WVU beats Baylor 24-21, gets tenth win

It wasn’t as smooth as No. 16 West Virginia would have liked but the Mountaineers recorded their tenth win of the season beating Baylor 24-21 Saturday evening inside Milan Puskar Stadium.

The Mountaineers won their tenth game for the ninth time in program history but it wasn’t easy as West Virginia had to overcome a 14-3 deficit and inconsistency on the offensive side of the ball.

Saying goodbye to 21 seniors, the Mountaineers forced four Baylor turnovers and scored 21 consecutive points to take control in the second half before the Bears battled back to make it a nail bitter down to the final possession.

Playing his final game at Mountaineer Field, senior quarterback Skyler Howard struggled completing only 10-26 passes for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while adding a rushing score. The touchdowns were to senior Daikiel Shorts and sophomore Gary Jennings.

Junior running back Justin Crawford surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the season with 209 rushing yards including a 63-yard run. As a team the Mountaineers averaged 5.3 per carry with 300 yards.

Making his first start of the season, redshirt junior Marvin Gross recorded an interception and two sacks while also forcing a fumble for the Mountaineers from his SPUR safety position.

Baylor won the opening coin toss and elected to take the football putting the Bears on the field first with their offensive unit. Gross would start in the place of junior Kyzir White and on the second play from scrimmage a ball would bounce into the air on a completion in the arms of Gross for an interception that he would take back to the Bears 30-yard line. However, the Mountaineers would be unable to cash in electing to go for it on fourth and two and the Howard pass would fall to the turf.

On the second Baylor possession, the Bears would record a first down but redshirt freshman David Long would blow up a third and short in the backfield forcing a Bears punt to the West Virginia 28-yard line. The Mountaineers would again move the ball into scoring position but a 46-yard field goal from Molina would miss keeping the score deadlocked at zero a piece.

The Mountaineers would again move the ball into Baylor territory on the next possession on a 27-yard drive but after stalling out Molina would connect on a career-long 50-yard field goal to put the lead at 3-0 with 2:23 left in the first quarter. The Bears would put together their most successful drive of the first quarter on the following possession aided by a 48-yard run by Williams to put the ball right outside of the red zone. And the Bears would capitalize in short order with a touchdown run by Williams to put them ahead 7-3 on the opening play of the second quarter.

West Virginia would effectively move the football on the ground with a mix of Crawford and Pettaway into Baylor territory once again but a penalty would push the offense back and forced a punt. But the defense would hold with a three and out of its own to get the football back at the Mountaineers 40.

Another three and out by West Virginia would give the Bears the football back at their own 29-yard line as the Mountaineers continued to struggle to generate any consistency on offense. The Bears would capitalize on the struggles as Baylor would score on a 60-yard pass to K.D. Cannon to put the visitors ahead 14-3 with 9:03 remaining in the second quarter.

The West Virginia offense would convert on two fourth downs capped off by an impressive four-yard touchdown grab by Shorts to put the score at 14-10 with 3:52 left in the half. The drive spanned a total of 15 plays for 78-yards and took off over five minutes on the second quarter clock.

Baylor would move the ball to midfield on the following drive, but Smith’s pass attempt would be intercepted by Jeremy Tyler to give the football back to West Virginia at its own three-yard line with only 54-seconds remaining in the first half. The Mountaineers would run out the first half clock deep in their own end and trail 14-10 entering the halftime break.

West Virginia would open the second half with a kickoff return for a touchdown by Shelton Gibson, but it was called back on a holding penalty backing up the Mountaineers to their own 15-yard line. The Mountaineers would move the football to the 47-yard line but would be unable to convert third and five punting the football back to Baylor with the score still sitting at 14-10.

The Bears would return the favor with a punt of their own, but after a booming punt and a holding penalty it pinned the Mountaineers back at their own seven-yard line. And while a personal foul would move the football out, the offense would stall yet again and result in another punt.

Baylor would take the football into West Virginia territory but a Gross sack on third down would stall another drive for the Bears and result in yet another punt giving the Mountaineers the football back trailing 14-10 with 6:55 left in the third quarter.

Crawford would rip off a 63-yard run to put the ball at the Baylor 17-yard line but the offense would stall and for the second time in the game Molina would miss a field goal this time from 31-yards out to keep the score nodded at 14-10 5:49 remaining in the third quarter.

After a Baylor punt, West Virginia would finally recapture the lead on a 58-yard catch and run by Jennings to put the score at 17-14 in favor of the Mountaineers with 2:04 left. On the play, Howard facing a third and six put the ball in stride with Jennings and he was able to pull away from the defender.

On the ensuing drive, Gross would come up big again for the Mountaineers recording a sack and forcing a fumble which was recovered by Darrien Howard to give the football back to the offense. After a personal foul pushed the ball to the six-yard line, the Mountaineers would then push the football right outside the goal line facing a 4th and goal from inches away to start the fourth quarter. Howard would pile into the end zone from there giving the Mountaineers a 24-14 lead with 14:57 left to play.

Baylor would move the ball to the West Virginia 30-yard line on the ensuing drive, but would stall after not being able to convert on 4th and 8 giving the football back into the hands of the offense. The Mountaineers punted the football back to Baylor and the Bears would quickly move the ball to midfield but once again the West Virginia defense would hold on 4th down this time from their own 38-yard line with 7:20 remaining in the game.

The Bears would get the football back with 4:11 remaining and the Bears would score on a 43-yard touchdown pass to Ishmael Zamora to cut the lead down to 24-21 with only 2:40 left.

The ensuing on-sides kick would be recovered by Baylor, but after a reply review an illegal block would force the Bears to re-kick. The second attempt would land safely into the arms of tight end Trevon Wesco giving the football to the offense at the Bears 38-yard line with a chance to run out the clock.

The Mountaineers would fail to convert a first down and the Bears would take over with the football trailing 24-21 with 53 seconds left and no timeouts at their own 20-yard line. Senior Noble Nwachukwu would force a fumble on the final possession and the Mountaineers would recover and hold on for the 24-21 win.