In a Friday night lights showdown, the West Virginia offense continued to struggle as they fell 38-24 to BYU. Read more: West Virginia’s Offense Continues to Stumble as They Fall 38-24 to BYU
The Mountaineers’ defense was able to force three turnovers, but they continuously got beaten deep in the secondary. And for the offense, they could never establish a passing attack of their own.
It started slowly for WVU, and at the same time, they could never slow down the Cougars’ methodical offense.
Early Trouble in Provo
After the Mountaineers received the kick, redshirt freshman Khalil Wilkins trotted out for his first collegiate start.
His first drive didn’t last long as WVU quickly punted after a three-and-out.
Rising freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier immediately got everyone in Lavell Edwards Stadium on their feet with a 47-yard completion to Chase Roberts on their offensive play.
A false start on second-and-seven halted the Cougars’ promising drive, as they would be forced to kick a 48-yard field goal after an incomplete pass on third down. BYU’s Will Ferrin sailed it right.
After that defensive stand, Wilkins made his first crucial mistake as a starter. After staring down a hitch route to Preston Fox, BYU’s Therrian Alexander jumped it and took it 47 yards, nearly scoring on the return.
A Parker Kingston one-yard run on the first play got the Cougars their first touchdown of the game.
The Mountaineers’ drive looked promising as they continued to convert on third down, something they have mightily struggled with this season. However, after getting stopped short on third down, head coach Rich Rodriguez opted to go for it. In his first game back since Pittsburgh, Tye Edwards was stopped short, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Three plays later, Bachmeier threw a perfectly timed screen pass to Kingston, where he would take it 54 yards to tack on another touchdown for BYU.
An Up and Down 2nd Quarter
Down two touchdowns, the Mountaineers received the kick to open up the second quarter.
Wilkins was able to put together back-to-back quality runs before a blow to the head forced him to come out for a short time. However, West Virginia didn’t skip a beat as Scotty Fox Jr. would come in his relief and take a read option 23 yards.
Wilkins reentered the game, but the offense stalled out just three plays after Fox’s run. Kade Hensley got the Mountaineers on the board with a 45-yard field goal.
BYU’s following drive looked good as Bachmeier was driving them down the field. A Michael Coats pass inference also helped, as that got the Cougars to the 50-yard line.
The Cougars continued to drive, running the ball down the Mountaineers’ throat. However, linebacker Chase Wilson made a great play on the ball, intercepting Bachmeier and returning it for 19 yards.
The Mountaineers were able to force the Cougars to jump offside on fourth down. But that drive would end after that, as WVU punted after Wilkins couldn’t find Cam Vaughn on third-and-14.
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With the Cougars already pinned deep in their territory, Fred Perry made a spectacular play on a speed option, tipping the Bachmeier toss, which was ruled a live ball since it was a backward pass. Perry not only forced the fumble, he also jumped on it and recovered it on BYU’s three-yard line.
One play later, Diore Hubbard ran it in to give West Virginia its first touchdown of the game.
Bachmerier shook off that turnover and threw a 35-yard completion to Kingston on the first play of the drive. A few plays later, he hit a 20-yard strike to Cody Hagen.
He continued to have a successful drive as he ran for 14 yards to get the Cougars to fourth-and-one with 32 seconds left in the half.
They would convert on a QB sneak, and just three plays later Bachmeier ran it three yards for BYU’s fourth touchdown of the game.
The Mountaineers entered halftime down 28-10.
A Strong Defensive Quarter
BYU opened the second half and continued to drive down the field. Just like the first half, they were running the ball at will, while Bachmeier could convert on timely receptions.
However, after a holding call on second-and-eight, the Cougars’ drive came to an end on West Virginia’s 19-yard line. Ferrin converted this time as he made a 37-yard field goal.
After back-to-back zero-yard rushes, Wilkins threw a strike up the seam to hit Fox for a first down. The Mountaineers found themselves in another third down right after, where Wilkins converted another third down, this time to Grayson Barnes.
The next play, he took a deep shot to Vaughn, but he bobbled the ball and it fell right into the hands of the BYU defender.
West Virginia’s defense would step up again, though, as it forced a fumble just three plays later. This put the Mountaineers’ offense on BYU’s 22-yard line.
After a strong nine-yard run from Hubbard, Wilkins ran it six yards for WVU’s second touchdown.
A Hopeful End
After a 20-yard pass from Bachmeier to close out the third quarter, the Cougars started the fourth at their 45-yard line and up 31-17.
He continued to be efficient on third down as he completed a 21-yard pass to Roberts to keep BYU moving.
After a 13-yard run and a 14-yard completion from Bachmeier, the Cougars reached the endzone again after an LJ Martin one-yard run.
Wilkins and the offense quickly responded as he completed a 32-yard catch to Jeff Weimer. Wilkins then converted on a third down with a five-yard run.
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A pass interference two plays later got the Mountaineers down to BYU’s 16-yard line. A couple of hard runs and a BYU personal foul got them even closer to BYU’s endzone.
The offense found themselves in a fourth and goal on the one-yard line, but they were stopped short.
Backed up in dep in their own territory, BYU would punt after a quick three-and-out with 1:18 left in the game.
Scotty Fox Jr. would get his second opportunity in the game, and he almost immediately showed what he could do in the passing game. On the third play of the drive, he found Vaughn in the endzone for a beautiful 29-yard touchdown catch.
BYU would just run out the clock on the last possession of the game.
Another Tough Loss
With Friday’s loss, the Mountaineers fall to 2-4 in the season and 0-3 in Big 12 play.
While the offense struggled at times, Khalil Wilkins showed a lot of grit in the defeat. He had a lot of good runs and was especially good on third down.
Meanwhile, the defense did force three turnovers, but they couldn’t keep BYU’s offense off the field enough.
West Virginia will look to get its first conference win against UCF on Oct. 18 in Orlando after it gets a much-needed bye week.
