DALLAS -- West Virginia was on a roll and ranked in the top five in the country after its big road win over the Texas Longhorns early last October.
Then it all fell apart beginning with the Mountaineers' 1,500-mile trip from Morgantown, W.V. to Lubbock, Texas against Texas Tech.
The deflating 49-14 defeat to the Red Raiders was the first of five consecutive losses.
Were the back-to-back visits to the state of Texas a reason for last season's collapse?
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen doesn't think so.
"I've never bought into that," he said at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday. "It doesn't bother me one bit. I will never use travel as an excuse for a win or for a loss."
The Mountaineers will continue to make long road trips in their second season in the Big 12 with back-to-back visits to Kansas State and TCU.
Holgorsen says it's no different than their days in the Big East.
"The routine of those road games will remain the same regardless if we were going to get on a plane and fly to Syracuse, New York, or fly to Lubbock, Texas, or south Florida or Austin, Texas," he said. "It doesn't matter. It's all about routine for us. We're going to get back after the game on Saturday and line up and have the same routine the next week."
