The Day After: West Virginia football at Houston
The West Virginia football dropped a heartbreaking 41-39 contest to Houston on the road on a Hail Mary pass on the game's final play.
The Mountaineers fell to 4-2 on the season and and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
The comeback. West Virginia was trailing 35-24 with just 7:28 left to play in this game and was able to score touchdowns on two consecutive possessions to give this team a 39-35 lead with just 11 seconds remaining in the game. It was some of the best football that this team played all night and covered 75 yards in 11 plays and then 88 yards in 7 plays including a 4th and 10 strike to Hudson Clement that traveled for a 50-yard touchdown. The Mountaineers ultimately weren't able to hold on but the fight that the team showed with their backs against the ropes has been a trademark all season.
Explosive plays. After discussing the lack of this element in the offense for much of the season, West Virginia responded in a major way against the Houston defense. The Mountaineers had five pass plays over 30+ yards in this game to five different receivers when the total was just two for the entire year against FBS teams coming into the game. The run game was relatively kept in check, but the vertical element to the passing game was something that hadn't been seen all season to that point.
The numbers. West Virginia scored 39 points, had 546 total yards, was 14-20 on third and fourth down, dominated time of possession at almost +14 minutes and plays at +29 while scoring all four times they were in the red zone. That should be enough to win most football games, but this one wasn't the case.
NOT:
Discipline. West Virginia had prided itself on its ability to play smart, disciplined football through the first five games of the season but that simply wasn't the case in this one. Missed opportunities, penalties and miscues were at the center of his defeat. West Virginia was tagged with 84 penalty yards, with none more costly than the 15-yard celebration penalty for Garrett Greene taking off his helmet after the touchdown that put the Mountaineers ahead with just 12 seconds remaining. Even the lone turnover was highly costly as it was a perfectly thrown ball that bounced off the chest of Jaylen Anderson in the end zone into the arms of a Houston defender. The Mountaineers simply aren't good enough to not play a clean game and expect to win.
The second half defense. After holding Houston to just 109 yards and 14 points at half, the Mountaineers struggled mightily in the second allowing 27 points and 284 yards. The Cougars took advantage of the Mountaineers coverage and were able to effectively move the football and scored 4 touchdowns on 6 second half possessions.
Ability to pull away. West Virginia had chances to end this game before it ever got to that final play. The Mountaineers were unable to stretch out a 3-point lead after the turnover and struggled to generate successful offensive series when they had a chance to make things difficult for the Cougars early in the game. Despite dominating the game, this team actually trailed 14-10 at half.
The fronts. West Virginia came into this game believed to be the better team on in both trenches but struggled to run the football to the tune of just 3.5 per carry, while the Cougars rushed for 5.4 per tote.
Special teams. It had been a strength for West Virginia but it certainly wasn't in this game. West Virginia allowed a kick return for a touchdown and struggled to contain the Cougars kick return team in general. Even the punt team had its issues.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
Kickoff after opening score. After a lengthy drive that ended in a field goal, West Virginia kicked off to Matthew Golden who took it back 99-yards for a touchdown and gave the momentum back to the Cougars in a hurry.
Final Houston drive of first half. West Virginia had essentially dominated the Cougars despite only leading 10-7 until a 8-play, 56-yard drive led to their first offensive touchdown on a 2-yard run by Donovan Smith. Despite dominating many of the statistics, West Virginia would trail at half 14-10.
1st and from the Houston 35. Trailing 14-10, West Virginia came out in the second half and scored a touchdown on a flea flicker to Traylon Ray.
2nd and 13 from the Houston 24. Leading by 3 points, West Virginia had a golden opportunity to extend the lead when a ball bounced off the chest of Jaylen Anderson for what should have been a touchdown only to end up an interception. Houston would score on the ensuing drive to recapture the lead.
3rd and 1 from Houston 1. West Virginia plunged into the endzone to recapture the lead with a sneak from Garrett Greene on the tush push play.
2nd and 3 from the WVU 8. Former West Virginia wide receiver Sam Brown hauls in a touchdown pass to give the Cougars the lead at 28-24. It capped off a five-play quick strike scoring drive to take the lead.
