1. LESSONS LEARNED: Baylor's secondary struggled in last week's loss at Oklahoma State, giving up 471 yards passing and a ton of big plays. This week, they're facing a similar test with West Virginia quarterback Will Grier and a talented receiving corps led by David Sills, Ka'Raun White and Gary Jennings Jr. "One of the hardest things about playing corner is you have a game where you get beat, and it stinks," coach Matt Rhule said. "You come in on Sunday, and either you're done, shell-shocked, never come back again; or you come in on Sunday and say, 'That's not happening again.' . . . What I do know is our cornerbacks are going to show up to play on Saturday."

2. CALLING ALL RECEIVERS: Baylor's depleted receiving corps has Chris Platt out for the year, Blake Lynch playing defense and Pooh Stricklin likely sidelined this week. Denzel Mims was battling a stomach virus last week, but he has stepped up in a big way this season with 27 catches for 533 yards and seven touchdowns. What the Bears need is more production out of freshmen R.J. Sneed and Gavin Holmes and sophomore Jared Atkinson, who's still looking for his first catch of the year.

3. POUND THE ROCK: With Terence Williams looking more like his self, the Bears rushed for 219 yards and averaged 4.8 per carry against OSU. And the offensive line took a big step up as well, creating creases that weren't there the first five games. The running game could be a huge key against a West Virginia defense that has shown a few holes, giving up 210.7 yards on the ground per game and a disturbing 5.3 per attempt.

4. DON'T STOP BELIEVING: Granted, it's tough when you've lost 12 consecutive regular-season games. But, last week's game notwithstanding, this team has made dramatic improvements since the opening week and has been in every other game with a chance to tie or take the lead in the fourth quarter. "These kids are unbelievably mentally tough," Rhule said. "They've been through a lot, and they continue to fight and scratch and claw. I'm proud of those guys that go out and represent us on Saturdays."

5. HOMECOMING: This is truly a Homecoming. The Bears haven't played a game at McLane Stadium since that 49-41 loss to then-No. 3 Oklahoma on Sept. 23, exactly four weeks ago. With #StripeMcLane, hopefully the visiting Mountaineers will be blinded by a sea of green and gold. Stand up, make some noise and make a difference to help this team get its first win of the year against a 23rd-ranked West Virginia team that Baylor took down to the wire last year in Morgantown.