\u201cTake Me Home, Country Roads\u201d blared after a marathon game overflowing with highlights, drama, and over 1,000 yards of combined offense. The stunned visitors from Waco, Texas left the field after a disappointing loss in Morgantown.<\/p>\n
No, it\u2019s wasn\u2019t 2012. There wasn\u2019t Gangnam Style, Linsanity, or even talk about Geno Smith being one of the best quarterbacks out there\u2026 well, one thing still rings true all these years later.<\/p>\n
Ten years after the 70-63 barn burner where Smith, a 2022 WVU Sports Hall of Fame inductee and current QB1 for Seattle in the NFL, threw for eight touchdowns in the first ever WVU and Baylor Big 12 matchup, the teams delivered another instant classic.<\/p>\n
On Thursday evening, 45,293 Mountaineer faithful descended upon Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown and striped the stadium.<\/p>\n
West Virginia entered the game without freshman phenom running back CJ Donaldson Jr. after he was carted off during last week\u2019s loss to Texas. The Mountaineers faced a off against an elite Bears defense and were able to impose their will even without Donaldson. \u201cWe controlled the line of scrimmage,\u201d WVU Head Coach Neal Brown matter-of-factly stated following the game.<\/p>\n
After holding the Bears to a three and out, thanks to a pass break up by Rashad Ajayi, the Mountaineers came out with tempo and struck first with an eight play, 65 yard drive. Redshirt Junior JT Daniels was perfect on the opening drive which was highlighted by a 19 yard snag by Kaden Prather, catches by four different receivers, and a seven yard Tony Mathis touchdown run.<\/p>\n
Baylor\u2019s second possession was a long 14 play, 71 yard\u00a0 drive that was effectively stopped by a sack on third down by Lee Kpogba that forced a fourth and 14 where the Bears were to play conservative and kick the 40 yard field goal. The score after the end of one quarter of play was 7-3.<\/p>\n
Prior to Thursday\u2019s contest, the Bears had only gone for three field goals in their first five games and were one of the few Power 5 conference teams that went for it on fourth down more than the \u2018Eers.<\/p>\n
Though WVU amassed 65 yards on their first drive, they mustered just 30 yards in the next two drives combined.<\/p>\n
In the second quarter, the game quickly turned as Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen hit Gavin Holmes for a \u00a056 yard catch and run during a five play, 85 yard drive that gave the visitors a 10-7 lead. On their next possession, Baylor only needed three plays to travel 70 yards, as the Bears scored on their third straight drive to lead 17-7. The matchup in Morgantown was shaping up to be Blake Shapen\u2019s coming out party.<\/p>\n
Despite the deficit, West Virginia continued to control the line of scrimmage and stuck with the ground game, which payed dividends later in the contest.<\/p>\n
The WVU offense answered the bell in the form of a 13 play, 69 yard drive that included a 30 yard redemption grab by Reese Smith. A false start on third and goal from the one prematurely ended a promising Mountaineer drive where Casey Legg kicked a short field goal to cut Baylor\u2019s lead to one score. At the half, Coach Neal Brown stated, \u201cWe\u2019re shooting ourselves in the foot.\u201d<\/p>\n
A major momentum swing came with Baylor in control on the following drive after Sean Martin knocked the ball loose from the Bears quarterback and Jamir Cox returned the scoop and score 65 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 17.<\/p>\n
Baylor continued their assault on an inexperienced West Virginia secondary and answered via a screen to Squirrel Williams for 39 yards and took a 24-17 lead into the half.<\/p>\n
Explosive plays featuring a staggering 204 yards after the catch and missed tackles showcased Baylor\u2019s speed. Coach Brown later said, \u201cWe thought we would tackle better.\u201d The offensive splash plays continued throughout the contest for the Bears, as Baylor finished with 13 passing plays that resulted in a whopping 360 yards and six runs which yielded 99 yards.<\/p>\n
The tone setting opening drive of the third quarter was a methodical 10 play, 75 yard trip that ended with a Daniels to Kaden Prather 24 yard catch and run, complete a with a broken tackle, to tie the game just 4:41 into the second half. Prather, who finished with 109 yards and a touchdown on eight catches on 11 targets told the press \u201cEvery time we got on the field we knew we had to take advantage of it.\u201d The wideout has compiled 34 catches and 5 touchdowns in the last five games.<\/p>\n
The visiting team\u2019s quarterback Blake Shapen was forced to leave the game due to injury after a targeting call against cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp during a Shapen slide. Wilson-Lamp was ejected on the play and was one of four Mountaineer defensive backs who were unable to finish the game. Blake Shapen was 14 for 22 for 326 yards and threw for two touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Baylor freshman quarterback Kyron Drones came off the bench and connected on a two yard touchdown pass to Hal Presley to finish a drive where Baylor converted two fourth downs.<\/p>\n
