2012 bowl projections: West Virginia projected to play in Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl

After losing its first game of the season, West Virginia is now projected to play in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl.

College Football Rankings, Week 8: Mountaineers drop 12 spots in AP Top 25

The West Virginia Mountaineers fell 12 spots in the AP Top 25 poll after Saturday's 49-14 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday.

The Mountaineers checked in at No. 5 last week, but are now No. 17 when the new poll was released Sunday.

West Virginia was 5-0 before Saturday's loss to Texas Tech. The Mountaineers' defense was shredded by Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege, who threw for 499 yards and six touchdowns.

Penn State received one vote.

Here's this week's entire AP Top 25 poll:

NCAA Football Rankings, Week 8: West Virginia plummets to No. 15 in Coaches' Poll

The latest college football rankings were released Sunday, and the West Virginia Mountaineers plummeted from No. 5 to 15 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. The tumble is a result from Saturday's 49-14 loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. WVU's first loss of the season, which came in blowout fashion, helped the Red Raiders (5-1) move into the rankings at No. 20. Texas Tech was not in the rankings last week.

Overall, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Oregon Ducks remained No. 1 and 2. Alabama (6-0) received all 59 first-place votes.

The rest of the top 10 featured some shuffling, as the Kansas St. Wildcats, Florida Gators and Notre Dame Fighting Irish all moved up into the top 5 after big victories and losses by other schools. The LSU Tigers, Oklahoma Sooners, South Carolina Gamecocks, USC Trojans and Florida St. Seminoles round out the top 10.

A complete rundown of the Coaches' Poll can be found here.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech 2012: Mountaineers fans embarrassed by 49-14 loss

The No. 5 West Virginia Mountaineers were blown out by the unranked Texas Tech Red Raiders Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, 49-14, in an outcome which was described as "embarrassing" by The Smoking Musket, SB Nation's West Virginia community.

Among many other factors, WVU fans were unhappy with the team's seeming lack of offensive rhythm, and the defense looking "completely slow and out of place on many plays." From the comments in The Smoking Musket's initial postgame post:

This reflects what is driving me the most crazy about the defense: we keep doing the same thing expecting a different result, which, incidentally is Einstein's definition of "insanity."

Of course, Mountaineers fans are also worried about upcoming fall in the rankings as well as the impact this may have on quarterback Geno Smith's Heisman candidacy.

Next Saturday, the Mountaineers host Big 12 foe Kansas State in a game which could be a "season maker or breaker" at 7 p.m. ET.

College football rankings: Texas Tech loss will destroy West Virginia's standing in polls

We don't know exactly what to expect when the Week 8 college football rankings come out Sunday, but we know that it won't be pretty for West Virginia, which suffered a terrible blowout loss to Texas Tech Saturday.

No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Oregon won't go anywhere. No. 3 South Carolina will drop after a loss to No. 9 LSU, with No. 4 Florida likely moving up to No. 3. No. 6 Kansas State will likely move up a bit. No. 13 Oklahoma will get a nice bump after piling up 63 points against No. 15 Texas. So I would think this week's polls will look something like this.

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida
4. Kansas State
5. LSU
6. Notre Dame
7. South Carolina
8. Ohio State
9. Oklahoma
10. Oregon State

Note that WVU is nowhere to be found. My guess is that the Mountaineers will be in the teens somewhere. They'll get a chance to jump right back into the top 10 if they can beat Kansas State next week, but obviously, they've got a bunch of defensive kinks to work out before that happens.

WVU vs. Texas Tech final score: Blowout loss brings screeching halt to special season

Well, so much for that. West Virginia's Saturday-afternoon game against Texas Tech was a nightmare for the Mountaineers -- the Red Raiders exploited the Mountaineers' weakness (defense) while limiting its offense, losing 49-14. For WVU, a blowout loss against an unranked team effectively ends what might have been a special season, not only for the team, but possibly for quarterback Geno Smith this year.

