[BAYLOR FOOTBALL] West Virginia Rallies Past No. 23 Baylor Football, 43-40 in Morgantown

Thu Oct 13 22:53:35 CDT 2022

BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Oct. 13

West Virginia Rallies Past No. 23 Baylor, 43-40 in Morgantown
Bears total 590 yards of total offense

For more information contact: Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651, brent_ingram at baylor.edu<mailto:brent_ingram at baylor.edu> or Max Calderone; 254-265-1639, max_calderone at baylor.edu<mailto:max_calderone at baylor.edu>

By Jerry Hill, BaylorBears.com

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Using a 65-yard fumble return and a blocked extra point return, West Virginia rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to defeat the 23rd-ranked Baylor Bears, 43-40, Thursday night in a wild game at Milan Puskar Stadium.

After quarterback Blake Shapen left the game with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter following a targeting hit by cornerback Andrew Wilson-Lamp, redshirt freshman Kyron Drones led a pair of scoring drives that gave the Bears (3-3, 1-2) a 37-31 lead. But, John Mayers' extra point was blocked by Dante Stills and returned for a two-point play that proved critical.

The Mountaineers (3-3, 1-2) regained the lead on a 34-yard touchdown run by Tony Mathis, who finished with 163 yards on 22 carries against one of the best run defenses in the country coming into the game.

Baylor lost its third turnover of the game on a Drones interception, with the Bears in position to go back on top. But, linebacker Dillon Doyle got it right back with an interception at the WVU 25.

Mayers booted a 44-yard field goal to tie it at 40-40, but the Mountaineers drove 61 yards in six plays and won it on Casey Legg's 22-yard field goal with 33 seconds left in regulation as West Virginia won its sixth-straight against Baylor in Morgantown.

In a wild first half, Shapen threw for 294 yards and led the Bears to 24 points and 358 yards total offense. But, Baylor had only a 24-17 lead to show for it thanks to linebacker Jasir Cox's 65-yard fumble return in the second quarter.

BU was leading 17-10 and in position to make it a two-score game when defensive end Sean Martin forced a fumble that Cox scooped up and took it in for the score to draw the Mountaineers even at 17-17 with 2:41 left in the half.

It took the Bears just five plays to answer, aided by a personal-foul penalty on WVU, with Shapen connecting with Sqwirl Williams for a short screen pass that he turned into a 39-yard touchdown and 24-17 halftime lead.

West Virginia struck first with a seven-yard TD run by Tony Mathis capping an eight-play, 65-yard scoring drive.

Shapen threw for 52 yards on a time-consuming 14-play, 71-yard drive, leading to a 40-yard field goal by Mayers that trimmed the Mountaineers' lead to 7-3.

With the defense coming up with back-to-back stops, Shapen hooked up with Gavin Holmes for a 56-yard pass that led to a one-yard TD run by tight end Ben Sims. And then Holmes hauled in a quick slant and took it 35 yards for another touchdown and 17-7 lead.

Holmes had already produced the first 100-yard receiving day of his career in the first half, catching four passes for 157 yards. Shapen was 12-of-18 for 294 yards and two touchdowns in the first two quarters for a QB rating of 240.5

Baylor's defense got another three-and-out late in the half, but the Bears had to punt it away from midfield with 20 seconds left when Qualan Jones missed a short pass from Shapen on third-and-five.

The Baylor offense finished with 590 yards, including a combined 421 yards passing by Shapen and Drones. Shapen was 14-of-22 for 326 yards and two touchdowns – 19 yards off the career-high he set last week – while Drones was 7-of-14 for 95 yards and one TD with one pick.

Holmes finished with a career-high 210 yards on seven catches, becoming Baylor's first 200-yard receiver since KD Cannon in the 2016 Cactus Bowl.

Freshman Richard Reese led the ground attack with 57 yards on 13 carries, while Jones had 44 yards and one TD on 10 totes and added 37 yards on two catches.

Baylor returns home to host No. 19/20 Kansas (5-1, 2-1) for an 11 a.m. Homecoming game at McLane Stadium that will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2. The Jayhawks got off to a 5-0 start under second-year head coach Lance Leipold before a 38-31 loss to TCU last week and will play at Oklahoma on Saturday.

- BaylorBears.com -

--
Brent Ingram | Assistant AD for Communications
Department of Athletics | Baylor University
C: 210-845-8651

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