COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — That pregame parade of seniors softened the most cynical among us.
Justin Arndt, from walk-on to captain, the home-state linebacker emerging from the tunnel minutes after his hometown understudies from Martinsburg High churned out another state championship.
Skyler Howard jogging out to bearhug Dana Holgorsen and telling his coach, “Thank you for giving me a chance, thank you for believing in me.”
And it was difficult to inhale as Noble Nwachukwu embraced his mother, both mourning the father he lost only 42 days ago.
From that soup of sentimentality, however, came the Baylor Bears to nearly demolish the day.
Lacking bodies — and based upon their past five games, presumably lacking spirit — the wounded dudes from Waco didn’t flutter or fade so easily as 17-point underdogs should. For anyone arguing that Baylor should recoil from a bowl bid and spend December in transition timeout, they needed only to have seen KD Cannon gallop-gliding toward a 60-yard score and a 14-3 lead.
Even after West Virginia counterpunched its way to a 24-14 advantage late in the fourth quarter, Baylor didn’t fold up. Instead, its intern quarterback Zach Smith exploited a minuscule window in the secondary for a 43-yard touchdown.
Then, Baylor wrestled away the ensuing onside kick and you could almost hear the needle-scratch across a “Country Roads” LP.
Justin Arndt may be walking his son out on Senior Day before Baylor stops disputing whether Aiavion Edwards actually committed an illegal block on the onside kick. Or was he shoved into the contact by West Virginia’s Jarrod Harper?
That replay is one for Walt Anderson’s weekly review folder. It’s safe to presume most Mountaineers fans won’t care to watch a replay of this game.
Against a Baylor defense yielding an average of 47 points in five straight losses, WVU produced two plays longer than 16 yards. Howard’s 38-percent completion rate was a career-worst. A Mountaineers offense hadn’t been this putrid on third downs (4-of-18) for 27 games.
“I have a headache,” Holgorsen said. “It hasn’t went away yet.”
Holgorsen even sensed weak batteries along West Virginia’s bench, saying “Our sideline energy tonight was terrible.” He got riled at nonparticipating players, and even his associate AD for football operations Alex Hammond, for not being adequately animated.
“I want guys on our sideline that are excited about what’s going on on the field,” he said. “We’re not going to invite party-poopers to the sideline.”
Between ignoring kickers and ceding defensive decisions to Tony Gibson, Holgorsen could be confused for an offensive coordinator in a head coach’s clothing. Yet in this light he’s no Kliff Kingsbury. The divide between West Virginia’s 10-win coach of 2011 and this current one is noticeable.
Linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton learned of Holgorsen’s contract extension postgame and offered this:
“He’s doing something really special with this program. It took time, and unfortunately a lot of people didn’t want to give him the time, but now you see the product. He’s the right man for the job.”
Daikiel Shorts exhaled over the negotiations because “everybody wanted him to come back.” Howard credited Holgorsen for a management style that “built us up.” Marvin Gross, a true freshman on the 4-8 team four years ago, said Holgorsen’s new deal shows “We’ve got something going on here.”
And of course there came hearty approval from Tyler Orlosky, the opinionated center whose scorching banter with Holgorsen speaks to their mutual respect.
Back in August, when Holgorsen’s job lingered at peak jeopardy, Orlosky gave me a prediction:
“I think Dana’s well on his way to being a top-notch coach, right up there like a Nick Saban or a Les Miles.”
Rather comically, Orlosky had no idea Miles was four games away from being fired, yet no matter. Holgorsen’s freshly signed $18 million, five-year renewal entrenches him for now. A deal ratified because his team emerged 4-0 this season in headache-inducing, one-possession games like Saturday’s.