I Got Five On It: Houston
Welcome to the third edition of my weekly analysis named "I Got Five On It," where I will give you five of my biggest takeaways and thoughts following every WVU football game this season and give you insight on what I saw from watching the Mountaineers. This week, WVU lost as time expired against Houston in a high-scoring shootout on the road that ended on a completed hail mary on the final play in a drive that began with only 12 seconds. Where do we even start?
1-- The Final Two Drives.
In what will become infamous in WVU history, the final two possessions of the this football game defined the outcome more than we'd seen in the previous three and a half quarters and it was all blanketed within the last 1:23 on the clock. Greene led an impressive drive, completing two passes for over 15 yards before a drop from wide receiver Devin Carter and two more incompletions pushed it to a fourth and 10. In a situation we haven't consistently seen positive results in until tonight, Greene fired the ball out of his hand and to freshman Hudson Clement, who broke a couple of tackles and ran for the 50-yard touchdown. However, 12 seconds just wasn't enough after a celebration penalty pushed WVU back on the kickoff and honestly gave Houston that chance to score and undisciplined moments like that in a crucial situation in the game lead to miraculous chances like the Cougars got. With four seconds on the scoreboard, the Mountaineers had everyone back and they tracked the ball well in the air, but attempted to get a turnover and tipped the ball up, which made the rest is history. This game will live in West Virginia sports history forever, not because of implications, but because of how it ended and the flow of momentum that I've never seen happen so rapidly in a football game.
2-- Greene has developed as a passer, and maybe the scheme has some too.
Although the outcome may be negative, there was a lot to take away from the accuracy of Greene and the way his arm talent, decision making, and accuracy have developed since Penn State. We also saw the Mountaineers throw the ball the most this season, which might signal a shift in scheme and what's Brown's beginning to feel comfortable with. Greene threw for his career high in passing yards on Thursday with 391 yards and two touchdowns, and if we discount the interception that was not of his doing, Greene was exceptional. I'm not sure if it's because of the bye week or time to recover from his injury like head coach Neal Brown alluded to, but you could really see a difference in his confidence in the pocket and the Mountaineers seemed to uphold more confidence in him as well and gave him more passing opportunities. Something that was clear against Houston was a more vertical and creative passing attack around Greene and he executed well down to the final moments. As Brown talked about, WVU wanted to take more shots vertically down the field and you saw that against the Cougars when Greene slung passes to Carter, Traylon Ray, and Preston Fox down the field. I think West Virginia has maybe seen the fruits of a legitimate passing game and they should continue to have that trust if Greene is throwing like he did on Thursday.
Related: West Virginia lets opportunity slip through their fingers
3-- It was a tale of two halves defensively, but something has changed.
West Virginia's defense has been impressive this season but Thursday's matchup showed a few issues the group may have still to work on. When you look at the first half in comparison to the second, Houston felt like a completely different team. In terms of visible talent and ability on the field, the Cougars seemed outmatched and WVU's offense needed to catch up. Houston seemed like the under matched team in comparison to a stingy WVU squad until the second half rolled around. Looking at certain plays out in space, such as quarterback scrambles and screens especially, the defense struggled to tackle in open field in the second half which led to big plays, but it seemed like the script had completely changed. Houston went from under matched in my eyes and a clearly inferior team to scoring at will and that was a big change defensively. Houston finished with 253 passing yards and four touchdowns, but more importantly only six incompletions on 27 attempts. Quarterback Donovan Smith was finding open space in the passing game and the receivers made separation, especially on deep stop routes or patterns that crossed the field or went up the seams, but WVU failed to make plays on the ball in air, knock receivers off of their routes, or challenge the ball when it reached the receiver. It also seemed challenging for the West Virginia defensive front to create pressure and I think that benefits an attack that Houston was looking for. It may seem like I'm criticizing the entire defense here, but I'm just not exactly sure what leads to 41 points and a miraculous final score without it being an entire unit's responsibility to improve. When you look at that final play in a vacuum, it seems like a lack of discipline but the game as a whole was a sign of something not clicking after the first half, I just can't quite put my finger on it.
4-- West Virginia did what it wanted in terms of time of possession, but you have to capitalize.
When you look at a game with a 13-minute time of possession differential it's hard to see a final score like Thursday's game be a possibility. Ranking second in the Big 12 and top five nationally in time of possession, West Virginia on Thursday held the ball for 36 minutes, compared to Houston's 23. This is exactly what Brown and WVU want to do, hold on to the ball, use up the clock, run the ball and complete steady drives. However, each possession just becomes that much more important and they didn't seem quite as valuable on Thursday. With three straight punts and a throwaway drive in the second quarter, that was a chance to capitalize, along with a 14-point swing that came on Greene's interception, in a place where WVU was in control. Although I don't agree with over-aggression for WVU at the end of the half, that's another possession tacked on to the stat sheet too, so with this type of game plan, every drive must try ro end in points and that didn't seem like a priority in terms of play calling against Houston. With this being a selling point of West Virginia's offense, it must be more effective and relied upon even heavier. I'm an advocate for continued confidence in the passing attack, but when you have chances to take control of a game, you must limit those turnovers, albeit unlucky, in the opponent's territory and rely on what has gotten you to this point. Every possession, every drive needs to be important and it's going to be an extreme challenge to put together long drives that are fizzled out at the end, so a focus on running the football in the red zone and making every play count will be important going forward. Just to really drive home the point for this, WVU had 82 plays compared to 53 for the Cougars and they outgained Houston by 153 yards in the three-point loss.
5-- What do expectations look like now for Brown and company and how can they respond?
This might be up to you fans to decide, but I feel like expectations can take a dip in such a swing game, an emotional contest and one that was decided in that fashion, especially with a well-known and passionate WVU fanbase. 4-2 is certainly still a solid start to this season, but I can understand the sentiment that more is there and missed opportunities, especially after Thursday's loss. Fans have raised the expectations for this squad based on what Neal Brown has said and how they've performed, so Thursday's game looks like a huge shift. Especially in terms of defensive performance, fans seemed to be jarred by a severe change in results by that group, but I suppose offense could have taken a step forward too, so that's to be considered. In a game with so many factors and an underperforming Houston defense, it's hard to tell what can be gained from a shootout and that's what makes it hard with the result in the balance until the last moment. Expectations in sports act as a continuum, especially when you see a lights-out offensive performance paired with the team's worst defensive showing. Things will change now after Thursday, but there are still film and performances to prove this group as talented, it's just going to be up to how they respond to that emotion in my opinion. There are definitely psychological effects for a game like this, so the complexion of this team after Thursday is yet to be seen.
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