It could have happened. No one outside of West Virginia would have said that, but we knew. It could have happened. Coming off a much needed bye week after being chased out of Waco by a near-flawless Baylor offense, Mountaineer fans hung on to the positives when looking toward Saturday’s game against #16 Texas Tech: We had defeated then #11 Oklahoma State, were undefeated at home, had put forty-some points up against Baylor (relying on this statistic for solace requires a significant level of cognitive dissonance), and had a bye week to rest our injured players and hopefully get some answers to the rotating quarterback question.
So it could happen, right? Wrong. Simply put, figuring out West Virginia’s problems is like nailing Jell-O to the wall. Our defense allowed 462 yards of passing. Clint Trickett overthrows his receivers. And what was that 4th and 14 attempt when we were (barely) within field goal range? In the first quarter!? That, friends, is what you call bad coaching.
On the bright side, before this week, we thought we couldn’t establish much of a run game, although we knew we were talented on the ground. This week, we rushed for 183 yards, splitting the carries almost exactly in half between Dremarius Smith and Charles Sims, with 16 and 15 carries, respectively. Both averaged over five yards per carry. Smith had two touchdowns on the day, one after a 38-yard breakaway. Also, we have a punter with a cool mustache.
But it wasn’t enough. A good running game does not a good football team make. Until we iron out the big problems like the rotating quarterback situation, there is no one to lead the offense on the field. An offense without a leader is like a helicopter without a tail rudder. And speaking of big problems, did I mention we went for it on 4th and 14 in the first quarter while in field goal range?
Fortunately, the young, inconsistent Mountaineers have shown that they could win, if just one or two more things could go their way. And with the most difficult games of the season behind them, the Mountaineers could end this year with a winning season. Could. Just don’t expect too many outside the borders of the Mountain State to agree with that.
