MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- With West Virginia football turned upside down in September, it would only figure that the one group to prop the Mountaineers upright was its ... defense?

The same unit that generously allowed, on average, almost seven points every single quarter to start the season suddenly has transformed into the Jeff Casteel Curtain. Just as the coordinator ordered.

"Coming in, we were going to put the weight on the offense's shoulders. Then it got stagnant a little bit," middle linebacker Reed Williams said. "Coach Casteel told us it may be up to us in coming weeks."

The past two weeks, the Mountaineers' fate was placed firmly atop the defense's shoulders, even the pained, surgically repaired ones belonging to its most vital player, Williams. It was early at Colorado when this oft-maligned group assumed the burden. Since then, it has allowed nary a touchdown in 21 series, in seven-plus quarters, in its past 115 minutes, 10 seconds of regulation and one overtime possession.

Two field goals.

That's it. That's all Colorado, after two touchdowns within the opening five minutes Sept. 18, and Marshall last Saturday have mustered of late. "Pretty special," Williams called it.

West Virginia (2-2) won't face a multiple-threat offense until, arguably, Game 10 at Louisville. Yet it helps to keep the opposition touchdown-free when much the same condition befalls the vaunted West Virginia offense, which through three Division I-A games owns all of five touchdowns -- a figure it equaled or surpassed in a half-dozen games last year. Thus, these 2008 Mountaineers desperately seek defense.

"Anytime you can keep someone from scoring any points, that's a little bit even better than winning," offered Rutgers coach Greg Schiano, whose struggling Scarlet Knights (1-3) come to Mountaineer Field at noon tomorrow trying to shine a positive light on last week's 38-0 defeat of Division I-AA Morgan State.

Schiano's offense has produced Big East lows of 10 touchdowns and a 19.5-points-per-game scoring average, yet it boasts some of the league's finest talent in receivers Kenny Britt and Tiquan Underwood plus tight end Kevin Brock. Add in 245-pound redshirt freshman back Jourdan Brooks and three-year starting quarterback Mike Teel, their poster boy for foibles with two touchdowns and a whopping seven interceptions, and Rutgers brings some offensive threats, on paper. On the scoreboard, though, the Mountaineers defense tells a more tangible tale.

Sure, Marshall's Herd tripped over its own feet a bit in West Virginia's 27-3 triumph, failing to convert drives to the Mountaineers' 28, 35, 7 and 18 that included a botched fake field-goal attempt and a 24-yard miss. The game prior, Colorado reached the Mountaineers' 45, 24, 36 and 46 without scoring. It's a small trend.

These numbers are more instructive: In its past 126 plays, West Virginia has permitted 413 yards. That's a scant 3.2 yards per play. And that encompasses 26 for 62 passing for 202 yards, also 3.2 yards per play.

Perhaps the most telling aspect: Casteel's defense used three new starters Saturday in freshman safety Robert Sands, sophomore Brandon Hogan in his second month at cornerback and senior defensive end Doug Slavonic of Mt. Lebanon. That brought the total to 11 first-time starters of 19 different starters to date.

"I had trepidation starting eight new ones in the Villanova game, too," Casteel said. "We're getting used to it."

Steady contributors such as Gateway's Mortty Ivy at strong-side linebacker (West Virginia's leading sacker and interceptor) plus bandit safety Quinton Andrews (their leading tackler) help significantly. But that surge since Colorado seems directly linked to the return of Williams -- whom coach Bill Stewart labeled "questionable" for Rutgers tomorrow because of lingering shoulder pain.

"He's been a real factor, hasn't he?" Stewart began. "He just brings a spark. ... But the guy's hurting. I just want to make sure he doesn't get hurt worse."

Williams could play two more games before a medical redshirt year becomes a plausibility, but this defense appears to need him as desperately as the West Virginia offense needs the defense.

"Our young players or new starters, they're starting to understand work ethic is what makes you a good football player. You have to work from Sunday to Saturday," Casteel said. "By no means are we where we want to be. But we're getting better."

NOTES -- A limited number of tickets, for $45 apiece, are on sale at the Coliseum ticket office or 800-988-4263. ... Tailback Zach Hulce had a season-ending knee injury, leaving Mark Rodgers and slotback Jock Sanders as Noel Devine's backups.