Let's face it. Who doesn't like a good recipe?
Unranked Texas Tech had a great one brewing at Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the Red Raiders ended No. 5 West Virginia's dream of an undefeated season with a 49-14 drubbing of the Mountaineers.
The ingredients included a rock-solid performance on defense-something WVU fans are still waiting to see from their prevent unit-a near perfect performance from a quarterback-Tech's Seth Doege completed 32-of-42 attempts for 499 yards and six touchdowns-and a Homecoming Day crowd that made life miserable for WVU's Geno Smith and his offense.
But, while the bubble was burst, fans must ask themselves one very, very important question-did anyone see this year's team going 12-0? Especially with a defense that, while it came away with a pair of turnovers, commits a dozen mistakes for every good play it makes?
Smith's numbers-29-of-55 for 275 yards and one touchdown-were not horrible. But, it was Doege who came out of the game looking like a Heisman candidate thanks to a Mountaineer defense that just doesn't have enough playmakers to keep opposing offenses off of the field long enough for Smith and his cast of talented pass-catchers to do their magic.
Add to that the loss of one of those playmakers-Stedman Bailey did not play in the second half due to an injured ankle/foot-and a less-than-spectacular effort from senior Tavon Austin and WVU's offense just didn't live up to its "Greatest Show on Earth" moniker.
Does this mean the Mountaineers' hope of a Big 12 title is over? If you believe that then you just haven't watched enough Big 12 contests.
There is a reason why they call it home-field-advantage. Just ask Oklahoma State. The Cowboys had a legitimate shot of playing in the national championship game a year ago until a loss at Iowa State ended that dream and gave us that epic Alabama-LSU title game rematch.
The key for second year head coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff and players is to make sure that one loss doesn't lead to a second, a third, or a fourth defeat. Take care of business next Saturday night against No. 6 Kansas State and you are back in the title hunt.
Then make sure you do the same to TCU when it comes to Milan Puskar Stadium for the first time on Nov. 3. If WVU accomplishes those two feats, it will head to T. Boone Pickens Stadium on the campus of Oklahoma State with an opportunity to move itself back into the Top 10.
A victory that could make the Mountaineers' home showdown with preseason Big 12 favorite Oklahoma a chance to play host to ESPN's Gameday-something it probably blew with its 35-point loss to Tech-and place itself back into the 10-team league's title hunt.
Then, it would come down to not stubbing their toes to an always-dangerous Iowa State program on the road or doing the unthinkable-losing to a Charlie Weis-coached Kansas team at home on Senior Night.
Now, that is a recipe I would enjoy tasting.
Contact Jim Butta at jbutta@newsandsentinel.com
