West Virginia learns, adjusts in end game situation
You live, you learn.
That was certainly the case for West Virginia when it came to end-game situations after learning a tough lesson in the walk-off loss to Houston on a Hail Mary.
On that play, the Mountaineers elected not to pressure as the Cougars quarterback Donovan Smith rolled out to the left and fired a pass into the end zone that was tipped on a mistimed jump by Hershey McLaurin into the waiting arms of Stephon Johnson for the walk-off loss.
That play came after Houston got to midfield with just 12 seconds on the clock to start their drive setting up the end-of-game heave with just three ticks left.
"If I had to do that situation over again, I'm pretty open about it, we would've pressured and we would've made him get the ball off faster," Brown said at the time.
Related: Photo Gallery: WVU vs Baylor 2023
Turns out, the fifth-year head coach wasn’t bluffing. It’s not often that you have to defend two similar situations in the same season, but the Mountaineers found themselves in that position against Baylor.
After traveling 80 yards in just six plays to take a 34-31 lead against the Bears there were 23 seconds left on the clock. The Mountaineers defense forced Baylor into a pair of short pass plays to set them up at their own 46-yard line with just 4 seconds remaining in the game.
The Bears brought in backup quarterback RJ Martinez for the attempt but this time the defense was ready. Aided by the use of Baylor timeouts, which allowed the defense to regroup unlike what unfolded against Houston, the Mountaineers came out with a three-man front and a spy similar to the last heave.
But this time, safety Marcis Floyd came off the edge as Martinez rolled right and while defensive lineman Sean Martin was able to generate initial pressure it was Floyd who was able to hit his hand as he drew back to throw the football. The ball fell to the turf without even an attempt.
It was something that the Mountaineers had worked extensively in practice after the first instance earlier this season and it was clear that they were much more prepared this time around.
“We wanted to lock in and make sure that never happened again because that was one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had,” linebacker Ben Cutter said.
Game over.
“We blitzed this time; you learn from your mistakes. People always ask about regrets; I don't know if you have regrets but if you're in the same situation you learn from those. And we learned from it, we could have coached that better and we obviously should have knocked the ball down, but we pressured, and I think that was the difference in that play,” Brown said.
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