The table was set for West Virginia with a primetime showcase against a ranked opponent in their own building, but the results were unfortunately all too familiar.
The Mountaineers built an early 7-0 lead with an opportunity to tack on more in the red zone. But after what was first believed to be a catch for a first down by Rodney Gallagher was overturned to an incompletion, Michael Hayes missed his first field goal under 40 yards with West Virginia to come up empty.
Three plays later a coverage bust allowed Iowa State to score on a 60-yard touchdown and that early momentum was all but gone. The rest of the game would be closely contested until the second half when turnovers would doom the Mountaineers as Iowa State would pull away 28-16.
“We just didn’t in the second half when it was winning time. We didn’t win it,” head coach Neal Brown said. “So disappointing performance. I thought our kids they fought, they competed but they made a couple more plays than we did.”
Outside of that bust defensively, the Mountaineers hung in there on that side of the ball, but the offense was unable to put together consistent play on the offensive side to finish off drives.
West Virginia was able to move the ball down into the Iowa State end of the field multiple times after that first touchdown drive but had only three points to show for it until the game was essentially out of reach.
“And so, you got to take advantage of those opportunities when you have the ball down there and we just didn’t, and I thought that the turnovers and the penalties were kind of the story of the game,” Brown said.
The Mountaineers also had a critical holding penalty on defense which extended the drive and led to the final touchdown of the game after the unit had gotten a stop on third down. And while Brown was frustrated with that along with a non-call on a defensive pass interference on the other side, he took ownership.
“We lost the game. We had opportunities to win it, but it wasn’t very good,” he said.
West Virginia is now 3-16 against ranked teams under Brown and hasn’t won a game in that category since Oct. 30, 2021, when beating this same Iowa State game. The Mountaineers have lost each of their last six games against ranked opponents by double digits during that time.
West Virginia isn’t going to have to wait long for another chance with a ranked Kansas State team set to come to Morgantown for another night game but again the table is set, and this team is going to have to prove that the program is ready for the moment.
Twice this season the Mountaineers have had ranked opponents at home and both times the program has been soundly beaten. Can that be flipped?
But the opportunity will be there yet again if the Mountaineers can take advantage of it.
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