West Virginia football came back from a poor second half on Saturday to scrape away with a 34-31 victory over the Baylor Bears in its regular season finale, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 23 seconds remaining to steal its eighth win of the season.
West Virginia (8-4, 6-3 Big 12) took the ball to start and fought for every yard on their first six-play possession but a high snap above quarterback Garrett Greene’s head derailed the opening drive that led to a punt.
After two successful run plays and 18 yards on the ground, Baylor (3-9, 2-7 Big 12) was also held to a punt and WVU running back Jahiem White capitalized with an eight-yard carry. This was followed by a massive 53-yard run play by White just two plays after the ball switched hands.
On the very next snap, Greene fired the football downfield and into the back of the endzone to wide receiver Traylon Ray for a 30-yard touchdown connection, a scoring pass that occurred after only three plays.
The Bears’ backup quarterback Sawyer Robertson started the contest due to injury and he was sacked on third down to end Baylor’s following drive, leading to its second punt after three plays.
To end the first quarter on WVU’s third possession, White ran for another big 25-yard gain and Greene ran for another 15 yards to jump into Bears’ territory. However, an incomplete pass and a run for no gain left West Virginia kicker Michael Hayes to attempt a 38-yard field goal, which he made to push ahead 10-0.
After the made field goal, Baylor broke through on special teams with an explosive play where running back Richard Reese took the kickoff back 96 yards to score a touchdown, marking a turning point as the score switched to only a 10-7 advantage for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia went back ahead by 10 points after two long plays from the signal caller Greene. Firstly, he completed a 36-yard pass to wide receiver Hudson Clement and then called his own number two snaps later, scampering for a 23-yard touchdown to lead WVU to a 17-7 lead.
Unbelievably, Reese broke off another long kickoff return for a score for the second time in a row after the deep kick, as he manufactured 14-straight points for Baylor. This time, Reese went 93-yards to make it a three-point contest without his offense touching the field.
WVU’s Greene also put together a few more big plays during the Mountaineers’ next possession after he ran for 25 yards on the opening play and then completed a toss to tight end Kole Taylor for 19 more yards.
After three straight plays didn’t materialize, Hayes kicked and made another field goal, his second of the game, from 36-yards away to make the score 20-14.
The Baylor offense finally retook the field after 50 real-time minutes and nearly a full quarter passed on the sideline and it took off. Beginning with a 37-yard completion from Robertson to tight end Jake Roberts, the Bears got into field goal range but kicker Isaiah Hankins missed the kick wide left.
With under a minute left in the half, Greene completed two passes for 26 and 19 yards to drive into Baylor territory and then he scrambled for another 11 yards down to the one-yard line. On the next play, Greene called his own number again and scored his second touchdown from only a yard away, as the Mountaineers finished the first half with a 27-14 lead.
Baylor opened the second half with a strong seven-play, 77-yard drive that was capped off with its first offensive touchdown of the game. After some dink and dunk plays for the Bears’ passer, Robertson threw a dart down the sideline and found wide receiver Ketron Johnson Jr. for a 38-yard touchdown, bringing the score within six at 27-21.
West Virginia was forced to punt on its next possession after a holding penalty set it back and the Bears drove into the WVU redzone with another long pass to Jackson for 38 yards. Starting tailback Dominic Richardson then scored the go-ahead two-yard touchdown after Baylor converted a fourth down, to jump ahead 28-27.
Despite an impeccable catch and 29 yards through the air from Greene to wide receiver Preston Fox, WVU punted after only six plays of offense and Baylor took the momentum into their next possession after back-to-back touchdowns.
After 11 plays and 56 yards with the ball in Baylor’s control, Hankins was brought on to kick another field goal and was good from 39 yards away to put the Bears up 31-27.
White ran for 16 yards on the second play of WVU’s next chance, but the drive ended with the third punt of the second half after five plays for the Mountaineers as they struggled to find consistency. The West Virginia defense stepped up however, forcing a punt after a sack by defensive lineman Edward Vesterinen.
West Virginia’s next drive started with two plays for no gain followed by a nine-yard completion. Greene then went for the quarterback sneak on fourth down and one, but the Baylor defense stopped the Mountaineers short for a turnover on downs.
The Bears went on to chew the majority of the remaining fourth-quarter clock, going under one-minute remaining in the contest. Baylor banked on a 32-yard field goal to jump ahead by a touchdown but it was kicked wide right by Hankins and the score remained 31-27.
West Virginia was given another chance with the football and they torched the Bears’ defense through the air on the way to a go-ahead touchdown with only 23 seconds on the clock.
Greene started the possession with back-to-back completions for 11 and 23 yards to Clement but it was White who made the touchdown grab in the biggest moment. After he ran a route out of the backfield and down the sideline, Greene found the freshman running back with a 29-yard touchdown strike.
Baylor had a final chance with under 30 seconds remaining in the game as they completed two passes for 20 yards, but Robertson’s final hail mary pass was knocked away and the Mountaineers came away with their eighth win, 34-31.
After the regular season finale victory over Baylor, a bowl game bid is on the horizon for the Mountaineers. The postseason opponent, location and date are still to be determined.
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