When it rains, it pours.

West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen did take a jab at woebegone Rutgers on Tuesday during a press conference in Morgantown.

But he didn't exactly fire off the scorching one-liner Twitter is giving him credit for.

The setup: The No. 9-ranked Mountaineers are going to play Kansas this weekend. Holgorsen was asked a question about how the Jayhawks have eight different players on their roster with at least one interception this season, presumably to gauge how West Virginia would prepare as an offense knowing so many opposing defenders have come away with picks this fall.

But Holgorsen interrupted the question, saying, "that's coming from Rutgers," poking fun at the struggling program as laughs broke out in the room.

"Those came from Rutgers," Holgorsen added, referring to the Scarlet Knights' disastrous 55-14 loss at Kansas earlier this season, when quarterback Artur Sitkowski through three interceptions, two returned for touchdowns.

At that point, another person in the room said, "the Rutgers factor." Holgorsen responded, "yeah," and then started to actually discuss Kansas' defense.

Dana Holgorsen asked about Kansas having eight different defenders with interceptions. "That's the Rutgers factor." pic.twitter.com/wutVYyThJt — Chris Anderson (@CMAnderson247) October 2, 2018

Is Holgorsen poking fun at an old rival that West Virginia has tormented over the years and still goes head-to-head with for recruits on occasion? Of course.

Does he also have a football point? Sort of. Kansas only has eight interceptions this season, one for each of the aforementioned octet, and by doing the subtraction the Jayhawks only have five interceptions in their other four games. So take away Rutgers, and the numbers look less impressive.

But still, this isn't about football. It's about perception. And Rutgers is battling a negative one as it struggles through a four-game losing streak that has featured three blowout losses and plenty of national rubbernecking. If it wants to prevent things like Holgorsen's joke, there's only one thing it can do.

Win.

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.