Monday Morning Quarterback: More WVU drama | News, Sports, Jobs

(Football News – Photo Illustration/MetroCreative)

For the second straight game, Mountaineer fans were just starting to relax when suddenly the momentum shifted and West Virginia had to hold on for a 31-24 win in Cincinnati on Saturday. It seems like our team will never be able to make things easy for us.

Leading 24-7 late in the third quarter, WVU was headed for another score that could have delayed the game, but an interception in the end zone prevented the move. The Bearcats then quickly kicked a 80-yard field goal, and what suddenly seemed like an impending explosion turned into another thrilling finish.

Over the remainder of the game from the interception point, Cincinnati gained 223 yards while the Mountaineers rushed for only 5 yards on 7 plays. The final game statistics were similarly striking: 24 first downs for the Bearcats to 10 for West Virginia; 79 Cincinnati rushes for 436 yards to 43 and 248 yards for West Virginia.

But statistics don’t always tell the whole story. The Mountaineers stole it with three turnovers and two defensive scores, aided by two good punt returns on special teams. WVU’s 17 offensive points were scored by short field goals, starting from Cincinnati’s 37 and 41 and West Virginia’s 49.

The Mountaineers’ offense faltered for most of the afternoon. Quarterback Nicco Marchiol completed two good long passes, but only three plays accounted for nearly half of the WVU offense’s total yardage. Five times WVU went three and out.

New defensive coordinator Jeff Koonz’s first effort was an overall success.

While they surrendered a lot of yardage and gave up a long score that appeared to be broken, the defense otherwise made enough plays to allow the Mountaineers to get the win. In addition to three turnovers and two defensive TDs, West Virginia had 3 sacks and seven tackles for loss. It could be argued that Cincinnati’s quarterback cost his team the game with two bad decisions that led to defensive scores, but those occurred in part due to pressure from the defense.

The Mountaineers are currently 4-2 in the Big 12 Conference and have won all three road games.

Now, if they can protect their home field, they have a chance to finish the league strongly.

THIS SATURDAY: Baylor comes to Morgantown on a bye week after coming off a poor start to the season with three straight wins.

WVU’s offense will be one to keep an eye on, as the Bears have averaged 45 points in their last three games. We’ve seen here that the magic of choosing games is consistently wrong, so let’s see if we can keep this jinx going.

BAYLOR 34 WEST VIRGINIA 28.