In case you were busy watching more high-profile games this Saturday night, like Houston’s double OT loss to Rice University or Tech’s near grab of an upset in Lubbock, the final score of the Mountaineer game is not the entire story. A rain delay in the middle of the second quarter would span nearly two hours, and the returning WVU football players played like they were struck by the lightning everyone was worried about.
Leading into the unprompted break, Duquesne had struck first in the first quarter, then rather deflated play calling and execution (plagued by some pretty egregious drops by our receivers) only warranted 14 points. Without Mother Nature stepping in and a quick field goal before the lightning strikes, 14-10 might have been the official halftime score against an FCS opponent.
When the storm had passed and it was safe to resume, Garrett Greene and our entire offense suddenly remembered that someone had to take the program seriously. You can’t have people questioning your abilities after your home opener against an FCS school. Unfortunately, if I had had my laptop at the time, I might have already written a few paragraphs about how I felt about the performance leading into the unorthodox halftime.
Taking the field again, WVU would score three touchdowns in the span of eight game minutes. It was an absolute statement. The head-scratching part was why this was not happening the full game. Without a doubt, everyone respects the skills of Hudson Clement and the growing accuracy of Garrett Greene. Only a handful of balls in this contest were poorly thrown, most of the incompletions were due to the receiving corps.
A 14-10 contest ended up as a 56-14 rout, and the WVU faithful can hope to see a few things clicking before first-string skill players took the bench for much of the second half. With the Backyard Brawl looming, how about a bit of lightning to show the Panthers the way home?
Image by WVU Athletics
