Garrett Greene seemingly won West Virginia the game. Then his penalty on the same play put Houston in a position to win it and they did just that.
When Greene connected with Hudson Clement for a 50-yard score it seemed as though Greene had capped off a career night with a game-winning touchdown drive in the final seconds. As part of his celebration, Greene was flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taking his helmet off.
“That’s 100 percent on me,” Greene said. “For us to be a really good football team like I know we are, the quarterback can’t make dumb mistakes like that. I messed that one up. If they’re 15 yards back, that last play probably doesn’t happen.”
Greene passed for a career-high 391 yards in the win, along with two touchdown passes, but the penalty looms over his head.
“I just got caught up in my emotions. I have to be more mature than that, I have to be better than that,” Greene said. “I just have to be a smart football player. It was a dumb mistake by me. I’ll learn from it and I’ll be better.”
Head coach Neal Brown said of the penalty, “they don’t really want to call that, but if you take your helmet off it’s pretty clear and I don’t understand that. That gave them the opportunity to get into scoring position.”
