10:06am: Talkline with Hoppy Kercheval

After halftime lightning, WVU showed off its own high-voltage attack

West Virginia quarterback Will Grier (7) walks to the locker room after a 40-14 win over the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday in Charlotte.

 

COMMENTARY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The would’ves and could’ves circled like buzzards around Bank of America Stadium. Somehow the West Virginia offense, afforded opportunities in abundance, showed only 13 points.

Then halftime lightning struck, and the Mountaineers emerged supercharged.

Saturday’s 40-14 beatdown of Tennessee in the season opener stood out because Will Grier and Associates applied the second-half strangulation missing from 2017.

Maybe Dana Holgorsen should petition the NCAA to extend every halftime by 65 minutes. That sure seemed to cure the inconsistency when the third-quarter output erupted in touchdown-touchdown-touchdown succession. Drives that covered 68, 60 and 78 yards required a total of 20 plays while showcasing Grier’s big arm and sharp mind.

Recognizing a Vols cornerback creeping in on a blitz, Grier fed a 33-yard touchdown pass toward David Sills, who abused the late-arriving safety.

“Into the boundary we knew that they like to Cowboy blitz,” Sills said. “So when the corner blitzed I attacked the safety and stayed vertical, which puts the safety in a tough position.”

For Tennessee’s defense, the position was about to turn fetal.

Gary Jennings inside-outed his cornerback for a 28-yard touchdown and the cushion swelled to 27-7.

Next came a busted assignment whereby running back Kennedy McKoy checked in for a third-and-4 and the Vols defense completely checked out. Uncovered into the flat went McKoy and Grier zipped a 14-yard TD pass in his direction.

To its 195 yards in the first half, West Virginia tacked on 206 yards in the third quarter.

“Those guys got better as the game went on … and we didn’t,” lamented new Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt.

For a half, the Big Orange possessed hope — partly because it possessed the ball for 21 minutes. In reality, West Virginia’s own misfires kept it close.

A perfectly premised play with running back Alec Sinkfield racing past a linebacker failed when Grier overthrew the freshman. Grier squatted in the backfield, upset about a that might’ve gone for 70 yards.

On another series, Sills zig-zagged past man coverage, setting up a dead-to-rights touchdown bomb that became an incompletion when the All-American receiver lost his balance as the pass arrived.

Even a hurry-up series that produced a field goal to close the half wasn’t entirely satisfying — not when WVU reached the red zone with 30 seconds left.

“We missed some things we shouldn’t miss,” Grier said. “In the first half we left some things out there, but in the second half I don’t think we did.”

From 0-of-3 on third downs at intermission to 5-of-6 in the second half, this was the firepower worthy of preseason magazine covers. More second halves like this one and the Mountaineers could be adorning postseason covers too.

Holgorsen joked that the halftime delay afforded him time to eat two bananas. Clearly there was more than potassium behind WVU’s second-half escalation. The group that exited the locker room carved through Tennessee with intensity and precision.

“That comes down to the fact we’re a very mature team,” offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said. “I’ve been in those delays before where the kids have lost focus — started playing video games or watching TV. But these kids were locked in.”

Outside, the Pride of West Virginia marching band had wrapped up its halftime show and their Tennessee counterparts were about to take a turn when the PA announcer cleared the stadium.

Tubas and drum lines receded. The show for Tennessee was over. But Grier’s show — adorned with trappings of electric expectancy — was just beginning.





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