Column: Uneven climb to 4-0 leaves Mountaineers in subdued celebration

COMMENTARY

LUBBOCK, Texas — Will Grier plopped down in the chair, hiked up his blue shorts and tugged tight a flying WV ballcap. Time to explain the half-mastery, half-misery of an afternoon that just unfolded.

“We won, but we’ve got to get better.”

His voice fell flatter than the Mountaineers’ second-half offense, which generated four punts, one long missed field goal and a kneel-down.

Ultimately, they say 42-34 is the only stat that matters for still-unbeaten West Virginia. Fans may feel deflated about a blowout turning into a survival scrum, but 4-0 remains a nice parenthetical footnote for the Mountaineers. Their Big 12 title chances and their CFP odds, both improved Saturday. (And for the state’s new gambling gaggles, covering the 3.5 points brought relief too.)

Yet Grier’s mellow mood spoke for a locker room that didn’t sound much like celebrating. (“We were a different team in the second half. We’ve got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”)

Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital concurred: “I thought we only played one half of football.”

Good thing for WVU it was one helluva brilliant half. WVU scored five touchdowns and perfectly dialed up a sixth only to see Grier overshoot wide-open Gary Jennings on fourth down. Heisman contenders are human, after all.

The lethalness became so demoralizing that huge swaths of the 55,000 fans bolted at halftime, apparently taking WVU’s mojo with them.

After 382 first-half yards, the Mountaineers tapered off to 107 in the second half. From 6-of-8 on third downs to 1-of-6. You also could measure the plunge in kilowatts.

“The energy was just bad,” Spavital said. “We didn’t have any juice.”

As their 35-10 cushion tightened into a losable scenario, the coaches along West Virginia’s sideline began scrolling through psychological ploys.

“We all rotated from getting on the kids to encouraging them to ignoring them,” Spavital said. “I think every single coach on that sideline had their moments where they tried to. We did everything.”

Yet receivers still dropped passes, the offensive line crumbled, and Grier somehow disproved physics by actually overthrowing Marcus Simms.

I tweeted late in the third quarter how this reminded me of last season’s Baylor game, when West Virginia constructed a similar 25-point lead and withered within a two-pointer of blowing it. Spavital analogized the same game in his media session. After a cool-down period, however, I think we were both inaccurate.

That Baylor squad was atrociously outmanned, completely drained of confidence and destined to finish 1-11. Texas Tech has already shown itself to be bowl-worthy, regardless of whom Kliff Kingsbury puts in shotgun formation. (Seriously — if the man could develop safeties with half the efficacy he trains QBs, he would own a lifetime contract.)

So, no, unlike what transpired in Waco last year, this was not a bad omen.

Tony Gibson’s defense intermittently was sliced and diced by a third-string QB with 11 career attempts, yet he wasn’t going to sulk over a W.

“Here’s the thing: We won by eight against a ranked team on the road,” Gibby said. “So Will’s in victory formation, and I turn around and we’ve got guys just standing there. I said, ‘Guys, you know we just won right?’”

A nice reminder, for sure. So is this: All the championship ambitions that flavored preseason chatter are still intact as the Mountaineers enter October. One month down, two to go.

As was the case in Saturday’s win, this bunch has enjoyed a dazzling start. There’s still time to sharpen and shape their finishing kick.





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