Smith went into the game as an easy favorite for the Heisman Trophy, but he was badly outdueled by the Red Raiders' Seth Doege -- although, admittedly, Smith didn't get the chance to face off against his own team's terrible defense. Doege threw for 499 yards, with six touchdowns and one interception. Texas Tech scored in its first two possessions and barely slowed down after that, piling up 35 points just by halftime. Meanwhile, Smith didn't turn the ball over, but he went 29-of-55 for 275 yards and just one score. 26 incompletions! For Geno Smith!

Smith deserves only a small portion of the blame, of course. WVU has given up 63, 45 and now 49 points in its three Big 12 games so far. That, even more that Smith and its usually-prodigious offense, might be this team's defining characteristic -- it just can't play defense. Expect poll voters to notice, and to drop WVU all the way out of the top 10. It's a shame, really -- a win over Texas Tech, even a modest one, would have set up a huge showdown against No. 6 Kansas State in Morgantown next week. Now the atmosphere will be a lot more subdued. Oh well. At least Morgantown couch owners can rest easy.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech score: Rout continues as Mountaineers trail, 42-7

The No. 5 West Virginia Mountaineers trail the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 42-7, after three quarters of play at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith has struggled against the nation's top-ranked pass defense, completing just over half of his throws.

Smith played well in the opening half, throwing for 175 yards and a touchdown. However, the Red Raiders were able to bear down and hold Smith to just 40 yards through the air in the third quarter. The Mountaineers got a little more out of their running game in the quarter, as Andrew Buie picked up 35 yards on the ground to increase his total to 64 in the game.

Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege started the half slowly, as West Virginia's defense put up a better effort initially. However, Doege was able to connect with Darrin Moore for a 29-yard touchdown pass with three and a half minutes left in the quarter to increase the lead for the Red Raiders. Doege has completed 25 of 35 passes for 431 yards and five scores.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech score: No. 8 Mountaineers down big to Red Raiders at halftime

The Texas Tech Red Raiders hold a 35-7 lead over the No. 5 West Virginia Mountaineers at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege threw for 336 yards and four touchdowns in the opening half.

The Mountaineers' porous defense hurt them, as the unit has allowed 438 yards of total offense to the Red Raiders. Meanwhile, West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith was hurt by multiple dropped passes in the half, despite throwing for 175 yards and a touchdown.

Neither of the teams' rushing attacks did much of anything for the majority of the first two quarters, until Texas Tech's SaDale Foster ran 53 yards for a touchdown with just 35 seconds remaining in the half. Meanwhile, Mountaineers running back Andrew Buie has picked up just 29 yards on 10 carries.

Texas Tech wide receiver Jace Amaro was Doege's big target in the first half, catching three balls for 121 yards and a touchdown. West Virginia receiver Stedman Bailey has six grabs for 56 yards and a score.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech score: Seth Doege, Red Raiders score in 1st 2 possessions

Seth Doege and the Texas Tech offense found holes in WVU's defense in the first quarter, scoring on their first two possessions and ending up with a 14-7 lead.

Doege and the Red Raiders scored quickly on their first possession of the game, culminating with a 39-yard touchdown reception by Jace Amaro less than two minutes into the game. Then West Virginia uncharacteristically failed to sscore on their own first possession, with Geno Smith throwing an incomplete pass on 4th-and-4 to turn the ball over on downs. The Red Raiders got the ball back with about nine minutes left in the quarter and embarked on a 12-play drive that ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ward, putting Texas Tech up 14-0.

Geno Smith and company finally got on the board in their next possession. A 38-yard pass to a streaking Tavon Austin set up a seven-yard touchdown from Smith to Stedman Bailey. The Mountaineers then finally managed to come up with a stop, as Alex Torres bobbled a pass from Doege and Karl Joseph came up with it. WVU still had the ball as the quarter came to an end.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech 2012: Game time, TV schedule, odds and more

The high-powered West Virginia offense heads to Texas for the second straight week, this time to face Texas Tech.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech: WVU offense could give Red Raiders trouble

Texas Tech saw a good offense against Oklahoma last week, but the Red Raiders should get an even bigger challenge from West Virginia this weekend.