3rd and 6 from the WVU 23. Greene misfires on a ball to CJ Donaldson which would have gone for a long way with nobody out in front on a wheel route. It forced the Mountaineers to put the ball back to the Cougars and they would add a touchdown to their lead to push the score out to 35-24.
1st and 8 from the Houston 8. West Virginia scored their first of two touchdowns on a run by Greene to give then a chance to cut into 11-point fourth quarter deficit.
Two-point play. After a delay of game, West Virginia needed the two-point play to make it a 35-32 game and was able to convert as Greene rolled out to the left and found Traylon Ray who bobbled the ball on the ground but was able to haul it in.
3rd and 10 from the 50. With a chance to run out the clock with a first down, Houston elected to run the football with Donovan Smith but was held to just a four-yard gain.
4th and 10 from the 50. Trailing 35-32 with only 22 second remaining, Garrett Greene would hang in the pocket and uncork a pass to Hudson Clement who would take it into the end zone to give the Mountaineers what looked like an improbable comeback.
After that play. During the celebration, West Virginia would remove their helmets on the field and get called for a penalty that would back the ensuing kickoff to their own 20. Those yards would prove critical to the outcome.
2nd and 2 from the WVU 49. On the game's final play, West Virginia dropped back on defense and tipped the Hail Mary attempt but the ball landed into the arm's of Stephon Johnson to give the Cougars a walk-off win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
0-2 - West Virginia's record under Neal Brown against FBS teams with over 540 yards.
5 - Punt return yardage allowed by West Virginia through five games.
5 - Different receivers that had a catch over 30+ yards in this game. West Virginia only had two completion over 30+ yards against FBS teams coming into the game.
0:07 - Time remaining when Houston got the ball trailing 39-35.
7.9 - Average yards gained by Houston on first down.
9 - Explosive plays allowed by the West Virginia defense, with 7 of those coming in the second half.
13:58 - Time of possession advantage for West Virginia.
14-20 - Conversions for West Virginia on third and fourth down.
41 – Points by Houston after the West Virginia defense had allowed only 40 in the past three games combined.
49 - Distance on the game-winning Hail Mary by Houston.
84 - Penalty yardage for the Mountaineers. West Virginia came into the game averaging just 33 yards per contest.
116 - Receiving yardage by Devin Carter, the first time a player has eclipsed the century mark in a game this season.
155 - Rushing yardage by West Virginia. The Mountaineers are now 22-6 under Brown when rushing for at least 100 yards.
228 - Receiving yards from tight end Kole Taylor in six games. The Mountaineers had only 153 total yards at the position last season.
391 - Passing yardage by Garrett Greene, a new career high and the most that any quarterback has thrown for under Neal Brown.
GAME BALL:
Garrett Greene. It wasn't a perfect performance and the redshirt junior certainly left some plays out on the field, but simply put he was the best player on the field for the Mountaineers. Greene threw for 391 yards and 2 scores, while rushing for 47 yards and 2 more touchdowns. The dual threat quarterback looked healthy and made a number of plays down the stretch of this game in order to lead the Mountaineers on the late comeback after trailing 35-24 in the fourth. Greene missed some open receivers in this game including some costly ones, but the potential is exciting moving forward for an offense that had previously been stuck in neutral in many ways. Greene gave West Virginia a spark on that side and he is my pick for this selection.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
How does this loss affect this team? Through the first five games of the season, West Virginia had certainly exceeded preseason expectations sitting at 4-1, 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference with a favorable slate ahead of them. Losing at Penn State, one of the nation's top teams, is one thing. Losing to a Houston team that had struggled in their first year in the league is another especially in the way it unfolded.
West Virginia now sits at 4-2 and 2-1 in the Big 12 after a heartbreaking walk-off loss to the Cougars. But there won't be much time to let this one simmer, because the Mountaineers have Oklahoma State next weekend in a critical matchup in the league.
The concern now is will this loss, especially with how it ended on the game's final play, have a negative residual effect for the following weekend or beyond? The Mountaineers had been the darling of the Big 12 over the past couple weeks finding ways to win games, but now the shoe is on the other foot. How will this team respond?
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