Joining the Big 12 conference in 2012, West Virginia was bound to become familiar with teams it had little history with, but in the case of the Baylor Bears, it has been a complete 180.
In over 100 years of football, the Bears had never played the Mountaineers until WVU’s inaugural season in their conference. Now, 11 years after first traveling to Morgantown, the Bears play West Virginia for the 12th straight year in Waco on Saturday.
In the teams’ crammed 11-game history, the Mountaineers hold a 7-4 winning record, but the journey to that position says they should not take Baylor lightly in this final game of the season. These are some of the close wins showing what WVU has come to expect from their new rivals.
2012: Mountaineers and Bears introduce themselves through high-scoring rout
West Virginia and Baylor had three things in common as they entered their first ever matchup: they were both 3-0, they were both ranked, and most importantly, they were both members of the Big 12, and West Virginia fought to prove they belonged.
The No. 9 Mountaineers came in with a hot offense led by senior quarterback Geno Smith and scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and three in the second. Unexpectedly, though, the Bears did the exact same. The Bears’ first three scores came in the run game before senior Nick Florence threw a 67-yard touchdown to Lanear Sampson. After the explosive offensive war in the first half, the teams stood tied at 35-35, but as Baylor slowed down in the third quarter, Geno Smith and the Mountaineers kept pushing forward for three more touchdowns.
To open the quarter, Smith hit Tavon Austin for a 45-yard touchdown, and after the defensive stop, he targeted him again for a 52-yard touchdown. Rattled, Baylor missed another scoring opportunity with a missed field goal attempt, and the Mountaineers capitalized for their third unanswered touchdown, this time coming from running back Andrew Buie. Baylor closed the quarter with a passing touchdown, though, and they used that momentum in the fourth quarter to lead a comeback.
Florence rushed for a touchdown to start the quarter before Smith matched it with an 87-yard passing touchdown to Stedman Bailey. Florence’s Bears came back down for another touchdown on the next possession, and WVU returned the favor with another receiving touchdown from Bailey. The Bears managed to score the final touchdown of the game, but it was too little too late, as the Mountaineers held on for the 70-63 victory.
The quarterback duel between Florence and Smith remains a classic. Each quarterback set his school’s record for most passing yards in a game, and both still stand today. The seniors’ productions mirror the outcome of the game, as Florence’s 29/47 for five touchdowns, an interception, and a record 581 yards was somehow outmatched anyway by Geno Smith. Smith completed 45 of his 51 pass attempts to gain 651 yards while never throwing an interception. He set the school record for most passing touchdowns in a game as well with eight.
Neither team finished the season as hot as they started, as both finished 4-5 against Big 12 opponents, but the fire power of this matchup set the tone for games to come. Baylor would welcome West Virginia next season with a 73-42 victory and beat them again in 2015, 62-38. The Mountaineers have channeled their 2012 offensive power in recent matchups as well, defeating Baylor 58-14 in the 2018 season and scoring over 40 points on five occasions against the Bears.
2020: Low-scoring, double overtime brawl ends in Mountaineer victory
On the complete opposite side of the 2012 game is the double overtime slog from 2020. The four regulation quarters of play featured one touchdown in each, as the scoring alternated between the teams. West Virginia started the trend with a first quarter rushing touchdown. The score took 15 plays and over six minutes. Quarterback Jarret Doege, who scored the touchdown, would not celebrate for long, as he lost a fumble on the next offensive possession, which resulted in Baylor bringing it back for a missed field goal attempt. Doege opened the second quarter with an interception, which was also returned for a missed field goal attempt by the Bears. Immediately after, Doege gave the Bears one last opportunity, throwing an interception that the Bears took advantage of for the only touchdown of the second quarter.
Tied at 7-7, the Mountaineers and Bears stopped each other on defense five total times before the Mountaineers scored their second touchdown. This time, it took 11 plays to get the job done, and the points came from running back Leddie Brown, who ran one yard into the endzone. Baylor had an interception and a recovered fumble before Charlie Brewer’s passing touchdown to Josh Fleeks tied the game at 14 points.
In overtime, both teams did what was a struggle all game: scoring. For the Mountaineers, the 25 yards took five plays to gain, while Charlie Brewer threw one play for Baylor’s touchdown. In the second overtime, however, Brewer was not as lucky. He threw an interception on the period’s first play, and West Virginia made him pay with a Leddie Brown game-winning touchdown to end it 27-21.
Even though West Virginia would finish the season 6-4 compared to the Bears’ 2-7 record, Baylor certainly gave them problems offensively. As the 7-4 Mountaineers travel to Waco this season to play the 3-8 Bears, they hope a similar scare does not show itself. Either way, this new rivalry, marked by these two games along with three others with three-point scoring margins, stands as a strong one in the modern Big 12.
Photo by Wesley Shoemaker, Blue Gold Sports
