Football

COLUMN: Plenty of twists and turns, but WVU just not good enough in loss to No. 15 Texas Tech

MORGANTOWN - Don't try and tell anyone from the state of West Virginia today that the football gods play things fair and square.

What transpired Saturday night - and into early Sunday morning - inside Galaxy Stadium in Lubbock, Texas only proves the football gods have one sick sense of humor.

No. 15 Texas Tech came from behind and outscored West Virginia, 12-0, in the fourth quarter to squeeze out a 53-48 victory.

Of course, that one line doesn't even come close to telling the story of this one. In all honesty, we're not exactly sure where to begin.

How can you explain the fact the Mountaineers lost this game with poor offensive execution when they put up 582 yards and 48 points on the road in a hostile environment against the No. 15 team in the country?

How do you justify saying the Mountaineers' defense deserves credit for putting WVU in position to win the game after allowing a season-high 638 yards and letting some journeyman quarterback, who began this season by watching games on his couch, throw for a career-high 362 yards and five touchdowns?

Both statements are true, which leads us to believe those darned football gods are nothing but twisted and cruel.

"We've got to play better, coach better to win," WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez said after the game. "The defense was gross in the first half. Gross. They played better in the second half. (Texas Tech quarterback Thomas) Castellanos played a heck of a game, but we sure helped."

Let's begin with the WVU defense and a statistic that will make your skin crawl. Heading into Saturday night, the Red Raiders' season high for yards in a game was 502 against Arizona State. By the time Texas Tech walked into the locker room, it had 494 yards ... at halftime.

And then WVU's defense stepped up and forced Texas Tech to punt the ball on four consecutive possessions in the third quarter and the Red Raiders had only added an additional 16 yards to their total by the start of the fourth quarter.

Whatever WVU defensive coordinator Zac Alley told his guys at halftime, it worked. You have to give him a ton of credit. He's been under fire all season and that first half was just awful.

The overall numbers are still embarrassing, but the defense gave WVU the opportunity to erase a 41-27 halftime deficit and turn it into a 48-41 lead in the fourth quarter.

Now, let me tell you another story about a WVU offense that - for three quarters - just moved the ball up and down the field against what was supposedly the best run defense in the Big 12.

Michael Hawkins was brilliant. Cam Cook had a Cam Cook-type of night.

Hawkins completed 11 of 16 passes for 303 yards. He rushed for 88 and three touchdowns. Cook added 149 yards and a score on the ground.

"Offensively, we were moving the ball pretty well, but when we needed to at the end, we just didn't coach it well," Rodriguez said. "We didn't play it well."

Going into that fourth quarter, there was absolutely no way West Virginia could lose this game because of its offense.

Here's another stat that will make your skin crawl: WVU finished with a grand total of minus (-11) yards in that fourth quarter.

Taron Francis, who had not caught a ball all season, suddenly became the go-to guy with three receptions for 169 yards.

On his 73-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, "We had a (defensive back) blow a coverage and he was wide open," Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire told ESPN at halftime. "I think even I could have scored on that one."

Yet, when it mattered most, Francis had a drop on third down in the fourth quarter and WVU (5-4, 2-4 Big 12) was forced to punt.

After 45 minutes of slicing and dicing away at Texas Tech's defense, WVU could suddenly do absolutely nothing and Texas Tech (8-1, 5-1) finally came up with two big sacks by linebacker Trey White. One of them caused a safety with 1:24 remaining for the final score.

How is that possible? Maybe it was the football gods. Maybe it was poor execution. The simple truth is there is no real good answer.

WVU's defense was terrible until it wasn't. WVU's offense was awesome until it wasn't. They were both the blame and celebration in a game where right was left and up was down.

The football gods supplied plenty of twists and turns in this one. They also provided a harsh reality that WVU simply isn't good enough to win.