Baylor Drops Season Finale to West Virginia in Heartbreaking Fashion, 34-31

WACO, Texas – Baylor’s (3-9, 2-7) nightmare season has come to an end.

The ninth and final heartbreaking defeat came at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers (8-4, 6-3), 34-31, on Saturday night at McLane Stadium.

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Baylor finishes the season with an overall record of 3-9 and 1-7 at McLane Stadium.

With just over a minute remaining in the game and deep into its own territory, West Virginia’s quarterback, Garrett Greene (Jr.), led his offense 80 yards down the field and found running back Jahiem White (Fr.) wide open up the left sideline for the game-winning score.

In the second half, Baylor outscored the Mountaineers 17-to-7 and outgained them in total yardage, 248-to-154, but still came away with a loss.

“Disappointed at the end of it,” head coach Dave Aranda said after the loss. “I talked to the team and said that I wish that if you cared a whole lot and you didn’t quit and gave effort, I wish you could say those things happen and you get a win because of it, but that is just not the case. [It was a] hard loss.”

With 23 seconds remaining on the clock, Baylor’s offense was unable to muster any points to send the game to overtime. Despite the loss, Sawyer Robertson (RSo.), who started at quarterback in place of an injured Blake Shapen (RJr.), had the best outing of his BU career.

Robertson finished the contest with 215 yards and a touchdown on 17-19 passing and 33 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Prior to the go-ahead score from West Virginia, Isaiah Hankins (RSo.) missed a chip-shot 32-yard field goal that would have put the Bears ahead by six points.

“We struggled all season on finishing in critical moments,” safety Bryson Jackson said after the loss.

Robertson opened the first possession of the third quarter with an over-the-shoulder dime to wide receiver Ketron Jackson (Jr.) for a 38-yard touchdown – it was Jackson’s first score on the season.

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West Virginia’s quarterback, Garrett Greene, finished the contest with 103 rushing yards and 269 passing yards.

On the following Bears’ drive, Robertson found Jackson for a big play, once again, and running back Dominic Richardson (Jr.) pounded it in from one yard out to give Baylor a 28-27 lead over West Virginia midway through the third quarter.

“I thought our guys were able to [stay locked in and focused] in the second half, but we did not do that on that [final] drive,” Aranda said.

After being forced to punt on its opening possession of the game, West Virginia’s offense settled in, and Greene exploited the Baylor defense on the ground and through the air.

Greene connected with wide receiver Traylon Ray (Fr.) for a 30-yard touchdown and found the end zone on the following drive with a 23-yard quarterback keeper.

Running back Richard Reese (So.), who has been buried on the depth chart for much of the season, had two electric kick return touchdowns in the second quarter. Reese’s two returns amassed 198 yards of yardage, while the rest of Baylor’s offense totaled just 71 yards in the first half.

After a missed 43-yard field from Hankins, the Mountaineers’ offense performed a two-minute drill to perfection, and Greene capped off the drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown to take a 27-14 lead going into the halftime locker room. West Virginia scored on five of its six first-half possessions.

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Defense

Kicking/Punting