WACO, Texas — As familiar as any old football cliché or adage, you play until the final whistle blows. When the final whistle blew as West Virginia lined up in victory formation, the Baylor faithful came away supportive but disappointed.
Baylor (0-7, 0-4) was a two-point conversion play away from changing the course of the game but No. 23 West Virginia (5-2, 3-1) narrowly escaped McLane Stadium with a 38-36 win.
The aerial onslaught commanded by quarterback Will Grier dominated the Baylor secondary and proved too much to overcome. Grier torched them by going 26-37 with 375 yards and five touchdowns and suffocating Baylor with the combination of wide receivers Gary Jennings Jr. and David Sills who both broke the century mark in receiving yards.
“Obviously, a disappointing night for us. Credit goes to West Virginia. I thought Will Grier was sensational. I thought David Sills, Gary Jennings were sensational and they did a nice job making big plays. A lot of the big plays I thought were in good coverage and good position and they made a play that we needed to make,” said Baylor head coach Matt Rhule.
Photo: Gordon DeLoach/TexasHSFootball
Even with the phenomenal play of Will Grier, it was the story of quarterback Charlie Brewer that stole the narrative of the night as his second-half performance helped Baylor rally by a lopsided 38-13 score and replenish the spirits of Baylor and provide a sensational spectacle for those that stayed till the final whistle.
“Obviously, [I’m] proud of our team the way they fought back in the fourth quarter…[and] had a chance to go tie the game up with the two-point conversion there at the end,” continued Rhule. “Was proud of their effort, proud of their ability to rally. I was proud of the defense…a lot of young guys stepped up, a lot of new guys stepped up and for that, I’m proud of them. We’ll continue to try to work with them.”
Brewer’s dual-threat ability helped resurrect a dormant Baylor running game that finished with 127 team rushing yards that initially rushed the ball 15 times for a total of -5 yards in the first half.
With the rushing attack of Baylor coming to life in the second half, Baylor tallied up 17 points to leave them within one possession of tying West Virginia.
Asides from Brewer, running back Trestan Ebner found his footing in the second half and was a catalyst for Baylor in the second half finishing with 54 rushing yards, 109 receiving yards and one rushing touchdown as well as two receiving touchdowns.
Ebner’s 52-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter helped ignite a series of plays that completely shifted momentum in their favor. Baylor now down 38-20, decided to attempt an onside kick that was recovered by their special teams unit and two plays later saw Ebner strike again with a 40-yard touchdown run and have the scoreboard read 38-27 with 13:50 left to play in the fourth quarter.
The Baylor defense even after allowing 21 points in the third quarter was able to rebound in the fourth and pitch a shutout in remarkable fashion after their struggles with the West Virginia passing attack.
Photo: Gordon DeLoach/TexasHSFootball
Sills entered Saturday’s contest leading the nation in touchdown receptions and was a one-man wrecking crew that lit up the scoreboard for West Virginia with three scores. His third touchdown of the night came 18 seconds into the second half with Will Grier dialing up Sills for a 53-yard touchdown reception that put West Virginia up 24-6 in the third quarter. That touchdown came immediately after the Mountaineers added a late touchdown right at the end of the first half in what had been a relatively tight-knit game up until that point.
On that drive, WVU drove the ball 80 yards downfield on 8 plays as Grier found David Sills for his second touchdown reception of the night that extracted the momentum from Baylor knowing that they gave West Virginia a leg up as they scored with one second left before the half to put the score at 17-6.
Baylor receiver Denzel Mims broke the century mark in the first half and finished his night with seven receptions for 132 yards with perhaps his biggest reception coming on Baylor’s final drive in the form of a 15-yard reception on fourth down and five from their own 30 with 1:56 left. Mims was able to move the chains for Baylor and set the stage for a dramatic finish.
Brewer would conduct a 16 play, 86-yard scoring drive that put Baylor within two points after a third and goal situation with 17 seconds left saw Brewer hit Ebner from nine yards out to set up a game-tying scenario.
Brewer would line up and roll right on the pass attempt only to be met by West Virginia’s pass rush and come up just short in front of the disappointed yet hopeful homecoming crowd.
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