Baylor vs. WVU: Score and Twitter Reaction
Another week, another major college football upset.
Unranked West Virginia defeated No. 4 Baylor, 41-27, in a back-and-forth Big 12 conference game marred by an excessive amount of penalties for both teams. The upset win is a rare achievement for the West Virginia program, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Mountaineers quarterback Clint Trickett overcame a rough start to throw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes that gave his team a 14-point lead they would not relinquish. Wide receiver Kevin White was his favorite target on the day, finishing with eight catches for 132 yards and two scores.
Here is the quarter-by-quarter score from the game:
| Baylor | 13 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 27 |
| WVU | 7 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 41 |
Clearly, this game went back and forth, with no team winning two consecutive quarters.
The Mountaineers came into the game as perhaps one of the most dangerous unranked teams in the nation. They featured a passing attack ranked seventh in the nation in yardage, and held tough in losses to then-No. 2 Alabama and then-No. 4 Oklahoma.
Considering Baylor ranked sixth in passing yardage coming into the game, fans might've expected an all-out aerial assault from both teams. But penalties, turnovers and mental mistakes prevented that from being the case for much of the contest.
The Bears started off strong and hit West Virginia right in the mouth to start the game. Baylor defensive tackle Andrew Billings sacked Trickett deep in his own territory and forced a fumble that his teammate Shawn Oakman did well to recover.
This set up a simple seven-yard scoring pass from star quarterback Bryce Petty to wideout Corey Coleman for the Bears' first score of the contest.
The Mountaineers came right back a few minutes later to score on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Trickett to White. West Virginia athletics digital media director John Antonik noted that White would torment the Baylor defensive backs all game long:
After an exchange of punts, Baylor took a 10-7 lead on a 38-yard Chris Callahan field goal and then intercepted Trickett on the ensuing drive for the quarterback's second turnover of the game. Baylor couldn't do much with the ball, however, and had to settle for another Callahan field goal.
John McClain of the Houston Chronicle was impressed with WVU's ability to bottle up Baylor star running back Shock Linwood and get pressure on Petty:
West Virginia's defensive effort was impressive, considering Baylor came into the game averaging an FBS-best 52.7 points per game. The Mountaineers took advantage of a Bears turnover on downs early in the second quarter and engineered a long drive capped off by a one-yard run from Andrew Buie for a 14-13 lead.
Penalties played a big part in preventing Baylor from controlling the ballgame after forcing two early turnovers.
ESPN's Travis Haney noted they hit the century mark in penalty yards early in the game, although it wasn't the most surprising development for this team:
Despite a litany of errors, Baylor responded with a huge scoring play—a 63-yard touchdown toss from Petty to senior wideout Antwan Goodley.
The offense stalled out after that point, and West Virginia turned to running back Dreamius Smith to control the ball and the clock.
Smith gave the Mountaineers a 21-20 lead after scoring from nine yards out. Scout.com's Chip Brown noted that Smith was the offense's focal point during the drive:
He was also instrumental on a 10-play drive that ended with a Josh Lambert field goal as time expired in the first half. That kick gave the Mountaineers a shocking 24-20 lead heading into the locker room.
The Mountaineers kept turning the screws and took a 27-20 lead early in the third quarter on another Lambert field goal.
The Bears tied the game at 27 apiece on a one-yard run from Linwood during the closing seconds of the third quarter. The officials initially ruled him down short of the end zone, but replays confirmed Linwood kept his balance and the paydirt plunge was valid. This fan was impressed by Linwood's balance on the play:
West Virginia kept Baylor's drive alive with two penalties and were starting to catch up to Baylor in the lack-of-discipline department, per College GameDay:
Rather than wilt under the pressure of trying to upend a top-ranked team, the Mountaineers climbed to even greater heights. They started the fourth quarter with a four-play, 68-yard drive that ended in White's second receiving touchdown of the game—a fantastic one-handed catch over a Baylor defender:
West Virginia held Baylor to just six plays on the next possession and then officially put the college football world on notice. Trickett hit Mario Alford for a 39-yard touchdown pass that gave the underdogs a 41-27 lead with just 7:35 left on the clock. ESPN Stats & Info noted Trickett extended his own school record in the fourth quarter:
Baylor was in a desperate situation, but couldn't come up with the big plays to engineer a comeback. After one Bears drive ended in a punt, Baylor had another chance to make it a one-score game on their next possession. But facing fourth-and-goal from West Virginia's 18-yard line, the Mountaineers came up with another huge stop.
Petty lofted a ball to wideout Jay Lee in the end zone, but the lanky wideout came down out of bounds. That handed the ball to the Mountaineers with just over two minutes to play and they successfully ran out the clock.
Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorson talked about the victory, according to ESPN.com:
""We've been in this situation before and have been unable to finish," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "I told them at halftime, 'We're not in this thing to finish close again. Let's go out there and win this thing.'"
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ESPN Stats & Info pointed out that Baylor has hardly fared well when considered one of the top teams in the nation:
The shocking upset throws the Big 12 into chaos.
Oklahoma, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma State and now West Virginia all look like legitimate conference-title contenders. But it's difficult to say whether a one- or two-loss team from the Big 12 will be able to make the College Football Playoff with two spots likely to go to SEC teams.
The loss brings renewed playoff hopes to the likes of Oregon, Michigan State and Alabama, among others.
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