WVU football’s offense stalled in crucial moments, still did everything it could to beat No. 15 Texas Tech
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West Virginia football's offense had two opportunities to tie the game. No. 15 Texas Tech went up 51-48 with 2:44 left in the game. The Mountaineers’ offense needed just a field goal to tie the game and had the three timeouts plus the 2-minute warning to do so.
Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. ran for three yards, threw an incomplete pass, and then was sacked for three yards. Rich Rodriguez elected to go for it on fourth down, deep in his own end, and Hawkins was sacked for 11 yards the next play.
There was still time on the clock. The Red Raiders went for the game-winning first down and were stopped on fourth down. WVU had a shot again, but had a long way to go, starting at its own 5-yard line. Hawkins dropped back and was sacked in his end zone for a safety, losing the game 53-48.
The offense ran out of gas in the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers were held scoreless in the quarter and had -6 yards.
"Offensively, we were moving the ball pretty well," Rodriguez said. "But when we needed to at the end, we just didn't coach it well. Didn't play it well."
But can you blame them for running out of gas? Aside from the fourth quarter, WVU's offense did everything in its power to win the game. The Mountaineers traded blow for blow in the first quarter, and scored 27 points and had 398 yards of offense. Some teams don't do that for an entire game, let alone the first half.
"I think we played really well in the beginning on offense," Running back Cam Cook said. "We need to do better taking that momentum into the second half. And just being able to keep moving the ball at the same pace."
Hawkins and the offense came out of the locker room and scored 21 unanswered points on the first four drives of the half. WVU had the lead 48-41 after a rushing touchdown from Hawkins.
Hawkins had 303 yards through the air and threw a long touchdown pass to receiver Taron Francis in the first half. He completed 11 of 16 passes. Hawkins had 88 yards rushing and three more touchdowns to put his total at a program-record 19 this season.
The rushing attack was rolling, and running back Cam Cook had 149 yards and a touchdown. 279 yards rushing for WVU.
Tallying all those numbers up, the Mountaineers’ offense had 48 points and 582 yards of total offense. WVU didn't have a single turnover, other than the two turnovers on downs. No fumbles or picks.
"We were keeping pace, staying in the game," Rodriguez said. "Had a good third quarter. But didn't follow up with it."
A majority of the time, a team wins the game with that formula, but not when the defense can't stop anything. The defense had stops at the end of the game, but it was too late at that point. Texas Tech scored 51 points on offense and had 638 yards of offense, which was its most this season.
With the defense not getting a stop, WVU's offense felt like it had to score on every play, and against a halfway decent Red Raiders' defense, the Mountaineers couldn't. The offense shouldn't have to score on every drive. WVU was pretty close, scoring on eight of 15 drives.
"In all my years of coaching, I can't remember it being this way, where every possession was so critical in every game because you can't stop them," Rodriguez said. "It's just ridiculous. It really is."
If there's something to take away from this season, it's that the offense has done everything it could this season to win games. The offense can trade shots with any team in the Big 12. WVU is averaging over 37 points per game, and that's playing against some of the top defenses in the conference.
But it doesn't matter when the defense can't stop anyone. Saturday night in Lubbock was no different. The offense, despite stalling in crucial moments, did everything it could to upset the Red Raiders on the road.
"It definitely hurts a lot," Cook said. "Guys were fighting all the way to the end. It definitely hurts. It's a stinger."