Garrett Greene appeared in a game for the first time since mid-October for West Virginia on Saturday.
Unfortunately for Greene and company, though, after a strong first half, they couldn't sustain it in their 49-35 loss to Baylor.
"I kind of knew on Tuesday or Wednesday I was going to be good to go. Body felt really good," Greene said.
Greene had missed time dealing with an upper-body injury, missing WVU's game at Arizona and Cincinnati. He was cleared before the game against Cincinnati but served in an emergency quarterback role.
"I felt good. The coaching staff and everyone did a good job of kind of getting me ready to go this week in practice, specifically with looks and stuff. I felt good out there," Greene said.
Early on, Greene was leading this offense in large part because of his legs. Greene rushed for a 3-yard score on WVU's opening drive as well as a 1-yard scoring rush as the clock expired prior to halftime.
Greene finished the game with 22 total carries. Greene said the coaching staff didn't want to try and limit him in the run game, even with his recent injuries.
"They just told me to play how I always play. When you try to play scared or try to play skittish or whatever, that's when bad stuff happens. They just told me to go play my game," Greene said.
In the first half, WVU scored 28 points, compared to the second half, they scored only seven, with it coming in the final minute of the game. Greene said part of the reason for the lack of success in the second half was what Baylor did on third down.
In the first half, WVU was 3-for-6 on third downs, compared to 2-for-7 on third down in the second half.
"They made some good second-half adjustments to what we were doing on third downs. Their guys made some plays, they showed me some looks on third down they hadn't shown on tape, so hats off to their [defensive coordinator]," Greene said.
Overall, Greene thought he played alright in his first game back. He threw for 237 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, adding another 129 yards and two scores on the ground as well.
"I feel like I played okay. There's some third-down decisions that I'd like back, but I feel like I played okay, just not good enough to win," Greene said.
Now, Greene and the Mountaineers have to find a way to regroup in a hurry for what shapes to be a potentially emotional week for him.
Greene will be one of many seniors honored in WVU's home finale against UCF on Nov. 23, marking the last home game of his career.
"Obviously, I think before all that, we'd just like to win these next two. I know I'm looking forward to Saturday. Kind of bittersweet because it will be my last time here. I think we're more looking forward to finishing strong these next two games and then kind of handling business after that," Greene said
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