West Virginia Gives Baylor a Fright on Halloween

As 18.5 point underdogs on the road Thursday night, the West Virginia Mountaineers gave the undefeated Baylor Bears a scare fitting of Halloween night.

Despite punting the ball on each of their first six drives, despite only rushing for 14 yards and despite two mishandled snaps, the Mountaineers found themselves tied with the No. 12 team in the nation with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

It was the defense that kept West Virginia in the game all night. While the offense was slow to get started, the defense was getting after Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer all night long. The defense forced three straight Baylor punts to open the game before the Bears finally found the endzone.

Baylor threatened to add another score right before halftime, but the Mountaineers stuffed Brewer on two straight quarterback sneak attempts to turn the ball over on downs. Even though Baylor outgained WVU 183-64, the Bears only led 7-0 at halftime.

Austin Kendall and the West Virginia offense finally found their footing in the second half. With 6:42 left in the third quarter, Kendall connected with receiver George Campbell deep for an 83-yard touchdown.

With the game tied 7-7, Brewer led the Bears right back down the field, traveling 75 yards in seven plays for another touchdown. WVU showed that they were not going anywhere as, on the ensuing kick-off, freshman Winston Wright found a lane and returned the ball 95 yards for another score and re-tied the game at 14.

The hits just kept coming on both sides as the teams traded punts before Baylor was able to make it far enough down the field to make a 36-yard field goal and take a 17-14 lead.

A botched fair catch by Baylor with less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter set WVU up to possibly tie the game, however, WVU was missing their usual kicker, Evan Staley, due to injury. Freshman Casey Legg was tasked with his first career field goal attempt at the Baylor 31-yard line. Legg made the would-be game tier, but there was a delay of game penalty that moved the ball back five yards. Now at the 36-yard line, Legg’s re-kick was blocked and the Mountaineers still trailed by three.

Baylor was able to run the rest of the clock out and remain undefeated with a 17-14 win.

Now on a four-game losing streak, West Virginia will welcome the Texas Tech Red Raiders into Mountaineer field next Saturday.