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WVU escapes Baylor

It was eerily similar to the scenario one week earlier in Morgantown. One team had dominated the first three quarters and had a comfortable lead. But then that team couldn’t get a stop on defense and suddenly had its offense disappear.

But this time it was the West Virginia Mountaineers on the wrong end of the comeback and it wasn’t nearly as much fun.

WVU entered the fourth quarter with a seemingly insurmountable 38-13 lead. But then a quick Baylor score, followed by an onside kick recovery and another quick strike and suddenly the Mountaineers were hanging on. The momentum train was running in the opposite direction and there appeared little West Virginia could do to stop the bleeding. Backup Baylor quarterback Zack Brewer had come off the bench and was shredding an exhausted Mountaineer defense.

Needing one more scoring drive to put the game away, the WVU offense could not regain its form. A touchdown with one second remaining in the first half followed by another score to open the second had appeared to put the game well under control. Two more scores followed and it seemed the West Virginia offense could not be stopped. In the first three quarters the Mountaineers had gained 482 yards, 375 through the air. But in the fourth quarter WVU ran 9 plays for 11 total yards, without a single completed pass.

The game came down to a two-point conversion try by the Bears with 17 seconds left. Needing to make one play to hold on, the defense came up with a sack to preserve the narrow 38-36 victory that left Mountaineer fans exhausted and relieved.

West Virginia stands at 5-2, with a 3-1 record in Big 12 Conference games. But as we take a closer look some serious warning signs are apparent. The conference wins have been against what appear to be the three weakest teams in the league. The WVU defense just gave up 270 yards and 23 points to a winless team in the fourth quarter alone. Even a hopeless Kansas squad, which has been outscored 88-0 in its last two games, was able to pile up 34 points against the Mountaineers.

So while West Virginia has an exceptional quarterback who leads the nation in touchdown passes, at some point the defense needs to improve and we aren’t seeing the evidence. To be candid, as we watch this team each week it looks much like one would expect from about a 6-6 squad. A lot of good things, but a lot of bad, like 11 major penalties this past Saturday. That’s not to say it can’t get better, but if you have watched much Big 12 football you can’t feel overly confident with the five remaining teams on the schedule.

THIS SATURDAY: The Monday Morning Quarterback crystal ball has been uncannily accurate the last 2 weeks, missing the Texas Tech score by a single point and correctly picking the two point winning margin last Saturday.

As we peer in again this week we see an Oklahoma State Cowboy team with just one loss and looking for a spot in the conference championship game. Although the Cowboys hit a bump in the road struggling to a 13-10 overtime win at Texas last weekend, this is a team that has one of the nation’s best quarterbacks and skill players galore. That kind of offensive firepower is not what a struggling Mountaineer defense needs to see. OKLAHOMA STATE 51 WEST VIRGINIA 35.

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