A week ago Baylor managed to come back from a 21-point deficit to beat TCU in the fourth quarter. This week was a different story. No. 4 Baylor (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) was shutout in the fourth quarter and West Virginia (5-2, 3-1) scored twice to pull away from the defending Big 12 champions. It was the second significant upset in the Big 12 that unfolded early Saturday afternoon that could reshape the way this conference now plays out the rest of the way.
West Virginia quarterback Clint Trickett out-dueled his counterpart from Baylor, Bryce Petty. Trickett ended his day with 322 passing yards and three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter as the Mountaineers broke a tie and ran away with the win. Petty was held to completing just 16 of 32 attempts for 223 yards and two touchdowns.
Talk all you wish about offense, but West Virginia’s defense deserves great praise for this one. West Virginia lost three turnovers, but the defense only allowed 10 yards to be scored off of those mistakes. The Baylor touchdown following a fumble came on a possession that started on the West Virginia seven, so blaming the defense for that hardly seems fair anyway. Baylor had over 700 yards of offense a week ago against TCU, but West Virginia held the BEars to just 318 yards of offense. West Virgina’s ability to get off the field on defense was magnificent as well. Baylor converted just three out of 16 third-down conversion attempts, and Baylor was 0-for-2 on fourth-down conversion attempts.
This game was polluted by penalties by both teams as well. Baylor was called for 18 penalties and 185 penalty yards. West Virginia was flagged 14 times for 138 yards. Neither Art Briles nor Dana Holgorsen can be pleased with that lack of discipline from start to finish.
Baylor was the Big 12’s final undefeated team. Now, in Big 12 play, Oklahoma State and Kansas State are the only undefeated teams in conference play (and Oklahoma State is off to a poor start at TCU). Baylor sis certainly not out of the Big 12 picture of course, but West Virginia has now made a push as well. At 3-1 in the Big 12, the Mountaineers are ahead fo Baylor in the standings. The Big 12 race is also going to be worth discussing as it relates to the College Football Playoff moving forward, although it is still too early to suggest the conference will be on the outside looking in. An undefeated Baylor team would have been the most likely to be a lock to represent the Big 12, although a one-loss Big 12 champion would likely still have a very good chance to be selected. This despite the conference having any real signature wins in out-of-conference play and no wins against top 25 competition.
Baylor will be off next week. Baylor’s next game will be November 1 at home against Kansas. Odds are the Bears will have little trouble with that one before heading to Norman, Oklahoma the following week to take on the Oklahoma Sooners.
West Virginia will go on the road next week to take on Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers have TCU at home the following week and then a road trip to Austin to play the Texas Longhorns before getting to a mid-November bye week.