TD machine David Sills returns to the scene of his first

WACO, Texas — West Virginia has yet to win here in two previous tries. Baylor has yet to win anywhere this season.

Something’s got to give as the Mountaineers (4-2, 2-1) prepare to face the Bears (0-6, 0-3) on Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern., and we set the mood by moving into Four-Down Territory:

The scene of Sills’ first highlight

Dana Holgorsen and Tyron Carrier, standing on opposite sidelines two years ago, saw the same flash of play-making brilliance.

That’s the day — Oct. 17, 2015 to be precise — when quarterback David Sills leaped off the West Virginia scout team and into the starting lineup at wide receiver. Raw and puppy-like in his activity, he nonetheless caught a 35-yard touchdown pass against tight coverage.

A Baylor graduate assistant at the time, Carrier heard somebody say “that’s the quarterback kid from USC.” But the ball-tracking skills shown by Sills said

“David had no clue out there. He was just running around. Then he jumped for a back-shoulder throw and caught it,” Carrier said. “I was amazed that they threw him in like that.”

Even though West Virginia lost 62-38, the game wasn’t a total waste, because Holgorsen had planted the seed for what would become college football’s most astonishing story of 2017.

When Carrier took a full-time job coaching WVU’s receivers in the spring of 2016, he made it his daily mission to find Sills in the quarterback meetings.

“I kept telling him,‘You’re in the wrong room,’” Carrier said. “Every day, ‘You’re in the wrong room.’ I’m probably the reason why he left (for junior college), because I kept telling him that.”

The semester Sills spent giving quarterback a final shot at El Camino (Calif.) College only makes this season’s FBS-leading 12 touchdown catches more incredible.

Fades, slants, crosses — Sills has scored on an array of routes. Last week he even caught a touchdown after lining up in a three-point stance at left tackle. After only six games, Sills is tied for the second-most receiving TDs in season at West Virginia, and Holgorsen has never been so happy to have a quarterback recruit flame out.

“I told David early this season, ‘If you keep doing this, you’re going to be the best receiver in the Big 12.’ And he told me, ‘I ain’t trying to be the best receiver in the Big 12. I’m trying to be the best receiver in the whole country.’”

Despite appearing on several midseason All-American teams, Sills has various forces at work to keep him grounded. He recognizes the need to improve his technique against press coverage, and Holgorsen drops frequent reminders that Oklahoma State’s James Washington is still the top receiver in the league and the country.

That’s a pure Holgorsen move, getting in a kid’s craw to exhort him a level higher. Like Washington, the coach expects Sills to land on an NFL roster.

David thinks he’s the baddest dude on the field — he really does,” Holgorsen said. “He thinks that nobody can cover him.”

“He understands space, and some receivers don’t. Some guys just put their eyes on the quarterback and they have no idea what’s going on around them. But he understands it, and that makes him a smart, savvy football player. He’s figuring things out and, really, he’s just getting started.”

Trap game?

The Mountaineers remain in the thick of the Big 12 race and opened as a double-digit favorite this week. Yet the Kansas game showed they cannot afford to take anyone in the league lightly.

“We’re 0-2 in Waco, so that’s plenty of motivation,” Holgorsen said.

He hopes a crisp week of practice portends a sharp performance at McLane Stadium.

“I’ll let you know Saturday around midnight,” he said.

Young Bears rebuilding

Part of a top-to-bottom rebuild that resembles a football version of “Fixer Uppers,” nine true freshmen have started games this season for Baylor, the second-most in the FBS. (By comparison, West Virginia has started two.)

Thirteen of the Bears’ 22 starters last week at Oklahoma State were freshmen or sophomores. That 59-16 loss turned out to be the first blowout sustained by Baylor so far.

Baylor lacks explosiveness

Baylor’s passing game was devastated by receiver Chris Platt suffering a serious knee injury in Week 4. His fifth and final touchdown of the season was a 72-yarder in a 49-41 loss to Oklahoma.

During the two games since, quarterback Zach Smith has struggled and the Bears have averaged 18 points and completed only 50 percent of their passes.

Denzel Mims (27 catches for 553 yards and seven TDs) remains a potent threat, though the lack of a second receiver clearly hurt him during a two-catch day in Stillwater.

West Virginia has its own problems stopping the pass (97th in the FBS). Cornerback Kenny Robinson played through an ankle injury last week and yielded a deep touchdown for the second straight game. Elijah Battle has been teetering, and Game 1 starter Hakeem Bailey has barely seen the field of late.

Plus the Mountaineers’ deep safeties Toyous Avery and Dravon Askew-Henry haven’t been as reliable as expected.

“Those two guys can be playing a lot better,” said assistant coach Matt Caponi.

Askew-Henry, an early-draft prospect entering 2016 before suffering a torn ACL, hasn’t returned to his pre-injury self.

“With any guy who has that type of injury for the first time, even though he’s there physically the big hurdle is the mental aspect of it,” Caponi said. “He’s got to continue to build confidence and getting back to where he was 14 months ago in camp when he was the leader and making plays all over the place.”





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