--Let’s just cut to it. That wasn’t pretty at all. There were again 12 penalties for over 100 yards for the second consecutive week, matching the most under head coach Neal Brown during his tenure in Morgantown. There were four turnovers and another fumble that was recovered by the offense. Special teams gaffes and inconsistency across the board, but somehow, someway West Virginia was able to fight and win this football game. The Mountaineers have a lot and I do mean a lot to clean up especially on the offensive side of the ball but you simply don’t take wins for granted. This team tried to get in its own way more often than it didn’t today, but credit to some timely offense when it needed it and a stellar effort by the defense today for the Mountaineers. This team is now 2-1 on the season and gets a bye week before Kansas comes to town. That isn’t the worst spot to be in but that bye is going to be needed because there is a lot of work that needs to be done. West Virginia remains undefeated against Baylor in Morgantown and you start to wonder if they can’t win this one without fans in the stands when will it happen for them? It’s a house of horrors, but the Mountaineers will take it. I think it’s definitely a positive that West Virginia finished this game and didn’t play for a field goal.
--West Virginia is now 5-2 in games decided by seven points or less under Neal Brown. That is a very good ratio in what many would call a rebuild. The losses were to a pair of ranked teams on the road at Baylor last year and at home against Oklahoma State.
--This felt like the type of game where West Virginia should have won by two touchdowns, or lost by the same amount ... somehow. This one was hard to sum up because it was such a dominant effort on one side of the ball for most of the game and not so much on the others. The defense was able to record 6 sacks and 11 tackles for loss on the day and held the Bears to 14 points in regulation. Obviously giving up the late touchdown was less than ideal, but they were able to record an interception in overtime to redeem themselves. This had a lot of swings in a lot of different ways but the defense was a consistent. Baylor ended up starting at their own 42 in this game and had five possessions, three in regulation start on the West Virginia side of the field and managed only 21 points. The defense allowed only 8 chunk plays of over 15+ yards passing and 10+ yards rushing in the game.
--A major stat in this game? West Virginia was 4-4 in the red zone for 27 points (didn’t kick the final PAT) while Baylor was only 1-3 for 7 points. One drive started at the 19-yard line and they got zero points out of it. Another key stat? The Mountaineers going 3-3 on fourth down including in overtime. I personally liked how aggressive Brown was and he trusted his players to make the plays.
--The Mountaineers had the ball for 46:53 compared to only 28:07 for Baylor. This team was able to do just enough and keep the ball out the Bears hands for large stretches.
--Redshirt junior quarterback Jarret Doege struggled in this one but made plays when he needed to make them for his team. Doege was 9-11 on third down for 57 yards and led his team on two drives with a lot of variation for touchdowns. The problem was everything in between those. He held onto the ball too long at times and others seemed shaken to push the ball down the field. Some of that is likely attributed to some early hits he took in this one but he’s got to be more of a threat down the field for this offense to have success. Give him a lot of credit for hanging in there and delivering the ball when he needed to in order to get the win but his stretch with a fumble and a pair of picks could have proven very costly if not for the defense raising their level of play.
--It wasn’t the best game statistically for junior running back Leddie Brown with 27 carries for 93 yards, but he finished runs and generated yards when it simply wasn’t there yet again. He scored a pair of touchdowns and through three games already has 320 yards – almost more than the 367 he rushed for a season ago for the entire year. Brown has established himself as the workhorse on this team and his ability to get yards after contact and always fall forward is critical for this team. Redshirt junior Alec Sinkfield was very good in this one too taking six carries for 53 yards. I love how he is a one cut and go back that plants his foot and takes off. A good change up with Brown. A total of seven different players caught a pass in this one.
--Senior nose guard Darius Stills finished with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. The last two years against Baylor he has a combined 5.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss as he was disruptive almost every snap that he was in the game. That entire unit played well, but Stills is a special player at that spot. The six total sacks by the defensive line is the most since … Baylor with 7 in last year’s game. How about Akheem Mesidor? The true freshman recorded a sack in this one and looks like he belongs.
--On that roller coaster was redshirt sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton and redshirt junior cornerback Dreshun Miller. Ford-Wheaton was tagged with a personal foul that killed a drive and then the inexcusable play on special teams when he ran into the returner allowing the Bears to get the ball back. But he did make arguably one of the catches of the game scoring a touchdown to put the Mountaineers out front. Miller had a couple flags go against him, but recorded an interception and a pass breakup as well as narrowly missing another one in the end zone. Two very odd games in a strange overall contest.
--Through three games, senior Tony Fields has 39 tackles and an interception. He did have a bonehead personal foul penalty late in the game to extend the Baylor drive which resulted in a touchdown but his play at that position has been exceptional. He is much more athletic than his counterparts and just always seems to be around the ball. It would be shocking barring injury if he isn’t the leader in tackles for the Mountaineers and will challenge for the lead in the conference.
--West Virginia held Baylor to 27 yards rushing on 33 attempts, now some of that includes lost sack yardage (-8) but the Mountaineers held the Bears two backs to 20 carries for 32 yards. That’s by far the best effort on defense in that department under Brown. That’s the fewest total since TCU rushed for -7 net yards in the 2018 game.
--West Virginia held Baylor to 4-16 on third down and a big reason for that is because they were able to consistently keep them behind the sticks. The Bears had an average distance to go of 10.1 and were only able to average 4.4 yards on first down in the contest. The Mountaineers for the second straight year whipped the Bears offensive line and it played a major role in this one.
--Trestan Ebner was erased on kick returns. West Virginia only allowed 1 for 19 yards after he took two back last week.
