West Virginia took a lead early and was able to hang onto it all game due to stellar defensive play, resulting in a 37-7 win over the Cougars.
BYU was without starting quarterback Kedon Slovis and struggled offensively in Morgantown, Saturday night with Jake Retzlaff under center.
In the first quarter, BYU got gutsy and went for it on fourth around midfield. West Virginia was able to make the stop, forcing the turnover on downs that led to CJ Donaldson’s second rushing touchdown. The Cougars were 0-3 on fourth downs and 3-11 on third.
BYU had trouble running the ball effectively against a stubborn WVU front. They gained just 67 rushing yards in the game, compared to an astronomical 336 rushing yards for the Mountaineers.
One of BYU’s more successful drives was tarnished when Aubrey Burks recovered a fumble nearing the redzone.
Retzlaff had trouble finding significant success in his first Division I,FBS, Power 5 start. He completed just 24 passes on 42 attempts (≈57%) for 210 yards, while gaining 26 yards on the ground. Retzlaff did what he could, not forcing any turnovers, playing mistake free football, but the WVU defense just exceled.
The Mountaineers were able to get to Retzlaff three times. Hammond Russell and Asani Redwood shared a sack, where as Mike Lockhart and Ben Cutter had their own.
Cutter, the true freshman from Denver, North Carolina had himself a game. He had six tackles (three solo), two tackles for loss and the sack as mentioned.
“I mean today, tonight we played really fast,” Cutter said after the game Saturday, “really proud of ourselves on practicing really hard on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, because those are our most physical days and you can really tell throughout the week if we’re gonna perform well, if we practice well if we practice really hard and physical those days and this week we did.”
BYU was unable to get onto the board until the last quarter with the West Virginia defense not allowing the Cougars any margin error, being disciplined in almost every aspect.
Head coach Neal Brown believed there were many factors that led to the Mountaineers defensive success.
“I thought we tackled well on a lot, after a couple initial quick screens;I thought we tackled well got him behind the chains,” Brown said, “when you watch the tape Cutter, Biser those guys probably played better, you know. D-line-wise, I think we’re doing a better job of keeping it clean for those guys and then without question that was the best our safeties had played in a long time.”
Beanie Bishop continued to make his mark, adding five more pass defended to his already nation-leading total as well.
