On the verge of suffering what would have been an extremely disappointing loss in a game West Virginia had let slip away, the Mountaineers produced their only points of the second half at the perfect time.
Garrett Greene threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to true freshman tailback Jahiem White with 23 seconds remaining, and West Virginia overcame a lackluster second half and two Baylor kickoff returns for touchdowns to prevail past the Bears, 34-31, at McLane Stadium.
“Garrett’s really good in the 2-minute drive, his ability to run and he gets the ball down the field vertically,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “We five-man protected on the play that we got Jahiem up the sideline, and that’s a play we’ve been running going back to the first week of spring practice, and we haven’t run it in a game yet. We run it every 2-minute drill in practice. They hung in there versus a very good blitz and Garrett made a great play. Really proud of our guys. Gets us to eight wins and six conference wins, which is significant.”
A game West Virginia (8-4, 6-3) dominated statistically throughout the entirety of the opening half, Baylor (3-9, 2-7) got going in its favor after halftime and kept it that way for much of the final two quarters.
However, Isaiah Hankins missed a 32-yard field goal that would have given the Bears a seven-point lead with 1:14 remaining, allowing WVU, which was without a timeout, to take over at its 20 trailing by four.
“We were due one,” Brown said.
Greene had completions of 11 and 23 yards to wideout Hudson Clement to start the decisive series, though in between the first downs, center Zach Frazier left the game with what Brown confirmed was a lower leg injury that likely keeps Frazier sidelined for the Mountaineers’ bowl game and effectively ends his college career.
Frazier did his part to limp off the field without drawing attention to the injury, which would’ve created an automatic 10-second runoff.
“That speaks to his intelligence, how tough he is and he’s a great player,” Brown said. “I plan on doing this for a long time. I don’t know that I’ll ever coach a center that’s better.”
From the BU 46, Greene broke off runs of 8 and 9 yards, before throwing an incomplete pass. On the next play, he found White behind the Bears’ defense relatively uncovered for an easy touchdown.
“That’s something we practice every week. Every Wednesday, coach Brown gives us a new scenario whether we need three points to win it, a field goal to tie it or a touchdown to win it,” Greene said. “The offensive did a wonderful job containing their pass rush, because they have really good ends. They had some pressure looks and handled it well.”
White could tell he would be facing man coverage on the play from Baylor linebacker Brooks Miller, who he got by to bring in his second TD catch in as many games.
“I saw [No.] 41 was on me and he was looking at me dead in my face. That shows he’s playing man and once I went around and got upfield and was wide open, I knew [Greene] was going to throw the ball,” White said. “It was a perfect ball. The feeling was unreal, but it was real.”
Still, the Mountaineers needed a stop, and the first order of business was limiting Baylor’s kickoff return, something West Virginia struggled mightily with while allowing Richard Reese to return first-half kickoffs 96 and 93 yards for touchdowns that kept the Bears within striking distance. This time around, Reese was brought down after a 17-yard return to his team’s 26.
Bears’ quarterback Sawyer Robertson, filling in for the injured Blake Shapen, completed a 14-yard pass to Drake Dabney and a 6-yarder to Dawson Pendergrass to get the Bears up to their 46 with 4 seconds left.
Having lost on a Hail Mary pass from 5 yards closer earlier this season at Houston, West Virginia changed its defensive philosophy on the final play and blitzed safety Marcis Floyd from the edge, which produced positive results and led to a hit on BU quarterback RJ Martinez that took away any chance the Bears had.
“We pressured and that was the difference on that play,” Brown said.
The Mountaineer defense was dominant in the opening half and the offense largely did what it wanted over the first two quarters, but the game began to swing in Baylor’s favor starting with the first second-half series — a seven play, 77-yard drive that led to the home team’s first offensive points on Robertson’s 38-yard touchdown pass to Ketron Jackson Jr.
Trailing 27-21 at that point, Baylor got the ball back after forcing a punt and started at its 49 following yet another WVU special teams miscue on a kick catch interference penalty.
Six plays later, the Bears had their first lead after Dominic Richardson’s 2-yard rushing touchdown combined with Hankins’ fourth point-after kick at the 5:45 mark of the third quarter.
“Defensively, they had a lot of answers for us in the second half,” Brown said, “and offensively, they kind of kept us off balance.”
The Mountaineers punted on their second series after halftime and the Bears added to their lead when Hankins split the uprights on a 39-yard field goal with 12:58 remaining.
Following an exchange of punts, West Virginia took over at its 36 and immediately faced fourth-and-1 from its 45. Greene was stopped short on a quarterback sneak, allowing the Bears to start from the 45 with 4:20 left.
Reese then ripped off a 19-yard run and the Bears were one step closer to sealing the outcome after Dabney’s 9-yard reception on third-and-9 from the WVU 25. But Baylor’s next three plays netted 2 yards and each was followed by a West Virginia timeout before Hankins missed his second field goal — he was also unsuccessful on a 43-yard attempt in the second quarter.
“I didn’t feel comfortable at halftime, but we found a way,” Brown said.
White’s 53-yard run in the first quarter was immediately followed by Greene’s 30-yard touchdown pass to Traylon Ray, which put WVU up 7-0.
A 38-yard field goal from Michael Hayes 13:55 before halftime allowed WVU to lead 10-0, but was immediately followed by Reese’s first special teams touchdown.
The Mountaineers countered with Greene’s 23-yard rushing score, though Reese promptly put the momentum back on his team’s side with his second score on a kickoff return.
“We got beat in 1-on-1 blocks and that should never happen. Can’t explain it,” Brown said. “We’ll watch film on that, but it’s not good enough. That’s not who we’ve been on special teams and not what we’re going to be moving forward either.“
A 36-yard field goal from Hayes 5:44 before halftime made it 20-14 WVU, and after Hankins missed his first attempt, the Mountaineers drove 74 yards in the late stages of the opening half and upped their lead to 27-14 on Greene’s 1-yard touchdown run. WVU’s third touchdown drive featured receptions of 26 yards from tight end Kole Taylor and wideout Preston Fox on consecutive plays.
“Garrett’s been around and in practice, there’s a lot of mistakes in these 2-minute drills, but there’s also learning points and we kind of just let him play,” Brown said. “He’s like my oldest daughter. Some lessons are hard, so you have to learn them by doing them. He’s learned some hard lessons in 2-minute drills in practice, but those have helped him become the 2-minute guy he is now.”
At the intermission, the Mountaineers had 365 total yards to the Bears’ 86, including a 207-35 advantage in rushing yards.
Greene completed 16-of-25 passes for 269 yards and rushed for 103 yards on 14 attempts, though his mind went directly to Frazier’s well-being afterward.
“He’s one of my best friends and he does everything right,” Greene said. “It really just breaks my heart and I’m probably not going to enjoy this win as much as I should because of how much he means to me and how much he means to this entire program and state.”
White carried 17 times for 133 yards.
Clement’s four receptions for 80 yards were team highs, while Taylor had four catches for 64 yards.
Robertson hit on 17-of-19 throws for 215 yards. Jackson led all players with 88 receiving yards and Baylor completed a pass to 10 different players.
WVU finished with 519 total yards and Baylor had 334 in its season finale.