Jarret Doege wasn’t having his best day at the office.

The junior quarterback had misfired on all six of his pass attempts over 20+, three of which had resulted in interceptions against TCU. But he hung in there.

Trailing 17-13 late in the fourth quarter, West Virginia had not one, but two penalties keep their drive alive putting the ball at the Horned Frogs 35-yard line with just 2:18 remaining to play.

The formation had trips to the field and wide receiver Isaiah Esdale, who had replaced George Campbell who left the game after getting dinged, was the lined up on the inside.

The Horned Frogs blitzed on the play which resulted in one-on-one coverage with a safety as Esdale released for the primary read on the play, an inside fade to the corner of the right end zone.

“It felt good off my hand. I knew it had a chance,” Doege said.

The quarterback wouldn’t get to watch the ball’s flight pattern as he was hit almost instantaneously after releasing it. Esdale was able to get a good release off the line which allowed him to create some separation to track the football as it sailed toward it’s intended destination.

“I was waiting for the last second perfect timing to create that little separation and catch it over the shoulder,” Esdale said.

The ball dropped perfectly over his shoulder and Esdale scrapped around the pylon to give the Mountaineers a lead they would never relinquish. But in the moment, Esdale wasn’t even sure he had scored, while the same can be said for the player that threw it.

“I got hit so I had no idea what happened. I get up and the ref throws his hands up,” Doege said.

On a day that Doege had struggled to generate anything with his arm, it was a perfectly placed pass that helped the Mountaineers pull the upset over the double-digit favorite Horned Frogs. It’s a testament to his mindset as a player and his ability to shake off struggles.

All the while on the sideline, his teammates had no doubt that Doege would be ready if given another opportunity. He had been engaged throughout and displayed courage in the pocket when hit. It’s simply the mentality to move onto the next play and even at his worst, Doege displayed he could overcome it.

“He didn’t throw the deep ball very well today but that was a tremendous throw,” head coach Neal Brown said.

While some might get gun-shy in those situations given his struggles with accuracy down the field, Doege looked at it as just another opportunity to make a difference. It’s a stamp on what you could expect moving into next season with the signal caller in a potentially expanded role.

“I’m going to fight until the end,” he said.

Exactly what this young team needed.

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