WVU rolls past Baylor, 58-14
SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest in Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
No. 12/13 West Virginia (6-1, 4-1) got back in the win column with a 58-14 rout of Baylor (4-4, 2-3) Thursday night at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers dominated the Bears all game long on all three sides of the ball, racking up 568 total yards and forcing four Baylor turnovers.
West Virginia senior quarterback Will Grier finished 17-of-27 for 353 yards and three touchdowns as senior wide receiver David Sills caught five of those passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns.
For Baylor, sophomore Charlie Brewer struggled and completed just one pass for 22 yards and threw three interceptions. Brewer left the game in the second quarter and didn’t return. Jalan McClendon took his place and threw for 183 yards and ran for a score.
West Virginia wasted no time on its opening possession, using a three-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Grier to Gary Jennings less than a minute in to take an early 7-0 lead.
After Tony Gibson’s defense forced a three-and-out, West Virginia’s offense got the ball back and drove down to Baylor’s 27-yard line, but came away with no points as Evan Staley missed a 44-yard field goal.
On the ensuing drive, Keith Washington came up with his second interception of the season on a pass that was bobbled by a Baylor receiver, but the offense would come away empty-handed yet again as Staley had his 40-yard field goal attempt blocked.
West Virginia’s defense came up with another turnover with an interception from Toyous Avery and this time, the offense came away with points as Staley extended West Virginia’s lead to 10-0 with a 25-yard field goal.
After a JoVanni Stewart sack, West Virginia got the ball back and Staley would later connect on a 47-yarder after Grier was sacked on 3rd-and-10. This gave the Mountaineers a 13-0 lead at the 13:21 mark in the second quarter.
Baylor would punt for the third time of the game on its next offensive possession and the Mountaineers took advantage, going up by a score of 20-0 with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Grier to Sills. This came after West Virginia converted on 4th-and-3 with a seven-yard run from Grier.
West Virginia would then score two quick touchdowns after another Baylor punt and a Shea Campbell interception with a 65-yard touchdown pass from Grier to Sills and then a 33-yard touchdown run from Martell Pettaway.
McClendon then filled in for Brewer at quarterback after he was taken to the locker room, but Baylor’s offensive struggles continued through the end of the first half.
West Virginia then made it 41-0 with a one-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak from Grier that was set up by a 79-yard rush from Tevin Bush. West Virginia took that 41-0 lead into the locker room for halftime and dominated the first half stat sheet, outgaining Baylor, 435-87, in total yards as the offense averaged 10.9 yards per play.
The Mountaineers picked up right where they left in the second half as Baylor fumbled the opening kickoff. Staley later connected on a 44-yard field goal to extend the team’s lead to 44-0.
Baylor then got on the board on the ensuing drive with a two-yard touchdown run from Josh Fleeks that capped off a nine-play, 56-yard scoring drive. West Virginia responded with another touchdown, but this time, it came from freshman Leddie Brown on a one-yard run which put the score at 51-7 in favor of the Mountaineers.
McClendon added a Baylor score with a one-yard run late in the third to make it 51-14, but West Virginia's Jack Allison, who took over at quarterback for Grier late in the third, threw his first collegiate touchdown pass to Jennings for 37 yards. This put West Virginia up, 58-14, early in the fourth and was the game's last score.
The Mountaineers will take on sixth-ranked Texas next Saturday on the road.
Enter the contest by clicking on the following link and choosing to subscribe to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=VideoGlide
