MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Repeatedly backed up by turnovers, West Virginia’s defense played a brilliant first half against 10th-ranked TCU. Perhaps its best stretch of the season.
In the game’s final 2 minutes, however, West Virginia went back in time—to a busted coverage straight out of 2012—and left Frogs receiver Kolby Listenbee unguarded. His 40-yard catch put Jaden Oberkrom in range to win it 31-30 on a walkoff field goal.
“It sucks. It hurts,” said Mountaineers defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. “I feel bad for those kids in the locker room. It’s hurting them.”
Trevone Boykin hurt West Virginia just like he did two seasons ago, making a deep throw against a secondary that was out of position.
Something looked amiss before the snap as safety Karl Joseph flailed his arms, seemingly trying to get the call. Gibson didn’t notice the confusion, claimed he would have called timeout if he had.
The call was cover-3, a three-deep safety alignment specifically designed to choke out any downfield throws. Yet Joseph lurched toward the line of scrimmage and Listenbee ran free past cornerback Daryl Worley, who didn’t have the safety help he expected. Though Listenbee didn’t score like Josh Boyce did in 2012, he gained a valuable chunk of yardage before being caught by Dravon Henry at the WVU 33.
“We had 10 guys playing one defense and one guy not,” Gibson said. “It’s disappointing to get all the way to that point in the game and blow a coverage. I’ll take that directly on me.
“It was the same coverage stuff we’d been running the whole game. It was the exact same stuff we’d been playing all night and the kid (Boykin) couldn’t complete a pass on it.”
The TCU quarterback threw for a season-worst 166 yards on 12-of-30 passing. WVU spur safety K.J. Dillon said the breakdown gave Boykin an easy throw in a game where the defense gave away little else.
“We just didn’t get communication from the sideline,” Dillon said of the busted assignment. “That’s the first thing we preach when we get on the field: Communication first and then get lined up. We didn’t do our first thing, so how can we do the second thing?
“It cost us, which it should have. That was our fault—we gave it to them.”
“We had 10 guys playing one defense and one guy not. It’s disappointing to get all the way to that point in the game and blow a coverage. I’ll take that directly on me.” — Tony Gibson
West Virginia’s defense, having shown gigantic improvements this season, was resilient and unyielding for much of Saturday—almost on par with the way it shackled Baylor two weeks previously. In the first half it turned away TCU after three turnovers in West Virginia territory. Even TCU’s third-quarter touchdown drives covered only 27 and 28 yards, gifts from the Mountaineers’ offense via one fumble and an interception.
Terrell Chestnut managed to steal one of those back with a 35-yard strip-and-score touchdown. In the end, West Virginia allowed only 389 yards, nowhere near the Frogs’ 573 season pace.
So with 1:37 left and TCU breathing heavy at its own 27, the blown coverage presented a curious unraveling.
“It rarely happens, because we’re always on the same page,” said Dillon. “They caught us at a time when we weren’t on the same page, and they executed.
“We didn’t do our job—that’s the main thing. We can put a whole bunch of sugar on it, but it’s still going to be trash.”