Heartbreak in Houston for the Mountaineers

By Zippy Zimmerman, RealWV

West Virginia’s Big 12 Conference Cinderella run came to an abrupt halt at the hands of a Dana Holgorsen led Houston Cougars team, by way of a last-minute hail marry pass.

The Mountaineers entered the contest as 2.5-point favorites, but with the loss, they now fall to (4-2) overall, and (2-1) in conference play. WVU’s defense had been solid throughout their last four matchups, but struggled in the secondary without their star safety, Aubrey Burks. The offense was able to put 39 points on the score board, but majorly missed key opportunities to capitalize on Houston’s turnovers on downs. West Virginia also struggled throughout the night to contain the Cougar’s explosive return man in Matthew Golden on special teams.

The Cougars received the ball first in Thursday night’s competition, but they were quickly forced to punt after just six plays of offense. West Virginia would then methodically drive down the field – as they have all season – on an 82-yard drive which took up 7:51 of play in the first quarter. The Mountaineers would be stopped short of the goal line – on Houston’s nine-yard line – forcing them to bring out Michael Hayes for the 27-yard field goal. Following the successful kick, the score midway through the first, 3-0 WVU out in font.

Disaster would strike for the Mountaineers special teams’ unit during their kickoff to the Cougars, as Matthew Golden took the kick all the way back on a 100-yard return. West Virginia then quickly regained possession down 3-7. Following the Houston score, the Mountaineers put together another meticulous drive where this time they were able to reach pay dirt on a five-yard run from running back CJ Donaldson. The score put the Mountaineers back out in front at 10-7 with 13 seconds left to play in the first.

Both squads were unable to put together any substantial drives for the majority of the second quarter, as both teams were forced to punt three times in a row; but following WVU’s third punt of the quarter, the Cougars would finally put together a scoring drive capped off by quarterback Donovan Smith on a two-yard run. West Virginia would retain possession with only 28-seconds left of play making the score 10-14, with Houston in front of the half.

The Mountaineers appeared to come out of the break with a sense of urgency as they would drive down the field on a four-play drive ending with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Greene to Traylon Ray to retain the lead at 17-14. On the Cougars ensuing possession, they would be forced to punt following a strong defensive stand from West Virginia that forced a three and out offensively for Houston. WVU seemed destined to extend their lead as they worked the ball back down the field, but disaster would strike again for the Mountaineers just outside the red zone. Greene attempted a pass into the endzone towards his designated target, but Houston’s Isaiah Hamilton took the ball right out of the receiver’s hands in the endzone. The play resulted in a touchback for the Cougar’s giving them possession at their own 25-yard line.

The Cougars drove down the field wasting no time following the interception, scoring in just four plays and ending the drive on 15-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Joseph Manjack IV. Following the extra point Holgorsen’s Cougars take back the lead with the score now 17-21. The Mountaineers continued to respond however, as they would again drive down the field on a 78-yard drive that took 5:53 for its completion. Greene capped off the drive on a one-yard touchdown run. West Virginia yet again retains a lead of 24-21.

Houston really found its rhythm offensively in the second half. Following the West Virginia kickoff. The Cougars worked their way down the field to score on another throw from Smith, but this time to his receiver Samuel Brown on an eight-yard reception. The score put Houston out in front again with a 24-28 lead with 12:02 left in the fourth and final quarter of action. On the Mountaineer’s next possession, they would be stopped and forced to punt after only three plays of offense. The cougars were able to capitalize on West Virginia’s offensive struggles on their own offensive possession with another touchdown thrown from smith to his third scoring recipient of the day in wideout Stephon Johnson on a 21-yard poorly defended throw.

West Virginia was now down in the contest 24-25 with only 7:28 left to play. The Mountaineers needed to score quickly if they wanted a shot of staying in the game, and they did so on a 3:46 drive. Greene led WVU’s offense down the field and ended off the drive with his second scrambling touchdown of the night, this time on an eight-yard run. In order to bring the deficit down to a three-point Houston lead, West Virginia went for the two-point conversion and converted making the score 32-25 Cougars in front. With just 3:42 left to play, the Mountaineers needed their defense to step up and get a stop in order to give West Virginia a chance.

The Mountaineer’s defense got the job done on the Cougar’s following possession, forcing them to punt the ball back to West Virginia with 1:17 left the play. West Virginia now needed to drive the ball down the field for 88-yards if they hoped to win, or inside Houston’s 40-yard line if they hoped to send it to overtime with a field goal. With no timeout left for the Mountaineers, Greene rose to the occasion and made multiple big plays to get West Virginia in a decent position. West Virginia found themselves in a 4^th and 10 situation at the 50-yard line with 31 seconds left in the fourth.

Greene stepped up into the pocket, and found an open Hudson Clement who after breaking a tackle, streaked his way into the endzone to give the Mountaineer’s a 39-35 lead with only 12 seconds left in the game. An emotional Greene following the score, ended up giving the Mountaineer’s an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty; now forcing an already struggling West Virginia special team’s unit, to have to kick off from its own 20-yard line. Houston would get the ball back at their 41-yard line following the return from Golden. On their first play, Smith checked down to Dalton Carnes for an 8-yard throw, placing them at their own 49. On the final play of the game, Smith heaved one last shot to the endzone. The ball was tipped up into the air by a West Virginia defensive back, and caught in the endzone by the wideout Stephon Johnson. Houston is able to stun the Mountaineers in walk off fashion, making the final score of the contest 39-41.

West Virginia’s offense was unable to produce points on four of the Cougar’s turnover on downs, and defensively struggled in the secondary without the leadership of their star safety Burks. The Mountaineers will look to rebound following the tough loss on October 21^st when they take on Oklahoma State back at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown.