Monday Morning Stock Report: Upset lifts WVU into thick of Big 12 race

Kevin White made eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns as West Virginia took down Baylor 41-27.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As Kevin White rang up eight catches, two scores, 132 yards and a season’s worth of pass-interference flags, he reminded Baylor’s defensive backs about the trash-talk they spewed all week.

Turns out social media can be a cruel mistress.

“They were on Instagram saying we weren’t going to get anything and they were going to take it to us,” White said after West Virginia completed a 41-27 upset Saturday. “They’re very cocky and arrogant. But this just gives us more confidence and shows that we can play with anyone.”

As the Mountaineers awake to find themselves in contention for the Big 12 banner, the Monday Morning Stock Report examines how they got here. Per custom, we use the trusty up, down and neutral arrows, and this week we reserve a gigantic downer for all the firestarters, rock-chuckers and property vandals who tried to turn the postgame celebration into the Arab spring:

QUARTERBACK
The best quarterback on the field Saturday wasn’t Baylor’s Heisman hopeful. Rather it was Clint Trickett, though even he wasn’t at his sharpest.

Trickett’s first-quarter fumble and interception gave Baylor 10 points before he rebounded to finish 23-of-35 for 322 yards and three touchdowns. He produced like a champ in the fourth quarter completing 8-of-10 for 128 yards and two touchdowns to snap a tie game.

Between three sacks and several knockdowns, Trickett appeared to play through an injury to his passing hand, which may have affected a few deep routes he underthrew.

The extent of his discomfort was unclear after the game because for the first time all season, Trickett wasn’t available for interviews. That’s typically an indication of a player receiving treatment, though his absence could have been linked to the health issues of his father Rick, who was hospitalized and missed Florida State’s win over Notre Dame on Saturday night.

Surrounded by Baylor defenders, running back Andrew Buie leveraged this pile for a West Virginia first down.



RUNNING BACKS
After Rushel Shell departed with a foot injury on the second series, WVU’s depth surfaced again. Wendell Smallwood carried a career-high 20 times for a modest 66 yards, though his physical runs killed Baylor’s chance of regaining possession in the final three minutes. He made his only target count with a 23-yard third-down catch on a seam route.

The big boost came from Dreamius Smith with 13 carries for 60 yards. He flourished during a second-quarter drive by carrying on all five plays for 41 yards, capping it with a 9-yard touchdown.

Andrew Buie’s nine carries for 24 yards included a 1-yard touchdown dive and a bullish run through two defenders to convert a third-and-5. But he did best work in the pass game. He gained 42 yards out of the slot to set up the go-ahead touchdown and ran 24 yards with a screen before WVU’s end-of-half field goal.

RECEIVERS
After posting only one 100-yard receiving game during 2013, White now has seven this season. He also owns seven touchdowns after scoring twice against Baylor, which tried in vain to single cover the nation’s top pass-catcher.

White drew five pass interference flags, worth another 67 yards.

“He was hard to guard,” said Bears coach Art Briles, master of the understatement.

Dana Holgorsen certainly appreciates the consistently stellar production of White, the only FBS receiver to eclipse 1,000 yards this season.

“He’s on pace statistically to do what Crabtree and Blackmon and Stedman did,” WVU’s coach said. “And he keeps getting better. I think his best football is ahead of him.”

While asserting that Mario Alford had an average day with four receptions for 53 yards, Holgorsen admittedly “got pretty fired up” on Alford’s 39-yard scoring catch in the fourth quarter.

“That one excited me. We’d been working that—man coverage when they blitz, then we hit it and he used his speed to go score.”

Kevin White shares a hug after West Virginia’s 41-27 upset of Baylor.



OFFENSIVE LINE
At 2.7 yards per carry, the run-game production sagged. Shell limping off after eight offensive plays didn’t help. And West Virginia rarely had a numbers advantage in the box as Baylor brought pressure and left risky business for the back end (cue the Kevin White highlight film).

Still, WVU’s line led two run-heavy touchdown drives, and late in the game, the Mountaineers moved 27 yards on four straight runs to bury any chance at a Baylor comeback.

