Baylor Beats West Virginia
WACO, Texas — Baylor barely broke stride in clearing the West Virginia hurdle.
The No. 2 Bears stiff-armed West Virginia for most of the first three quarters before pulling away for a 62-38 victory on Saturday at McLane Stadium.
Baylor quarterback Seth Russell passed for 380 yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Bears coach Art Briles said his team redeemed itself after a 41-27 loss at West Virginia last season.
The Mountaineers probably cost Baylor a spot in the College Football Playoff, as the Bears finished No. 5 as a one-loss team, just out of the final four.
But Briles was more concerned about Baylor’s reputation in the Appalachian Mountain region.
“We didn’t feel like we had a good name in West Virginia,” Briles said. “That was kind of our motivating factor. Nothing to do with rankings, nothing to do with getting bowl eligible. Nothing to do with anything other than when people talk about us up there, we want them saying good things about our football program.”
Russell’s 52-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jay Lee with 1:31 left in the
third quarter gave Baylor (6-0, 3-0 in the Big 12) separation as the Bears pushed ahead 48-24.
Until then, West Virginia (3-3, 0-3) had done enough to hang around and threaten to make a comeback.
West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard passed for 289 yards and four touchdowns. But he gave up an interception in the Baylor end zone, one of several chances squandered by the Mountaineers.
Baylor wide receiver Corey Coleman caught 10 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns. Coleman’s third touchdown showed why he is the Bears’ most dangerous weapon this season.
Coleman ran a slant pass from the left side and caught Russell’s pass a few yards past the first down line-to-gain on a fourth-and-3 play in the third quarter.
That’s when Coleman stopped on a dime, causing West Virginia cornerback Rick Rumph to fall down. Coleman reversed field and raced in for a 33-yard touchdown that put Baylor ahead 34-17 with 9:45 left in the third quarter.
“He’s the best player in college football,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgersen said. “You can put me on record for that. Corey Coleman is the best football player in the country.”
West Virginia missed an opportunity to keep pace late in the first half.
Mountaineers running back Wendell Smallwood split the Baylor defense for a 52-yard run to the Bears’ 10. However, a chop-block penalty against West Virginia pushed the ball back to the 24 and the Mountaineers couldn’t cash in the opportunity for points.
West Virginia kicker Josh Lambert missed a 35-yard field goal try, wide right, allowing Baylor to take a 27-17 lead to halftime.
Holgorsen said that hurt but didn’t wreck the Mountaineers’ chances.
“In the second quarter we had two missed opportunities,” Holgorsen said. “We didn’t get two touchdowns out of those two drives. What did we lose by, 30? That would have put us in a better place at halftime.
“That’s the kind of stuff that needs to happen against these guys. Is it the reason we lost the game? I’m not going there.”
Baylor’s home crowd seemed uneasy by the end of the second quarter as the Bears weren’t clicking at their usual offensive pace.
The Bears had their lowest first-half scoring output of the season with 27 points. Baylor came in averaging 41.2 points in the first half of its previous five games.
However, the Bears still made enough big plays to edge ahead of West Virginia.
Russell ran 16 yards for the Bears’ first touchdown and hit Coleman for touchdown passes of two and 11 yards in the first half.
The Baylor quarterback then led touchdown drives on the Bears’ first four possessions of the second half.
“(Russell is) really playing well for us,” Briles said. “That’s really the most encouraging thing. I’m having a hard time finding faults.”
