Malcolm Forbes
Baylor falls to West Virginia, 43-40, remains winless in Morgantown
Morgantown, W.Va. – The Baylor Bears (3-3) remain winless at Milan Puskar Stadium, losing to the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-3) by a score of 43-40 on Thursday night.
West Virginia’s Casey Legg connected on a 22-yard field goal with 33 seconds remaining in the fourth to give Baylor their third loss of the season and second consecutive conference loss.
While both defenses struggled throughout the contest, Baylor’s offense gave them a chance to win, putting up 421 yards through the air and 152 on the ground. Gavin Holmes had his best game of the season, catching seven passes and a touchdown on a career-high 210 receiving yards.
A lack of execution, turnovers and poor tackling all were factors in the loss. Another major storyline was Blake Shapen having to leave the game midway through the third quarter after getting hit in the head on an attempted slide by a Mountaineer defender.
Redshirt freshman Kyron Drones entered in for Shapen and played valiantly up until the final minutes. Drones threw for 95 yards and a touchdown on 7-of-14 passing but threw a crucial interception with 3:17 remaining in the fourth quarter.
However, the following play JT Daniels threw an interception directly into the hands of linebacker Dillon Doyle. After being unable to pick up a first down on offense, John Mayers connected on a 44-yard field goal to tie the game at 40 apiece with 1:40 remaining.
Three turnovers and a lack of execution hurt Baylor all night. In the second quarter, West Virginia returned a Shapen fumble 65-yards to the house. And in the fourth quarter, the Bears had an extra point blocked and returned for a defensive conversion.
Later in the fourth, a Qualan Jones fumble gave West Virginia the ball back with 9:01 remaining.
The Mountaineers capped off a 72-yard drive with a 34-yard rushing touchdown by Tony Mathis to regain the lead, 40-37, with 7:06 remaining in the fourth quarter.