An action-packed first half turned to a lackluster second half as West Virginia fell to Baylor 49-35.
After not playing for nearly a month, WVU went with Garrett Greene at quarterback despite backup Nicco Marchiol winning back-to-back games for the Mountaineers. In the loss, Greene threw for 237 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He also rushed for 129 yards and two touchdowns.
WVU’s defense had trouble stopping Baylor’s offense throughout. The Bears had over 500 yards of offense and seven total touchdowns. BU runningback Bryson Washington had four all-purpose touchdowns, three rushing and one receiving.
As expected, Greene was under center for the Mountaineers. WVU went with up-tempo on their first drive and were effectively driving down the field.
The Mountaineers had it first and goal from the four-yard line before an incomplete pass and holding call on second down set them back. Replaying the down, Rodney Gallagher caught a low pass from Greene and then Greene took it himself for a touchdown to get WVU on the board first.
On his first drive since Oct. 19, Greene was 3-for-4 passing for 24 yards. He rushed for 11 yards and the touchdown that put West Virginia up early.
Baylor was extremely quick to answer. They drove down the field and scored in under two and a half minutes, scoring a 22-yard passing touchdown that tied the game at seven after a successful PAT.
The Mountaineers’ next drive started with a 21-yard pass completion. However, they stalled on the next set of downs and punted it back to the Bears.
After getting the ball back, Baylor had little trouble moving it down the field. They scored a 43-yard touchdown on a play that looked like it wouldn’t even be a first down.
Looking to even up the score, West Virginia got down the field, partially thanks to two Baylor defensive penalties on two separate third downs. The Mountaineers knotted it up at 14 nearly two minutes into the second quarter after Traylon Ray caught a pass tipped by a Bear defensive back.
Two more big plays by Baylor on back-to-back drives put them up by two possessions. First, it was a 40-yard touchdown reception and then a 51-yard rushing touchdown to put the Bears up 28-14.
After the second score, Baylor attempted a surprise onside kick that was ultimately unsuccessful, setting up WVU in an excellent field position with just about two minutes left in the first half. West Virginia took advantage of the field position with a 23-yard rushing touchdown by CJ Donaldson, cutting Baylor’s lead to one score.
Baylor continued to have their way against the West Virginia defense. Washington scored his third touchdown of the first half (two rushing and one receiving) to help Baylor regain a two-score lead.
WVU continued to show a fight in the first half, though. They marched down the field and scored as time expired. It was a Greene-keeper that was confirmed by replay to make the game 35-28 right before the half.
Both teams had 330+ yards in the first half. Baylor averaged 11.2 yards per play in the first two quarters.
WVU had more yards, 338, 221 of them yards rushing but ran 21 more plays.
Baylor was set to receive to begin the second half as they looked to build their lead back. They got into WVU territory, but the Mountaineers got a big third-down stop, and a 55-yard field goal attempt was no good.
After a second-down shot and pass interference call with 5:41 in the third quarter, Ray was carted off with an air cast on his leg.
The third quarter was scoreless, but early into the fourth, West Virginia was threatening in Bear territory, but nothing came of it as they turned the ball over on downs.
With just around eight minutes left in the game, Washington scored his fourth touchdown, putting Baylor back up by two scores. Baylor scored another touchdown following Greene’s interception.
The Mountaineers added a late score to avoid going scoreless in the second half as they trailed 49-35.
West Virginia’s record drops to 5-5 on the season and 4-3 in conference play. They’ll be back at home next week as they take on UCF.
