MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s defense could do no right throughout the first half of Saturday’s matchup against Baylor.
While the united improved for much of the second half, the Mountaineer offense then failed to produce. In turn, the Bears won for the first time in seven tries in Morgantown, picking up a 49-35 victory in a game that featured 63 first-half points and five touchdowns in the final 4:22 of the second quarter.
“You have to control what you can control and the defense has no control of the offense, and the offense has no control of the defense,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “Each play is a singular action.
“The defense provided the offense opportunities in the third quarter and we didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.”
West Virginia (5-5, 4-3) is out of the race for one of two spots in the Big 12 title game, while the Bears (6-4, 4-3) gained bowl eligibility with their fourth consecutive win.
WVU had three second-half drives with a chance to tie. The first resulted in a punt, while the other two ended on downs from the Bears’ 9 and 35-yard line, respectively.
On the sequence in which WVU entered the red zone trailing 35-28, quarterback Garrett Greene threw a pass to Kole Taylor that went for no gain on fourth-and-2 as the tight end was forced to sprawl out for the reception, preventing him from gaining yardage after the catch.
“There were winning moments to be had in the third quarter and we didn’t get it done,” Brown said.
The Mountaineers were able to force a punt and regain possession shortly after that sequence, and a 21-yard Preston Fox punt return enabled WVU to start at its 39.
West Virginia ultimately got to the Baylor 32 before Greene threw consecutive incompletions, the latter of which came on fourth-and-5 from the Bears’ 40.
“They made some good second-half adjustments to what we were doing on third downs,” Greene said. “Their guys made some plays and showed me some looks on third down that they hadn’t shown on tape.”
Baylor then marched 65 yards to regain a two-possession lead, which came on Bryson Washington’s 9-yard touchdown run with 8:07 remaining. A pivotal pass interference penalty on Dontez Fagan negated what would’ve been an incomplete pass on third-and-3, and the Bears were in the end zone six plays later to lead by 14.
Greene, who returned to action for the first time since suffering an injury October 19 against Kansas State, was intercepted by Baylor safety Corey Gordon on the first pass and fourth play of the ensuing series, all but sealing the outcome.
Dawson Pendergrass’ 15-yard touchdown run with 3:24 remaining provided the Bears with their final points, before Greene and Taylor connected on an 11-yard touchdown pass with 55 seconds left.
For all the troubles the West Virginia defense endured allowing the Bears to score touchdowns on five of six possessions over the opening two quarters, an inability for the offense to capitalize throughout the second half was equally damaging.
Greene replaced Nicco Marchiol at quarterback despite Marchiol taking every snap at that position over the last two games, which resulted in victories at Arizona and Cincinnati.
Greene, a senior, displayed no rust on the opening series and the Mountaineers marched 79 yards in 12 plays to lead 7-0 on the quarterback’s 3-yard TD run.
The advantage didn’t hold up for 3 minutes, however, as the Bears answered immediately and got a 22-yard touchdown pass from Sawyer Robertson to tailback Bryson Washington with 7:10 remaining in the first frame.
Robertson’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Josh Cameron, who gained all by 4 yards after the catch, enabled the visitors to lead for the first time at 14-7 with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter.
“The same issues all year,” Brown said. “We struggled with the pass and on third and fourth down, we couldn’t get off the field. We didn’t tackle very well and didn’t tackle well at Cincinnati either.”
Greene’s 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Traylon Ray tied the game at 14, though the pass slipped through the fingers of Baylor defensive back Devyn Bobby before being hauled in for a score 13:04 before halftime.
Linebacker Josiah Trotter was sidelined for each of WVU’s first two defensive series, but upon entering the game, the Mountaineers forced Baylor to punt. Brown said Trotter was on a snap count due to an injury that prevented him from practicing this week, before the team’s leading tackler was medically cleared Friday.
West Virginia had a chance to regain its lead, but Greene’s pass was dropped by wideout Justin Robinson on a fourth-and-5 play from the Bears’ 35 that would’ve been plenty good enough for a first down had it been caught.
Five plays later, Monaray Baldwin hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Robertson, who was 12-for-12 to start the game.
“We weren’t executing in the first half,” said WVU linebacker Reid Carrico, who registered a game-high 16 tackles.
After Brown elected to punt with his team facing fourth-and-1 on its own 31, the Bears took over 1 yard shy of midfield as Oliver Straw managed just 20 yards on the boot.
Two plays later, Washington broke loose for a 51-yard touchdown run and BU led 28-14 with 2:13 left in the half.
The Bears then tried an onside kick, though it went out of bounds. Starting from the Baylor 41, WVU reached the end zone on its third play — a 23-yard CJ Donaldson run — to pull to within seven 1:47 before the intermission.
A 41-yard kickoff return from Jamaal Bell helped the Bears generate a fifth first-half touchdown — this one on Washington’s 8-yard run that made it 35-21 with 47 seconds to play.
However, WVU had an answer as wideout Hudson Clement brought in a 44-yard pass that helped lead to Greene’s 1-yard touchdown run on the final play of the half.
Baylor’s Isaiah Hankins missed short on a 55-yard field goal attempt to end the opening series of the second half, but the Mountaineers couldn’t capitalize on what marked the first of three straight scoreless possessions that ended in Bears’ territory.
During the second possession, Ray suffered a significant lower body injury and was removed from the playing surface on a cart. Brown confirmed he will miss what remains of the 2024 campaign.
“He’ll recover and be fine,” Brown said, “but he won’t play again this year.”
The Bears gained 512 yards with a balanced effort that featured 329 passing yards from Robertson, who completed 26-of-36 passes.
Cameron’s 101 receiving yards led all players and came on five catches.
Washington rushed for 123 yards and three scores on 18 attempts, while Pendergrass added 68 yards on 11 rushes.
Greene completed 19-of-39 passes for 237 yards and rushed 22 times for a game-best 129 yards.
“Some third down decisions that I’d like back, but I feel like I played OK,” Greene said. “Just not good enough to win.”
The Mountaineers managed 499 total yards, though their 5.7 yards per play was significantly less than Baylor’s 7.3
Baylor’s yardage output was a season-high allowed by West Virginia, which has surrendered more than 400 yards in half of its 10 contests.
“We really struggled to get off blocks early in the first,” Brown said, “and then again late in the game.”
The result ensures WVU will finish with a losing record at home as it fell to 2-4 this year in Morgantown with one game remaining next Saturday against Central Florida.