By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. - On a day when West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard certainly wasn't at his best, the Baylor Bears had a chance to knock off the 14th-ranked Mountaineers Saturday afternoon and snap a five-game losing streak.
But, this one followed an all-too-familiar script.
Turnovers once again proved to be the Bears' undoing as freshman quarterback Zach Smith fumbled twice and threw two picks in a 24-21 loss on the Mountaineers' home turf at Milan Puskar Stadium.
"We just have to take care of the ball," said Smith, who threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns, but was also sacked four times. "We went out there and played our butts off. A few plays here and there, a few things go our way, and it's a completely different ball game. We didn't execute like we needed to, and we didn't win."
After losing its previous four games by an average margin of 25 points, this was easily Baylor's best game since a 49-7 blowout victory over Kansas back on Oct. 15.
While the Bears couldn't hold an 11-point first-half lead, they outgained the Mountaineers (10-2) in total yards, 440-422, and had a chance to pull off a miracle finish when Orion Stewart recovered an onside kick with 2:40 left.
But, when the play was reviewed, the replay official determined that linebacker Aiavion Edwards had blocked a West Virginia player before the ball had traveled the necessary 10 yards. The end result was a five-yard penalty and a re-kick, with the Mountaineers' Trevon Wesco recovering this time.
"The ruling from what I understand was we blocked them before they had the opportunity for the ball to hit their player," said Baylor coach Jim Grobe, whose team fell to 6-6 with its sixth straight loss. "Then, there was some controversy as to whether they blocked us to keep us away from the ball. So, it was a who blocked who kind of deal."
The Bears did get another shot after West Virginia was forced to punt. But, instead of getting the ball near midfield with 2:40 on the clock and one timeout still in their pocket, they got it at the 20 with 53 seconds showing and out of timeouts.
"It was very frustrating," said junior nickel back Travon Blanchard, who had eight solos and a career-high 15 tackles. "We teach ourselves not to leave the game in the hands of the officials or a call. We've just got to move on with that. We just have to control what we can control."
Redshirt freshman JaMycal Hasty, who finished with 76 yards on 15 carries, picked up a first down with a 17-yard run out to the 37. Two plays later, though, defensive end Noble Nwachukwu hit Smith's arm and forced a fumble that nose tackle Darrien Howard recovered at the 30.
"I was about to throw it, and (Nwachukwu) kind of hit my arm and knocked the ball loose," Smith said. "It just didn't go our way. . . . We were shooting ourselves in the foot."
With Baylor at minus-4 turnovers (4-0) for the second straight week, West Virginia was able to post its second 10-win season in six years under coach Dana Holgorsen, who signed a five-year contract extension before the game.
"For the life of me, I can't figure out how we're ranked 16th," said Holgorsen, referring to the College Football Playoff rankings. "Maybe we win too ugly. At the end of the day, I thought it was about winning football games, and we've won 10. And this group is going to be remembered for that."
When bowl pairings are announced Sunday, West Virginia is expected to go to the Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Fla., with Baylor likely slotted for the Cactus Bowl in Phoenix, Ariz., or the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
"Our guys haven't enjoyed the last six games we've lost," Grobe said. "I think coaches and players alike are focused on trying to get another chance. The bad news is we lost to a really good football team today. But, the good news is we have a chance to redeem ourselves again. . . . Anywhere we land will give us a chance to win."
The Bears, who came into the game as nearly a three-touchdown underdog, certainly had their chances to win Saturday.
West Virginia dominated most of the first quarter, but Howard missed Jovonte Durant in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-2 from the Baylor 22 and then Mike Molina missed wide right on a 46-yard field goal attempt.
After a Smith deflected interception on the Bears' second play from scrimmage, the Baylor defense looked like it came up with a turnover of its own when linebacker Taylor Young picked off a Howard pass and returned it near midfield.
But, a late flag by the back judge wiped out the play and kept alive a West Virginia drive that saw the Mountaineers get on the board first with a 50-yarder by Molina. Including a pair of offsetting penalties, the Bears were flagged five times in seven plays.
Terence Williams finally got the Baylor offense untracked when he broke free for a 48-yard run all the way down to the WVU 21. Four plays later, he burst up the middle for a nine-yard touchdown run that put the Bears on top, 7-3, on the first play of the second quarter.
Williams finished with 90 yards on 11 totes, all in the first half. Grobe said the sophomore running back "gets to the point where he can't go any more" because of a bruised knee that's bothered him the second half of the season.
"It was disappointing we couldn't use him in the second half, because I thought he was playing really well," Grobe said. "Hopefully a little bit of rest will get him full speed and completely healed up."
After the Mountaineers had another drive into Baylor territory fizzle out, the Bears struck again when KD Cannon beat cornerback Antonio Crawford for a 60-yard TD pass from Smith. Chris Callahan's extra point made it 14-3.
Sticking mostly with its ground attack, West Virginia answered with a 15-play, 78-yard drive that took more than five minutes off the clock. Facing fourth-and-3 from the 4-yard line, Howard tossed a four-yard TD pass to Daikel Shorts, who barely got a toe down before stepping out of the back of the end zone.
Baylor had another chance late in the half, getting just into West Virginia territory at the 49. But, free safety Jeremy Tyler picked off a deep ball intended for Chris Platt at the Bears' 3-yard line.
Other than a missed 31-yard field goal attempt by Molina, the teams did little more than exchange punts for most of the third quarter. In fact, the Bears netted just 62 yards total offense in the quarter.
Howard, who missed on 14 of his first 23 attempts, hit Gary Jennings on a quick slant over the middle that turned into a 58-yard touchdown and 17-14 West Virginia lead at the 2:04 mark in the third.
The Mountaineers' defense then turned in arguably the play of the game, when blitzing safety Marvin Gross hit Smith in the pocket and forced a fumble that Darrien Howard recovered at the Bears' 12.
Even with an additional six yards tacked on for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, it took West Virginia four plays to score on a one-yard keeper by Howard on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Blanchard said the defense tried to "show Skyler some different looks," forcing the West Virginia senior quarterback into one of the worst games of his career. He was just 10-of-26 for 111 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked twice.
"We tried to show him some different looks and just keep him uncomfortable," Blanchard said. "We wanted to have him throwing on the run or something really quick before he wanted to."
After misfiring on a pair of fourth-down plays on West Virginia's end of the field, Smith hit Ishmael Zamora for a 43-yard TD pass down the sideline that made it a one-score game, 24-21, with 2:40 remaining.
"Ish made a heck of a play down on the sideline, missing that one tackle and going in to score," Smith said.
On his two TD passes, Smith said it was "great routes by (Cannon and Zamora) in getting separation. I just tried to hold on to the ball as long as I could. I know with each step they're taking, they're going to create separation, so I just tried to get the ball downfield to them.
"(Those) were great plays. We just needed to have more of them."
Cannon finished with 84 yards on five catches, moving into sixth on Baylor's single-season list with 73 receptions, while Zamora had his fourth 100-yard day of the season with 102 yards on eight catches.
"I'm just proud of the way our kids have hung in there with a freshman quarterback," Grobe said of Smith, who started the last three games after Seth Russell suffered a season-ending ankle injury. "Zach Smith has really grown the last three weeks, and our guys have played as hard as they can play, trying to rally around Zach."
Baylor will release the bowl game information on Sunday, with Bear Foundation donors having an exclusive window to purchase tickets before they're made available to the general public within the next few days.
