Timely turnovers thrust West Virginia into next phase

West Virginia cornerback Rasul Douglas celebrates a 54-yard interception return against BYU on Saturday.

 

COMMENTARY

LANDOVER, Md. — Some of his teammates played it cool this week, shrugging off FedEx Field as just another stadium.

Rasul Douglas couldn’t be so nonchalant.

Through the first 10 minutes of warmups he walked the grounds wide-eyed and aghast, a tourist in thigh pads.

“It felt like I was in another world,” beamed Douglas, who celebrated his first game in an NFL stadium by scoring his first touchdown in a West Virginia uniform, a pick-six that proved essential to beating BYU 35-32.

Now comes another world for the Mountaineers — the onset of Big 12 play.

Having carved through the nonconference schedule at a 17-3 clip under Dana Holgorsen, their Big 12 record looms less shiny.

Try 15-21. Four of those losses against Kansas State, next week’s opponent.

Holgorsen labeled K-State “a very similar team to the one that we just played” after an entertaining but harrowing escape against BYU.

The Cougars entered D.C. averaging 126 yards rushing and more than doubled that. They converted 10-of-15 third downs. Taysom Hill emerged from the muck of a quarterback controversy to provide moments worthy of Provo’s best.

While two of Hill’s interceptions were the tipped, tough-luck variety, the one Douglas consumed was born entirely of poor judgement. After dodging Justin Arndt’s blitz off the edge, Hill tried to salvage the play with a dump-down pass into the flat. There, he was being baited by Douglas.

“I backed up a little bit and thought maybe if I give him a little room he throws it,” Douglas said. “I didn’t really expect him to throw it with me standing right there, but he took a chance.”

And Douglas took it to the house, 54 yards, the splashiest of four turnovers that saved West Virginia’s defense during a rickety performance.

“We created turnovers, but the rest of our stats I’m not worried about,” said defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. “The stat that counts is the W.”

W’s have been implausibly impossible against K-State the past four seasons. Get over that hump, and West Virginia has its chance to contend in this year’s Big 12 free-for-all. Hardly anything about the league seems certain, except that it will bring more white-knuckle shootouts like the one at FedEx.





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