I ran two fan polls on Twitter Saturday, one seeking the best way to get out of family pictures my wife had scheduled at Cooper's Rock during the Steelers-Chiefs game, and the other a little more pertinent to the cause: What was your lasting impression of Saturday's 46-35 come-from-behind victory over 24^th-ranked Texas Tech?
 
Eighty-eight percent said West Virginia's fourth-quarter comeback while just 12 percent of you mentioned what occurred during the first three quarters.

What is your lasting impression of @WVUfootball's big win over No. 24 Texas Tech today?

— John Antonik (@JohnAntonik) October 15, 2017

 
Now two days later, if you were to poll Dana Holgorsen's West Virginia coaching staff, you most likely would get a 100 percent response rate to all of the things that led up to the Mountaineers' terrific 22-point, fourth-quarter rally.
 
"They figured out how to run the ball, and we figured out how not to run the ball," Holgorsen said Saturday after the game. "We weren't playing great for three quarters and then we decided to start playing in the fourth quarter. Why? I don't know. Probably our opponent had something to do with that."
 
First the good - and the good was very good.
 
Nearly 42 percent of West Virginia's total yardage on Saturday came in that 22-point flurry, Will Grier hooking up twice with Ka'Raun White for touchdowns and once to the Mountaineers' Mr. Touchdown, David Sills V.
 
The run game, with Kennedy McKoy spelling starter Justin Crawford on the game-clinching drive, finally came alive in the fourth quarter to advance the football 57 yards with McKoy getting two critical first downs when the Mountaineers were trying to milk the clock before getting into position to ice the game.
 
WVU was two of three on third down and produced 10 of its 28 first downs in the final frame.
 
That's all good.
 
And defensively, West Virginia might have been even better.
 
Tony Gibson's crew surrendered just 16 total yards, completely shut down the Red Raiders on third down (0 for 4), didn't allow a single rushing yard and harassed quarterback Nic Shimonek enough to force him into misfiring six out of nine times, with his final throw being picked off by senior safety Kyzir White with 1:49 remaining in the game.
 
The special teams performed well, too, especially punt return. Think back to Dominic Panazzolo's low line-drive punt that Marcus Simms fielded on a bounce at the West Virginia 30 and returned 12 yards to the 42, putting West Virginia in good position to score the go-ahead touchdown.
 
How many times this year have we seen the ball not caught and roll deep into negative territory?
 
"Once that thing kind of flipped to us we were ready to run with it," Holgorsen said. "I give our players a lot of credit. I challenged them at halftime. There was a point in the third quarter when I thought they didn't have it in them because it wasn't happening. Then all of a sudden it happened, and our players hung in there and seized that opportunity.
 
"They played really good team football for a quarter and won by 11."
 
When the team needed big plays in crunch time, in all three phases, it got it. Bad football teams simply don't come back from 18 points down in the second half to beat nationally ranked football teams - it just doesn't happen.
 
But to be really good, West Virginia still has to figure out a way not to get in that position in the first place.
 
For the second straight week, the offensive line didn't have very good command of the line of scrimmage and consequently, the Mountaineers struggled mightily to run the football.
 
"I can assure you that will be addressed this week," Holgorsen said.
 
A West Virginia rushing attack which came into Saturday's game averaging 213.2 yards per contest was sitting at minus-13 at the end of the third quarter. There were instances, too, when Grier was running for his life, sometimes escaping pressure in the pocket to make throws downfield, and other times not escaping.
 
He was sacked four times on Saturday and has now been dropped seven times in West Virginia's last three games.
 
Each time No. 7 gets hit you hold your breath.
 
Defensively, the Mountaineers continue to struggle stopping the run. The Red Raiders chewed up 190 yards on the ground, averaging 5.8 yards per attempt, and their success running the football opened up the rest of the field for Shimonek to take some shots down field.
 
He completed two long touchdown passes to T.J. Vasher, one on a screen pass that he took 60 yards to the end zone on Texas Tech's second offensive play of the game, and later a 53-yard bomb when Vasher beat single coverage to make a leaping catch near the goal line.
 
Afterward, Gibson cited poor open-field tackling, blown assignments and some missed opportunities, such as a Dylan Cantrell fumble the Mountaineers couldn't come up with, or Mike Daniels' pretty interception in the back of the end zone that was waved off when linebacker Xavier Preston was called for roughing the passer.
 
Now, the 23^rd-ranked Mountaineers must get those things cleaned up before facing winless Baylor on Saturday night in Waco. The Bears may be a little low on numbers this year, but they are still high on motivation with Homecoming on the horizon this Saturday and then the always-anticipated game against Texas coming up in two weeks.
 
That's two big opportunities for them to feel a little better about themselves.
 
We'll see.
 
By the way, "faking stomach cramps" was the most popular option you voted for to help me try and get out of Sunday's pictures, but the wife wasn't buying it.
 

Best way to get out of family pictures the wife scheduled on Sunday football day:

— John Antonik (@JohnAntonik) October 15, 2017

So I showed up, just like the Mountaineers finally did in the fourth quarter last Saturday against the Red Raiders.