While depth isn’t perceived as this unit’s strength, backup center Tony Matteo replaced Tyler Orlosky for two goal-line snaps in the second quarter and helped pave the way for Buie’s scoring plunge.

Though Baylor racked up three sacks to remain atop the conference in that category, Trickett still had time for progressions to develop. That led to 33 first downs, the most given up by a Bears defense since Geno Smith and WVU rang up 34 in 2012.

DEFENSIVE LINE
On the first of his three sacks Shaq Riddick split a double-team, the kind of matchup that neutralized him previously this season. But Riddick was a new man against Baylor, having been called out by coordinator Tony Gibson earlier in the week.

“I called him in and challenged him right in front of the whole staff,” Gibson said. “I just showed him a clip from practice, an effort kind of deal. I said ‘I don’t want to embarrass you—I want you to play hard. I brought you here for a reason.’

“I knew he could do what he did (against Baylor). He was locked in, excited and he was having fun.”

Riddick, who had four TFLs overall, was chosen the Walter Camp’s national defensive player of the week on Sunday.

With defensive end Dontrill Hyman limited again, Brandon Golson made a sack on a three-man rush among his five tackles, and Noble Nwachukwu (four tackles) was active. Golson, however, committed two silly personal fouls and was flagged for offsides.

Kyle Rose and Christian Brown tag-teamed the middle, holding up rigidly against a Baylor offense that had 20 rushing touchdowns through six games but only one Saturday.

Shaq Riddick sacked Bryce Petty three times after registering only two sacks in the previous six games.



LINEBACKERS
Wes Tonkery rebounded from a disappointing game at Texas Tech to make a team-high eight tackles, half of those in pass coverage where Baylor receivers tend to turn short gains into explosive plays.

Nick Kwiatkoski added seven stops and Shaq Petteway made five as West Virginia gambled successfully with high-risk blitzes.

“They were hot last year when we played them, and we played off, didn’t play good and it was a bloodbath,” Holgorsen said. “We weren’t going to let that happen this year.”

The group limited the Big 12’s top rusher Shock Linwood to 69 yards on 21 carries and Baylor netted only 2.3 yards per rush. What differentiated this from the WVU defense that was gashed by Alabama (5.9), Maryland (6.0). Oklahoma (6.5) and Texas Tech (5.7)?

“We actually fit in the right gap this week,” Gibson said.

SECONDARY
Petty twice missed open receivers deep and KD Cannon dropped a potential 45-yarder, but West Virginia’s defensive backs were more than adequate.

Baylor’s 318 total yards were a season-low—and 454 fewer than posted last week against TCU. Petty finished 16-of-36 for 223 yards despite playing the final 38 minutes against WVU’s backup cornerbacks. But Ricky Rumph and Icky Banks met the challenge after Daryl Worley and Terrell Chestnut exited with injuries.

“I knew coming into the season I had four corners, possible five or six,” said assistant Brian Mitchell. “I feel good about where we are. We have great depth. Each and every one of those kids gives great effort and they’re assignment-sound. It’s expected of them.”

Spur safety K.J. Dillon was hit with a questionable pass interference flag early and beaten on Corey Coleman’s 42-yarder, but he won most of his matchups in man coverage. Karl Joseph made a TFL among his five stops.

Cornerback Daryl Worley left with a rib injury in the second quarter and did not return.



SPECIAL TEAMS
Josh Lambert closed the first half with a 54-yard kick—improving to 4-of-4 this season from 50-plus. No other Big 12 kicker owns a field goal longer than 47.

West Virginia’s punt-return follies continued. Worley fumbled his lone attempt, an awkward play on which he was bumped by teammate Shelton Gibson and suffered a rib injury lunging for the ball.

Nick O’Toole dropped three punts inside the 20—that makes 14 this season with zero touchbacks.

COACHING
For a second consecutive week, Holgorsen’s team owned the second half. That development, while promising in Lubbock, was quite a revelation against Baylor.

And there aren’t enough kudos in all of Appalachia for the work the defensive staff did this week.

“Holding Baylor to 318 yards on (79) plays, I would say is something no one thought we’d be able to do,” Holgorsen said. “We had two starting corners go out in the first half and we didn’t blink.”







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