Baylor drops double-overtime struggle to West Virginia in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. —  It took two overtimes to learn the outcome, but there was no denying early on that Baylor’s issues in Morgantown were going to be on full display once again. 

The Bears struggled significantly on offense from start to finish on their way to a 27-21 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers in double overtime on Saturday afternoon. Baylor falls to 1-1 on the season while WVU improves to 2-1. 

On a day where the offense was hoping to carry the load for a defensive unit that was missing a number of starters and key contributors, it was the defense that kept the Bears in the game throughout. Unfortunately, the admirable effort wasn’t enough as Larry Fedora’s offense accounted for 256 total total yards with only 27 yards coming on the ground.

West Virginia sacked quarterback Charlie Brewer six times, made 11 plays behind the line of scrimmage and picked off Charlie Brewer twice, including the first play of the second overtime that was the nail in Baylor’s coffin.

To make matters worse, Baylor missed a total of three field goals, one of which was blocked, in the first half. 

Baylor’s defensive effort was led by junior linebacker Terrel Bernard’s 13 tackles and an interception. The unit as a whole created four turnovers with two fumble recoveries and two interceptions with eight tackles for loss and two sacks. 

Junior safety JT Woods recorded the first interception of his career.

After looking out for the count the majority of the game, the Bears were able to get a last minute rally by the offense in the fourth quarter when Brewer led a four play, 59-yard drive with less than two minutes that was capped off by a 34-yard touchdown strike to Josh Fleeks. 

Baylor’s defense held and forced the game into overtime where West Virginia converted a fourth-down attempt and eventually scored a touchdown. Brewer answer immediately with a one-play drive, connecting with Ben Sims on a 25-yard score.

Brewer and the offense returned to the field first for the second overtime, but his first pass attempt of the session was intercepted in the end zone and the Mountaineers scored a rushing touchdown on their following possession to end the game. 

Brewer finished the game by completing 23-of-38 passes for 229 yards and three scores with two interceptions. Baylor’s senior running backs Trestan Ebner and John Lovett combined for 32 yards on 20 carries. 

Senior William Bradley-King and junior Jalen Pitre each recorded 2.0 tackles for loss and combined for 19 tackles. 

Notable absences on Baylor’s defense in the contest were senior cornerback Zeke Brown, junior cornerback Kalon Barnes, junior defensive lineman Chidi Ogbonnaya, junior JACK Ashton Logan and sophomore defensive linemen TJ Franklin and Gabe Hall.