The team from Morgantown found themselves down, but were able to put together an eight play, 75 yard drive to tie it up at 31. JT Daniels hit Sam James for a 32 yard strike before Justin Johnson ran through the Bears defense for a 19 yard touchdown. West Virginia\u2019s offense offered up a variety of looks and formations that put Baylor on their heels. WVU Coach Brown later said, \u201cWe were able to keep them off-balanced.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a war of attrition, as another turning point in the game came after Baylor\u2019s Qualan Jones took a four yard run to pay dirt, capping off a six play, 74 yard effort. The Bears took a six point lead, but the subsequent extra point was blocked by Dante Stills and returned 87 yards by Jacolby Spells for two points to cut the lead to four. \u201cWe\u2019ve been opportunistic,\u201d remarked Coach Brown.<\/p>\n
The ensuing drive saw the Baylor defense step up and stop WVU back Tony Mathis on a fourth and one run at the Baylor 44 with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation. The Mountaineers were 12 for 15 on fourth downs before the failed attempt.<\/p>\n
It was time for West Virginia to lean on their defense to make a play and get the ball back. Less than a minute later Aubrey Burks stripped the ball from Baylor running back Qualon Jones. The fumble was recovered by Jasir Cox at the Mountaineers\u2019 28 with nine minutes remaining. After the game, Neal Brown added, \u201cIf we continue to play hard, good things will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
After WVU\u2019s Daniels hit Prather over the middle for a chunk play, Tony Mathis scored on a 34 sideline scamper to take the lead. Casey Legg\u2019s extra point gave the \u2018Eers a 40-37 lead. Since 2000, the Mountaineers are 67-7 when scoring at least 40 points. Mathis\u2019 run put him over the century mark. West Virginia is now 16-2 underHead Coach Neil Brown when West Virginia rushes for over 100 yards.<\/p>\n
Both the teams then exchanged interceptions on ill-advised throws during promising drives. A WVU defensive stand forced Baylor\u2019s John Mayers to connect on a 44 yard field goal, just his fifth attempt all season, with 1:40 remaining in regulation.<\/p>\n
With the game knotted up at 40, West Virginia hit the field with all three time outs at their disposal. The Mountaineers\u2019 two minute drill mixed pass and run, and was highlighted by the screen game to Prather and another sideline 37 yard run by Mathis. Mathis tallied 167 yards and 116 came in the second half against a top-tier Baylor defense that had given up an average of less than 97 yards per game. WVU had 218 yards and two touchdowns on the ground against the reigning Big 12 champions. During the press conference Coach Brown described Mathis as \u201cdecisive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The back and forth battle concluded when the Mountaineers\u2019 Casey Legg put the 22 yard, game winning field goal through the uprights. Baylor has yet to secure a victory in Morgantown against the Mountaineers in six tries. Afterwards in the locker room, WVU wide out Kaden Prather stated, \u201cWe all needed this one.\u201d He also reminded Gold and Blue Nation to \u201ctrust the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turnovers proved to be the difference maker in the game as the Mountaineer defense showed up and collected two fumble recoveries, both recovered by Cox, and an interception in addition to the blocked extra point. WVU\u2019s victory had contributions from all three phases of the game and amassed an impressive 16 points off turnovers. Since 2002, the \u2018Eers are 96-14 when they win the turnover battle.<\/p>\n
This was a hard fought win, and WVU left little on the field. Coach Neal Brown summed up the performance, \u201cOur guys showed a lot of grit.\u201d The Mountaineers finished with 500 yards of total offense. The \u2018Eers scored on all four of their red zone opportunities, accounting for 20 points. In addition to creating massive running lanes for running backs Mathis and Johnson, the West Virginia offensive line kept quarterback JT Daniels clean and gave up zero sacks. Daniels completed 23 passes to 10 different receivers for 283 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n
Now 3-3, the win moved West Virginia up to sixth in the Big 12 standings – a conference that is wide open. The second half of WVU\u2019s season kicks off next Saturday at Texas Tech.<\/p>\n
Eyes on the \u2018Eers with Aaron Horner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cTake Me Home, Country Roads\u201d blared after a marathon game overflowing with highlights, drama, and over 1,000 yards of combined offense. The stunned visitors from Waco, Texas left the field after a disappointing loss in Morgantown. No, it\u2019s wasn\u2019t 2012. There wasn\u2019t Gangnam Style, Linsanity, or even talk about Geno Smith being one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college"],"yoast_head":"\n