AMES, Iowa — Asked time and time again to regain a fourth-quarter lead, the West Virginia offense had just under two minutes to put the Mountaineers back in front for the third time in the final fifteen minutes. Despite finding the end zone six times already in Saturday’s contest at Jack Trice Stadium, the Mountaineers could not meet one final challenge. Iowa State’s second forced turnover allowed the Cyclones to collect their first Big 12 victory, 45-42. DJ Epps, who gave WVU their final lead of the game on a 47-yard touchdown reception, fumbled while crossing into Iowa State territory as the game entered the final minute.
“DJ was just trying to make a play,” said WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez. “At that point, you have to be careful spinning around and stuff like that. He’s just trying to make a play. We felt good with the ball past midfield and only needing a field goal. It didn’t happen. Give them credit.”
West Virginia’s offense scored touchdowns on just two of their first nine possessions. After that, the Mountaineers found the end zone on four consecutive possessions bridging the third and fourth quarters The drives covered 67, 80, 75 and 75 yards.
“I really think in the second half after that first drive, that second drive we came back and moved the ball down the field,” said WVU running back Cam Cook. “We had a couple explosive plays. That gets the energy up and I feel like we started moving the ball pretty good after that.”
After a solid performance against Virginia, the WVU defense has allowed just under 1,200 yards in back-to-back losses to Oklahoma State and Iowa State while yielding 86 points. Excluding the kneel down at the end of the game, Iowa State scored on five of their final seven possessions, racking up 31 points. The search for fixes will continue for the WVU coaching staff.
“We’ve certainly got some key problems to a level I haven’t seen in a while,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve got to fix that in a hurry.”
In the first half, the Mountaineers were burned twice on option passes from running back Aiden Flora.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. One was a zone coverage where there is just no reason, Rodriguez said. “And then the other one, the guy just didn’t watch his man. It is stuff I hadn’t seen in years.”
West Virginia has opened conference play with consecutive losses to teams with first-year head coaches. Some of the best offenses in the Big 12 are lined up to face the Mountaineers over the next month.
“There’s frustration, definitely,” said WVU linebacker Cam Torbor. “We are ready to get back at it. This game is over. We’re ready to come back harder than before.”
“It just gives us more inspiration to go in and work for this next game,” Cook said. “All of these next games are Big 12 games, conference games. So the team just needs to lock in a little bit more, focus, take more time during the week to focus on the game.”