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What a difference a week and a half makes.
The West Virginia Mountaineers exorcised whatever demon haunted them 13 days ago in Ames tonight in Milan Puskar Stadium by completely obliterating the Baylor Bears by a final score of 58-14, lending credence to Dana Holgorsen’s bye week claims that the issue wasn’t with the play calling.
West Virginia’s offense got off to a fast start with a three-play drive ending in a Gary Jennings touchdown in their opening possession, but seemed to stall out on their next four drives - ultimately settling for 2 made field goals on four attempts. As the offense battled what seemed to be just timing issues, West Virginia’s defense brought a level of physicality that I don’t believe we’ve seen so far this season.
Things finally clicked for the offense early in the second quarter when Will Grier kept a drive alive on 4th and 3 with a seven yard run for the first down. Grier would find David Sills V on the next play for a 25 yard touchdown pass, and it was off to the races.
The Mountaineers scored on their next three drives to take a 41-0 lead into the locker room at the half.
West Virginia would go on to score two more touchdowns in the second half - one of which came on a 36 yard pass to Gary Jennings from Jack Allison for his first career touchdown.
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Key Takeaways:
- West Virginia’s defense registered 12 tackles for loss tonight against the Bears, the most by a Mountaineer defense since 2011.
- Grier finished with 353 yards and 3 touchdowns on 17-of-27 passing.
- West Virginia ran the ball 33 times for 132 yards with Leddie Brown, Martell Pettaway and Will Grier each scoring a touchdown.
- David Sills is now tied with Tavon Austin for second all-time in touchdown receptions with 29 receiving touchdowns.
- West Virginia averaged 8.9 yards per play compared to Baylor’s 4.4
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The Mountaineers travel to Austin, Texas next Saturday to take on the No. 6 Texas Longhorns to kick off a tough four-game stretch in November. Broadcast information for that game will be announced this weekend.