mentally tougher to overcome some things," he said later, "but it just keeps snowballing on us right now. We just have to get something good and ride it out."
Indeed, for WVU, it's time to catch fire.