Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

West Virginia coach Bill Stewart watched film from last year's Colorado game at 7:30 Monday morning. He almost immediately regretted it.

"I've been in a bad mood ever since," Stewart said a few hours later on the Big East coaches' teleconference.

Last year's 17-14 overtime loss in Boulder was the second of a terrible twosome for the Mountaineers, who were drilled at East Carolina the week before. This year brings the opportunity for redemption, and they already got revenge on East Carolina earlier this season. Another payback opportunity arrives when Colorado (1-2) comes to Morgantown on Thursday night.

But the topic of conversation this week hasn't really revolved around getting back at the Buffaloes. It's been more about what that game did for West Virginia.

Stewart has often said that loss, as painful as it was, helped turn the season around for the Mountaineers. They went 8-2 the rest of the way and found an identity on defense that night in the Rockies.

"We grew up as a football team," Stewart said.

"I think our guys knew that they could contain those guys. I know we jelled after that game; I was in the locker room. ... We became a football team on defense last year after that Colorado game, and then we got better and better after every game on offense."

Colorado went the opposite way after last year's game. The Buffaloes finished the rest of the season 2-7 and then lost the first two games of this year -- including a 54-38 humiliation at Toledo -- before finally beating Wyoming. Their defense is allowing 6.2 yards per play and has given up a ton of big plays.

That would seem to spell good news for West Virginia, which boasts all kinds of quick-strike ability. Then again, the Mountaineers rushed for 311 yards last year in Boulder and managed only two touchdowns, and they shot themselves in the foot with turnovers again and again last time out at Auburn.

Stewart has focused the past week and half of practice on correcting the little mistakes that negate the big plays. But he doesn't plan on putting the brakes on the offensive aggressiveness.

"We are going to try to keep them off balance and get them out of rhythm," he said. "I don’t want to them to be too able to hone in on us, and I don’t want them to bend and not break. I want to see if we can break them and break them early."

Stewart has had high praise all week for Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins, and the Buffaloes also have three capable running backs in Darrell Scott, Rodney Stewart and Demetrius Sumier.

Defensively, though, the Mountaineers put the clamps on Colorado after an early score in last year's game. And they are confident of doing that again.

“I think this game is going to be a pretty good one,” safety Robert Sands told the Times West Virginian. “We’re looking for a goose egg. We’re going to shut them out. At least, that’s what I want us to do.”

Sounds like a team ready to deliver another round of payback.