West Virginia’s Week 6 game is irregular. It’s on a Friday instead of the normal Saturday. That creates some planning issues. On top of the date change, the game is out west against BYU, meaning one of the days is a travel day.

Usually, WVU has a walk-through on Sunday after the game, then Monday’s off, and then the following days are practices leading up to the game. With the short week and travel, Monday’s off day was used for game preparation and meetings.

The practices are also a little less physical because of the travel day on Thursday.

“It’s hard to have the full-on practices when you have a shorter week, especially when you’re as banged up as we are,” Rodriguez said.

Other than the Monday change and the less physical practices, not much changes throughout the week. Usually, Friday is off for a travel day, anyway.

The staff doesn’t have to change much about their routines either. Most of the staff prepare days in advance already.

“I have guys on the staff that always work a week ahead anyway,” Rodriguez said. “That’s already being prepared for.”

It’s more on the players to get ready and adjust for the short week. Instead of relaxing on Monday, their brains have to be switched on, thinking about BYU. During practices, players have to be more mentally focused because the days are limited.

“The biggest thing is just player-wise,” Rodriguez said. “Now, I’ve had plenty of non-Saturday games, I’ve had from the Wednesdays and Thursdays before, with a five-day window. So this is not that big a deal.”

The practices are mainly when corrections are made. There are a lot of corrections to be made, too, after a beatdown from Utah, 48-14. The offense couldn’t get anything going, the quarterbacks completed just six passes, the defense didn’t force a punt, and the special teams struggled. There’s a lot to do in not a lot of time.

There are enough issues to fix where a bye week is needed. Rodriguez and WVU have to wait one more week for a bye after BYU. Then, it gets an extended week since the BYU game is on Friday.

“Everyone wishes we had an open day earlier to kind of fix some of the problems,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what happens when you play six in a row. We’ve got a short week, but we got enough time to get ready.”

The other issue with the short week is that it doesn’t give a lot of time for players to get healthier, and in WVU’s case, there are a lot of them.

Quarterback Nicco Marchiol is in Arizona with family and getting another opinion on his injured foot, so with the short week, it doesn’t look like he’ll play. Running back Tye Edwards is another big name that’s still injured. Rodriguez said he’s hopeful he’ll play.

There are a bunch of other injuries. With the short week and the bye week coming up the following week, more players might sit out against BYU.

However, Rodriguez and WVU can’t afford to lose too many more games, already 0-2 in the Big 12 and 2-3 on the season. So, WVU will have to rebound in all areas quickly.

“I told our players, it’s going to be more mental and physical this week,” Rodriguez said. “Getting it turned around and getting ready.”