--The tight ends caught five passes today for 37 yards. Not eye-popping numbers but the position was used especially on that bootleg action which is just something else teams have to prepare for on defense when playing the Mountaineers.
--No, it wasn’t pretty but you can’t apologize for a win. West Virginia now moves to 2-1 on the season and will have an off-week to get right before hosting a Kansas team that has really struggled. This is a big stretch for the Mountaineers coming up and today was a major step for the program in learning how to finish and win a game even when you don’t play your best. That’s what good teams do.
--West Virginia is now 5-2 in games decided by seven points or less under Neal Brown. That is a very good ratio in what many would call a rebuild. The losses were to a pair of ranked teams on the road at Baylor last year and at home against Oklahoma State.
--This felt like the type of game where West Virginia should have won by two touchdowns, or lost by the same amount ... somehow. This one was hard to sum up because it was such a dominant effort on one side of the ball for most of the game and not so much on the others. The defense was able to record 6 sacks and 11 tackles for loss on the day and held the Bears to 14 points in regulation. Obviously giving up the late touchdown was less than ideal, but they were able to record an interception in overtime to redeem themselves. This had a lot of swings in a lot of different ways but the defense was a consistent. Baylor ended up starting at their own 42 in this game and had five possessions, three in regulation start on the West Virginia side of the field and managed only 21 points. The defense allowed only 8 chunk plays of over 15+ yards passing and 10+ yards rushing in the game.
--A major stat in this game? West Virginia was 4-4 in the red zone for 27 points (didn’t kick the final PAT) while Baylor was only 1-3 for 7 points. One drive started at the 19-yard line and they got zero points out of it. Another key stat? The Mountaineers going 3-3 on fourth down including in overtime. I personally liked how aggressive Brown was and he trusted his players to make the plays.
--The Mountaineers had the ball for 46:53 compared to only 28:07 for Baylor. This team was able to do just enough and keep the ball out the Bears hands for large stretches.
--Redshirt junior quarterback Jarret Doege struggled in this one but made plays when he needed to make them for his team. Doege was 9-11 on third down for 57 yards and led his team on two drives with a lot of variation for touchdowns. The problem was everything in between those. He held onto the ball too long at times and others seemed shaken to push the ball down the field. Some of that is likely attributed to some early hits he took in this one but he’s got to be more of a threat down the field for this offense to have success. Give him a lot of credit for hanging in there and delivering the ball when he needed to in order to get the win but his stretch with a fumble and a pair of picks could have proven very costly if not for the defense raising their level of play.
--It wasn’t the best game statistically for junior running back Leddie Brown with 27 carries for 93 yards, but he finished runs and generated yards when it simply wasn’t there yet again. He scored a pair of touchdowns and through three games already has 320 yards – almost more than the 367 he rushed for a season ago for the entire year. Brown has established himself as the workhorse on this team and his ability to get yards after contact and always fall forward is critical for this team. Redshirt junior Alec Sinkfield was very good in this one too taking six carries for 53 yards. I love how he is a one cut and go back that plants his foot and takes off. A good change up with Brown. A total of seven different players caught a pass in this one.
--Senior nose guard Darius Stills finished with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. The last two years against Baylor he has a combined 5.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss as he was disruptive almost every snap that he was in the game. That entire unit played well, but Stills is a special player at that spot. The six total sacks by the defensive line is the most since … Baylor with 7 in last year’s game. How about Akheem Mesidor? The true freshman recorded a sack in this one and looks like he belongs.
--On that roller coaster was redshirt sophomore Bryce Ford-Wheaton and redshirt junior cornerback Dreshun Miller. Ford-Wheaton was tagged with a personal foul that killed a drive and then the inexcusable play on special teams when he ran into the returner allowing the Bears to get the ball back. But he did make arguably one of the catches of the game scoring a touchdown to put the Mountaineers out front. Miller had a couple flags go against him, but recorded an interception and a pass breakup as well as narrowly missing another one in the end zone. Two very odd games in a strange overall contest.
--Through three games, senior Tony Fields has 39 tackles and an interception. He did have a bonehead personal foul penalty late in the game to extend the Baylor drive which resulted in a touchdown but his play at that position has been exceptional. He is much more athletic than his counterparts and just always seems to be around the ball. It would be shocking barring injury if he isn’t the leader in tackles for the Mountaineers and will challenge for the lead in the conference.
--West Virginia held Baylor to 27 yards rushing on 33 attempts, now some of that includes lost sack yardage (-8) but the Mountaineers held the Bears two backs to 20 carries for 32 yards. That’s by far the best effort on defense in that department under Brown. That’s the fewest total since TCU rushed for -7 net yards in the 2018 game.
--West Virginia held Baylor to 4-16 on third down and a big reason for that is because they were able to consistently keep them behind the sticks. The Bears had an average distance to go of 10.1 and were only able to average 4.4 yards on first down in the contest. The Mountaineers for the second straight year whipped the Bears offensive line and it played a major role in this one.
--Trestan Ebner was erased on kick returns. West Virginia only allowed 1 for 19 yards after he took two back last week.
--The tight ends caught five passes today for 37 yards. Not eye-popping numbers but the position was used especially on that bootleg action which is just something else teams have to prepare for on defense when playing the Mountaineers.
--No, it wasn’t pretty but you can’t apologize for a win. West Virginia now moves to 2-1 on the season and will have an off-week to get right before hosting a Kansas team that has really struggled. This is a big stretch for the Mountaineers coming up and today was a major step for the program in learning how to finish and win a game even when you don’t play your best. That’s what good teams do.
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