BYU Too Much for WVU; Khalil Wilkins Shows Flashes in First Start

With everything going against the Mountaineers, freshman Khalil Wilkins led WVU into battle with the No. 23 ranked BYU Cougars on Friday night.

And after a brief feeling out process, an early mistake typical of a young inexperienced quarterback led to the first points of the game. Wilkins’ interception came on a pass that followed his first completion of the night, which was good for a first down to Rodney Gallagher.

A horse caller tackle stopped the pick from going the distance, but set up the eventual score by the Cougars.

Then, BYU found the end zone again. This time with 3:41 left in the first quarter. Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier found receiver Parker Kingston, who then was able to find space and run the distance by multiple Mountaineer defenders.

Rich Rodriguez had to turn from one freshman to another under center on WVU’s ensuing drive. Wilkins was forced to leave the game to be evacuated – he was getting rocked on rush attempts all night.

While in for Wilkins, Scotty Fox handed the ball off to running back Diore Hubbard once and then ran it himself twice. Wilkins would return and go right back to tucking and running to move the ball, doing so enough to get West Virginia on the board thanks to a 45-yard Kade Hensley field goal.

Linebacker Chase Wilson would provide West Virginia some rare momentum by picking off Bachmeier with about eight minutes left before halftime. The pressure was then on the offense to cash in and make it a game.

But as has been the story of the season, the Mountaineer offense fails to make BYU pay for their mistake. And then in a blink of an eye, a pass from Bachmeier to Chase Roberts goes 85 yards. LJ Martin then punches in another touchdown to finish off the two-play 89-yard drive, putting the Cougars up 21-3.

However, what happened in the next minute kept West Virginia in the game. First, on the BYU’s first play after another failed offensive possession for WVU, safety Fred Perry got to Bachmeier to force and recover a fumble. The turnover set the Mountaineers up in front of the goal line. Hubbard got through the defense, gaining the necessary three yards for the touchdown that cut the deficit to 21-10.

Bachmeier shook that score off and marched the Cougars back up the field for one final first half touchdown, one that he ran in himself.

It took until the second half for BYU head coach Kalani Sitake to go into his bag of tricks when the Cougars successfully faked a field goal to extend their half opening drive. Credit to the Mountaineers for still buckling down and holding BYU to a field goal they actually kicked later in the possession.

Just when it appeared as if Wilkins had found a rhythm passing – he threw for 40 yards on four passes as WVU tried to answer, bad luck struck and handed the ball back to BYU. Wilkins’ deep ball attempt results in an interception by safety Tanner Wall, who grabbed the ball on a pass that was almost caught by Cam Vaughn.

A second fumble recovery for WVU, this one by Ben Cutter, flipped the field right back. Thanks to great field position, a Wilkins six-yard run got West Virginia into the end zone for only the second time.

Unfortunately for West Virginia, BYU quickly cancels out WVU’s offense finally capitalizing off a turnover from the defense. Bachmeier aired it out again, giving him 351 yards with 8:50 left on the game clock, and Martin finished off the Cougars’ second touchdown of the second half to take a 38-17 advantage.

Wilkins ALMOST led the Mountaineers into the end zone one final time. An offsides call on BYU moved the WVU offense inches away, but Hubbard couldn’t get through as the Cougars get the stop on the second fourth down try at the goal line.

Before the scoreboard read 0:00, Fox came in for Wilkins and fired a touchdown strike to Vaughn, making the score 38-24 in favor of BYU. And that’s how it ended.

All in all, BYU was way too much for West Virginia to handle, sending Rich Rodriguez’s team into their much-needed bye week at 2-4 (0-3, Big 12).