It is becoming a trend that West Virginia State coach John Pennington is getting tired of talking about.
The Yellow Jackets, on the rise after several years of underachieving, are improving. Yet they haven't quite been able to seal some of the big wins they need. That fate showed up again Saturday when WVSU played No. 4 Shepherd about as tough as any team has this season, leading late in the second half before the Rams were able to hold on down the stretch to come away with a 56-41 win.
"We were proud of our guys and the way they battled, it was pretty much a back-and-forth, one-possession game," Pennington said. "But we're sick of having those conversations. We want to get on the better side of things. Our guys have some confidence that they can play with anybody, but we still have to earn it."
One of the biggest keys in getting over that hump is to make sure those early-season losses don't hurt the Yellow Jackets' morale.
It's never easy to handle losses, but Pennington said his team has maintained a good attitude throughout these bumps in the road it has taken since beating Charleston to open the regular season. But now the players' focus is not just staying content with where they are but also pushing forward to come away with victories.
That all begins now as they continue preparations for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. game against Glenville State.
"Our slogan since the day we got here has been to win each moment and we have to get a lot of those little wins this week - in the classroom, in the training room, in study hall and in practice," Pennington said. "I told them Sunday that we have to be able to do those little things right to put yourself and your team in a position to win. If you do the right things, we'll get the result we want.
"It's just a matter of doing it every day, and if you do it consistently enough it's going to happen."
West Virginia State knows it has been able to turn to good locker-room leaders to help keep the season on the right track .With seniors like quarterback Matt Kinnick and wide receiver Quinton Gray leading the offense and a defense led by senior linebacker Trent Williamson, WVSU knows it has the type of presence to keep everyone focused on the task at hand.
"It's so valuable. These guys are ready to go, they wish they could be playing another game today," Pennington said. "Having leadership, both on the coaching staff and on the team, has been part of why our mindset has been so strong all year, and that's why it's going to continue to be that way."
And just because Pennington is tired of talking about moral victories doesn't mean that the team hasn't done good things or doesn't mean they haven't made significant strides this season.
It's a good sign for the future as the Yellow Jackets, under this new coaching staff, try to take the program places it hasn't reached in the past. There are good things learned from losses, lessons they can take from the times they fell a little short. But eventually Pennington is confident the team will show it has what it takes to put things together.
"It's about continuing to invest in these young men and continuing to believe that those good things will be happening," Pennington said. "We can't get up or down based on one loss or one win. We can't let that loss to Shepherd, or any of our losses this season, tell us our season is over just like we can't win by 50 the next week and declare, 'We've arrived.'
"We have to believe that we're on the right path, continue to invest in what we've been doing these last nine months because we'll get those outcomes we desire. That's the way champions do it and we can't be distracted by that."