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Hanging in there with WVU

WVU football fans endured a harrowing fourth quarter before the Mountaineers survived a Brigham Young rally to hang on for a 35-32 victory Saturday.

After a 99-yard West Virginia scoring drive to take a 35-19 lead with 11:27 remaining it looked as if the game was well in hand. But in college football fortunes can quickly change and BYU put together a pair of two minute scoring drives to close to within three with over five minutes yet to play.

The Mountaineer defense was on its heels, the offense had lost its rhythm, and it looked very much like a fourth quarter collapse was imminent.

When the West Virginian defense stepped up with an interception and the offense drove to the BYU 3-yard line it appeared the clinching score was about to occur, but a botched shotgun snap gave BYU one last opportunity. In their first three games, the Cougars had scored on their final possession in the waning minutes, and as they drove down the field it appeared that they would do so a fourth time. But with over a minute remaining and a time out in his pocket, BYU quarterback Jason Hill lost his patience and attempted to go for a long touchdown strike from the 39-yard line. The ball was tipped and intercepted by the Mountaineers and the narrow win was preserved.

Quarterback Skylar Howard may have had the best game of his career, completing 31 of 40 passes for 332 yards, and the West Virginia offense was effective for most of the day. Justin Crawford established he is the best running back for WVU with 86 yards on just 9 carries. Crawford has the elusiveness and burst we don’t see with Rushel Shell.

But if we look behind the numbers on special teams and defense, we see major problems.

The Mountaineers couldn’t cover kickoffs and couldn’t return them. As a result, WVU was on the wrong side of the field position battle all afternoon. The West Virginia average starting position was their own 22, while BYU averaged beginning their drives at the 34. Spread out over a dozen possessions each the differential has a huge impact on a game.

Defensively, the Mountaineers were torched for 280 rushing yards, and surrendered 521 in total offense. In 12 possessions BYU was forced to punt just twice, gained 212 yards on its final four possessions and the Cougars were 10 of 15 on third down conversions. Those are not winning numbers. What are winning stats, however, are four takeaways and a defensive score on an interception return, so we must at least give credit there.

THIS SATURDAY: If there is one Big 12 foe which seems to have the number of the Mountaineers it is Kansas State, which is 4-0 vs WVU since the Old Gold and Blue joined the Big 12. In three of those games, the Wildcats were underdogs. Bill Snyder, their 76 year old veteran coach, seems to lay in wait like a sly old fox, waiting for his opponent to stumble. His team can be relied upon to run the ball effectively, make few mistakes and be exceptional on special teams. All of the flaws shown by WVU on Saturday would play right into the hands of the Wildcats, so those must be avoided.

WEST VIRGINIA 31, KANSAS STATE 30.

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