<!–
There was a point late Saturday night that WVU fans were scratching their heads wondering if they were watching the same game.
In the first half, the West Virginia offense was unstoppable, with 365 total yards, 17 first downs, and scoring on five consecutive possessions.
Unfortunately, as the Mountaineers often find a way to do, the game was still competitive as WVU gave up not one, but two kickoff returns for touchdowns limiting the halftime lead to just 27-14. But with the offense on a roll surely the second half would be more of the same.
Only it wasn’t.
Suddenly the Mountaineers could do nothing with the ball.
Prior to their last possession with just over a minute remaining West Virginia had just two second half first downs, punted three times, and was stopped on downs at its own 45 with four minutes remaining. A Baylor team having a horrendous season now had some hope, finding its offense and taking a 31-27 lead with the ball deep in Mountaineer territory.
WVU fans were despondent, watching in disbelief as their team had collapsed in the second half against a squad which had lost five straight games and had only a half full home stadium.
But the Bears left the door open just a bit by missing a short 32-yard field goal.
It was then time for some Garrett Greene magic.
Beginning at his own 20 with no timeouts, Greene completed two passes for 34 yards and scrambled twice more for another 17. Then with just 29 seconds remaining he hit Raheem White in stride on a wheel route for a 29 yard touchdown pass to take a 34-31 lead. It was a similar scenario to a last second strike to take the lead in a game at Houston which was then lost on a miracle Hail Mary pass on the last play..
Head coach Neal Brown had said after that earlier game that he regretted not trying to pressure the quarterback on the final desperation attempt, and this time didn’t make the same mistake as Baylor was unable to duplicate the miracle.
The dramatic comeback win made it a much more enjoyable flight home and shielded the WVU coaching staff from what would have been inevitable pushback from WVU fans. It was an ugly win, but we will take that over an ugly loss any day. Winning is hard.
West Virginia finished the season with a much better than expected 8-4 record, including 6-3 in Big 12 play.
It was the fourth time in Brown’s five-year tenure that the Mountaineers had won their last game of the year on the road.
A bowl game now awaits, which will be announced next Sunday after the conference championship games.