Things can always be worse.

That is the message that the BYU football team found out Saturday night at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.V., as the Cougars tried to bounce back from a disappointing 35-6 loss at No. 7 Texas when they went up against West Virginia.

But without starting quarterback Kedon Slovis and a host of other contributors, BYU fizzled early and never recovered, falling 37-7 to the Mountaineers.

“Congratulations to West Virginia,” Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake said. “I thought they played a great game, made a lot of plays and got a lot of yards on us. It felt like they could just do whatever they wanted and we couldn’t create any momentum. We couldn’t get things going and we’ve got to be better.”

Were there any positives for BYU after suffering its third consecutive blowout road loss?

Well, the Cougars did stop West Virginia twice on fourth down, avoided the shutout with a late 10-yard touchdown run from junior running back Aidan Robbins and saw flashes of ability from junior quarterback Jake Retzlaff in his first action.

Yeah, that was about it.

“We lost the game in all three phases,” Sitake said. “It’s time to regroup, to get back home and play this next game but we’ve got to learn. It’s going to be tough film to watch. We’ve got to watch it and learn from it and do it with a positive attitude.”

The statistics told the tale of how lopsided it was as West Virginia outgained BYU by nearly 300 yards (567-277) including a huge Mountaineer advantage on the ground (336-67).

The tone for the game was set on the first two drives.

West Virginia won the coin toss and elected to receive, giving the BYU defense a chance to make an early statement.

“I was excited to go out and start on defense,” Cougar sophomore safety Ethan Slade said. “We didn’t get the result we wanted but I love getting out there first and kind of imposing our will.”

After a questionable pass interference call helped the Mountaineers get into BYU territory, the Cougar defense held West Virginia to four yards on a third-and-5.

The home team lined up to go for it, giving BYU a golden opportunity to seize the early momentum. Two Cougar defenders got to Mountaineer sophomore running back CJ Donaldson Jr. before he reached the line to gain, but he managed to twist away and fall forward for the first down.

Three plays later — aided by a second questionable pass interference call — Donaldson pushed his way into the end zone from two yards out to give West Virginia the lead.

BYU was the beneficiary of a questionable pass interference call of its own when it got the ball, eventually moving into Mountaineer territory on an 8-yard run by Retzlaff on third-and-10.

The Cougars also chose to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the West Virginia 46-yard line, but the play call turned into a disaster.

BYU ran a zone read by Robbins off a quick snap to the right side of the line but the Mountaineer defenders eluded the blockers blew it up in the backfield, dropping Robbins for a two-yard loss.

“We’ve always felt good about that call but for some reason we weren’t able to convert,” Sitake said. “You have to give credit to them for making the play. Re-thinking it, maybe we aren’t having a lot of success then maybe don’t do it. I’m just going try to be better and make the better decision next time.”

West Virginia quickly capitalized on the turnover on downs, getting a big pass from junior quarterback Garrett Greene to freshman wide receiver Traylon Ray to set up Donaldson’s second short TD run.

Down by two scores on the road again with a struggling offense and defense, BYU never had a chance to make a game of it.

The Mountaineers tacked on two field goals and a beautiful TD pass from Greene to freshman wide receiver Preston Fox to build a 27-0 lead at the break, shredding the Cougar defense on the ground and in the air.

The rest of the first half was brutal for BYU, including a failed fourth-down pass, two late-hit penalties when defenders didn’t hold up when Greene started sliding and a fumble by freshman wide receiver Parker Kingston after a 21-yard gain would’ve put the ball at the West Virginia 20-yard line.

The second half appeared to have given BYU a spark of life when sophomore wide receiver Keelan Marion returned the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown — only to have it negated by a questionable holding call.

“It’s not easy being a ref and when they see something they have to call it,” Sitake said. “I didn’t see it but that’s what they look for. That’s their job. They had 10 penalties and we had 10 penalties, so it was an undisciplined game from both sides. We’ve got to be smarter.”

The Mountaineers added another field goal and a long touchdown pass from Greene to junior tight end Kole Taylor to put the game away.

The only scoring drive for the Cougars came after BYU stopped West Virginia on a fourth-and-4, then went 62 yards in eight plays capped by a speed option by Robbins for the score.

The reality, though, was that Sitake and the Cougar players were extremely disappointed with how they played the entire night.

“I felt like the guys, for the most part fought but we just need all 11 guys in the field doing the right things,” Sitake said. “It seems like we’re so late in the season but we’re still making mistakes. We’re not playing well with fundamentals. We’re not blocking right. We’re whiffing on blocks. We’re not tackling well. We’re not using the right proper technique, not playing assignment-sound football. That’s something that we’ve got to fix.”

When asked whether he feels like he know why so many mistakes are being made, he said that there are a number of reasons depending on the individuals and positions.

“All of that has to be evaluated and needs be corrected,” Sitake said. That’s what I’ve got to do as a head coach. I need to find a way to get our guys to play at a higher level. We’ve done it before.”

He stated that everyone on the team has a shot to show they can do the right things.

“For me, the competition is open,” Sitake said. “I owe it to the fans and to everybody else and to our team to play the best guys. It’s going to be fun to see these guys compete and fight for playing time so that this doesn’t show up again.”