The West Virginia football team had opportunities but mistakes doomed them losing at home to No. 11 Iowa State 28-16 to fall to 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference.
The Mountaineers are now 3-3 on the season and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
The first drive. West Virginia took the ball to open the game and put together their best drive of the contest marching 75 yards on 14 plays and eating up almost 8 minutes off the clock. The Mountaineers converted two third downs and had a nice mix of in order to give them an early lead and the momentum out of the gates.
Special teams. Yes, there was the one miss of the 36-yard field goal by Michael Hayes that otherwise shows a solid day all-around in that phase of the game. Hayes did connect on his other attempt from 43-yards out but West Virginia did put together a solid day at the office. The Mountaineers only punted twice but both pinned the Wildcats deep inside their own 20 and they didn't allow any return attempts. On the kickoff team, West Virginia gave up only one return for 22 yards.
Third down. West Virginia was 9-13 on third down in this game and was able to keep themselves in short situations to convert. Now, that didn't end up being successful due to some critical mistakes but the Mountaineers did get it done there.
The defense. Yes, there was the 60-yard bust that allowed Iowa State to capitalize on a three-play drive but overall the unit battled and gave the Mountaineers a real chance. West Virginia was put in some tough spots due to turnovers but held Iowa State to 28 points and only 2.9 per carry. You can't erase some of the mistakes but the unit has continued to make improvements and displayed that for stretches in this one as well.
NOT:
Mistakes. There was first the dropped pass on review which led to a missed field goal which kept the score at 7-0 instead of seizing the momentum early in the game. On the next drive, a defensive bust allowed Iowa State to tie the game up on an open 60-yard touchdown toss. West Virginia then had two critical turnovers in this game, one erasing a potential scoring drive at the Iowa State 29 in a 14-10 game. That ensuing drive also was extended on a holding penalty on third and goal which gave the Cyclones the ball inside the five and they would punch it in the next play. Then trailing 21-10, another interception led to the Cyclones effectively putting the game away. This game was pretty close statistically, but those 14 points off turnovers were significant.
The rest of the game offensively. West Virginia scored a touchdown on that opening drive but then mustered just 9 points over the remainder of the contest. There were issues with the snaps which threw off the timing on the offense and senior quarterback Garrett Greene had a pair of interceptions that killed one potential scoring drive and another that essentially iced the game.
Third down. While West Virginia was able to convert on offense, the defense struggled in the same fashion allowing Iowa State to go 9-14 on third down and extend several of their drives which directly led to points.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
3rd and 5 from WVU 30. The first third down of the game saw Greene drop back and fire the football to a wide-open Hudson Clement for an eight-yard gain and a first down to the sticks.
2nd and 7 from ISU 8. After driving the football down the field, Greene handed the ball off to Jahiem White who broke two tackles on his way into the endzone to give the Mountaineers an early 7-0 lead.
3rd and 6 from WVU 23. Iowa State popped a 38-yard pass play on the first play but the defense forced the Cyclones into a third down and Asani Redwood was able to get in the backfield and sack Becht. That forced a 47-yard field goal that sailed wide left.
3rd and 1 from WVU 38. West Virginia elected to throw the football on third and short and Greene was able to get the edge and pick up 11-yards to move the sticks.
3rd and 3 from ISU 18. Greene threw the ball to Rodney Gallagher for a nine-yard gain which appeared on first look to be a catch but after replay, it was overturned. The 36-yard field goal was then missed by Michael Hayes to keep the score at just 7-0 in favor of the Mountaineers.
2nd and 3 from ISU 40. The Cyclones would waste little time taking advantage as a bust in the coverage left a wide open Jaylin Noel who would take it 60-yards untouched to tie the game.
3rd and 10 from ISU 31. After allowing Iowa State to pick up a first down in a short-yardage situation, the Mountaineers held them again to a third down on their next possession. But Jayden Higgins would haul in an 18-yard pass to give the Cyclones a first down. That drive would later be capped off with an 11-yard touchdown run to put the visitors ahead 14-7.
3rd and 2 from ISU 23. The Mountaineers responded by moving the ball down the field but on third down Greene was stuffed for a loss of two on a play that never really had a chance. Hayes would boot through a 43-yard field goal to cut the score to 14-10 but the offense left points on the field.
1st and 10 from WVU 43. After moving the ball into West Virginia territory, the Cyclones elected to attempt a Hail Mary but the defense was able to get to Becht and sack him ending the half.
3rd and 12 from ISU 34. After a first down earlier on the drive, Garnett Hollis was able to break up a pass to get a stop and give the football back to the offense on the first drive of the second half.
1st and 10 from WVU 39. Another high snap, led to Greene picking up the ball and scrambling off the left side for a 28-yard gain to set the Mountaineers.
2nd and 6 from ISU 29. Just two plays later, Greene tried to fire a ball into Kole Taylor but it was picked off by Jamison Patton killing the drive and stopping the momentum for the offense.
3rd and goal from WVU 6. The Cyclones would quickly move down deep into the West Virginia end and while it appeared that the Mountaineers had gotten off the field a late flag on a throw that was launched out of the back of the end zone gave Iowa State a first down. They would score the next play.
2nd and 8 from WVU 27. After West Virginia got the football back, Greene tried to force a pass in and was intercepted for the second time setting the Cyclones up at the Mountaineers 33 leading 21-10 where they would then ice the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
0 - Runs over 10+ yards for West Virginia running backs.
2.9 - Yards per carry by Iowa State in a winning effort.
3 - Yards per carry for West Virginia running backs with 63 yards on 21 attempts.
3-16 - Neal Brown's record against ranked teams.
6 - Consecutive double-digit losses to ranked teams.
7 - Points on the West Virginia opening drive. The Mountaineers scored just 9 points combined on the 7 of the game.
9-14 - Third down conversions by Iowa State.
12 - Tackles for Josiah Trotter. He leads the team with 45 on the season.
14 - Points off two turnovers for Iowa State in the 28-16 loss.
14.7 - Average yards per completion for Iowa State.
36 - Yards on the missed field goal by Michael Hayes. He had made all 16 attempts under 40 yards prior to that kick.
1,079 - Days since West Virginia last beat a ranked team a 38-31 win over Iowa State Oct. 30, 2021.
GAME BALL:
Josiah Trotter. The redshirt freshman linebacker continues to pile up statistics on the defensive side and finished this game with 12 tackles and a quarterback hurry. Trotter has continued to improve and while he is still developing he leads the team in stops and the future seems very bright for him on the defensive side of the ball.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
Where does this team go next? West Virginia came into this game with a golden opportunity at home against a ranked team after starting the season with a disappointing 34-12 effort against Penn State. This game wasn't quite that bad, but again the Mountaineers couldn't do enough to get over the hump and falls to 3-3 on the season halfway through what was expected to be a season where the program was expected to take the next leap in terms of competing in the Big 12 Conference.
But West Virginia isn't going to have to wait long for another chance against a quality ranked team with Kansas State set to come to town this coming weekend. But can the Mountaineers put it together and get over the hump in one of these games? Again, it should be a tough, physical game but this team has to prove that it can win these types of games, and sitting at 2-1 in the Big 12 Conference it's a critical game for the rest of this season. Can this team get a win and head into the Arizona game with some momentum or will they fall to 3-4 and then be forced to go on the road and try to knock off another Big 12 team that has been very up and down this season?
This team has shown some resiliency to rally after a tough 1-2 start to the year but it feels like the next two weeks are going to be critical to determine where this team truly sits and how the rest of the year could set up.
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