West Virginia vs. Baylor: Game Grades, Analysis for Mountaineers and Bears

The Baylor Bears are looking like a serious national title threat, as they rolled over the West Virginia Mountaineers 62-38 Saturday at McLane Stadium. 

Seth Russell and Corey Coleman shredded the Mountaineers secondary, as Baylor racked up 389 passing yards and six touchdowns on the day. West Virginia played hard, but it could not keep up with the Bears and their elite offense. 

Let's take a look at how each team graded out Saturday by unit.

Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	A	A+
Run Offense	B	B+
Pass Defense	B-	B+
Run Defense	A-	A-
Special Teams	A	A
Coaching	A	A

Pass Offense: Baylor pretty much did whatever it wanted through the air, especially in the second half. Russell missed some throws early in the game, including an open receiver in the end zone in the second quarter, but he recovered nicely to finish with 380 yards and five scores.

Coleman also validated his Heisman candidacy with 10 catches for 199 yards and three touchdowns. He broke a school record by boosting his season total to 16 touchdowns, the most in the FBS. One of the highlights of the day came on this slick move, which is just one example of how he dominated the West Virginia secondary: 

Run Offense: Baylor's running backs did not have a great day, as Shock Linwood finished with 84 yards on 19 carries. Yet they were as good as they needed to be because Russell was unstoppable through the air and on the ground. The quarterback finished with 160 yards rushing and a score. His dual-threat ability makes him a Heisman front-runner, which is reminiscent of another former Baylor quarterback: 

Pass Defense: The Bears secondary has to be prepared for plenty of action each week given how much its offense scores. The unit was shaky in the first half, as West Virginia scored twice through the air, including a 70-yard strike on its first drive of the game, but it rebounded to hold quarterback Skyler Howard to just 117 yards the rest of the game.

Safety Ryan Reid also forced the lone turnover of the game, other than unconverted fourth downs, with a first-half pick. The performance of Baylor’s secondary will determine if it can beat TCU and Oklahoma to advance to the College Football Playoff, and Saturday was a decent showing. 

Run Defense: If West Virginia was going to win this game, it was going to have to control the game on the ground to produce long scoring drives that would keep Russell on the sidelines. Baylor stepped up to the challenge and stifled the Mountaineers' rushing attack. Other than a 52-yard gash from Wendell Smallwood, the Bears held West Virginia to about four yards a carry. This could be improved down the road, but this is a decent average to maintain since Baylor scores at such a high rate. 

Special Teams: Kicker Chris Callahan did his job Saturday, making both of his field-goal attempts and all of his extra points. Other than that, the special teams unit was pretty quiet for Baylor, as the team only punted twice. Chris Platt was able to return a kick to the 1-yard line with under a minute to play, but the game was well over by then. 

Coaching: When your team is much more talented than the opponent, there is not much to coach. Yet head coach Art Briles was able to keep his team focused in the second half, as Baylor continued to play well and put away West Virginia. The team also routinely attacked the Mountaineers secondary as it recognized the distinct advantage it held in that matchup. Another credit to the coaching staff is that the team was much improved on penalties from last season, which Briles noted after the game: 

Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Pass Offense	B	C+
Run Offense	C	C
Pass Defense	C	D
Run Defense	B-	C-
Special Teams	C+	B
Coaching	B+	B

Pass Offense: Howard was going to need a career game to outperform Russell and the Baylor offense, but he was only average Saturday. He finished with 287 yards and four touchdowns, but his 49 percent completion percentage and one interception put a damper on his day. Howard especially struggled in the second half, and Baylor’s lead grew even larger as a result. 

Run Offense: With 44 attempts, West Virginia certainly tried to establish itself on the ground. However, the unit was not strong enough for West Virginia to control the game and its tempo. The Mountaineers had to pass more as Baylor’s lead built up, which hurt the running game’s overall performance. 

Pass Defense: The secondary was pretty much the deciding factor in this game, as Baylor tore the unit apart through the air. It is hard to do much worse than allowing six touchdowns, but the unit was able to limit Baylor’s passing yardage a bit, which salvages this unit from earning a failing grade.

ESPN’s Joe Schad accurately described West Virginia’s secondary during Saturday’s contest: 

Run Defense: West Virginia did a decent job of containing Baylor’s running backs, as the backfield combined to average four yards per rush. The downfall of this group was its inability to stop Russell. The quarterback was able to pick up yards on the ground at will, which is inexcusable given the amount of players the Mountaineers had in coverage on every play. With TCU’s Trevone Boykin next on the schedule, this could become a major issue for the team. 

Special Teams: Despite being one of the more reliable kickers in the Big 12, Josh Lambert missed a crucial kick to end the second half, which damaged West Virginia’s momentum. The big positive here was Shelton Gibson’s 100-yard kick return touchdown toward the end of the fourth quarter. The unit was then able to recover an onside kick, making it the best performing group of the day for the Mountaineers. 

Coaching: Head coach Dana Holgorsen came in with a solid game plan: control the ball and try to keep Baylor’s offense off the field as much as possible. He was mildly successful in the first half, but the plan fell apart due to Baylor’s superiority in the passing game. The team had no answer for Coleman on the outside, and Holgorsen had some lofty praise for the receiver after the game:

Coaching can only do so much for a team when it is thoroughly outmatched, so Holgorsen was not the reason for Saturday's result.