TCU Notebook
November 03, 2014 04:28 PM | General
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| Terrell Chestnut and the Mountaineer defense played exceptionally well last Saturday against a TCU offense that came into the game averaging 50.4 points per game |
| All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks photo |
West Virginia is going to have to bury last Saturday’s last-second loss to TCU – quickly.
That’s because the 6-3 Mountaineers are facing another stern challenge this Saturday in Austin, Texas against an improving 4-5 Texas team that is still very much alive for a bowl berth.
And while it’s important for the players and coaches to move on, many fans are still mulling over the one-point loss to the now sixth-ranked Horned Frogs. Actually, I’ve received several emails and lots of tweets (one guy actually joined twitter right after the game just to tweet me his thoughts) about the defeat.
From the comments I’ve gotten so far, the two biggest themes seem to be the missed facemask call on quarterback Clint Trickett in the first quarter when West Virginia was at the TCU 23, and the five times the Mountaineers coughed up the football.
In my opinion, neither cost West Virginia the game.
Missed calls sometimes happen and that one occurred so early in the game that it didn’t have much of an impact at all (West Virginia actually kicked a field goal to take a 10-0 lead). The turnovers were difficult to swallow, too, but there is a reason why the Horned Frogs are No. 1 in the country in creating turnovers this year.
“They’re not just lucking into turnovers,” noted West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen during this morning’s Big 12 coaches’ teleconference. “They create turnovers. They get to the ball and they attack the ball. It’s impressive to watch. I wasn’t happy with what we did as far as turning the ball over as much as we did but you’ve got to give TCU credit because they did a good job of forcing those things.”
Yet only two of West Virginia’s five turnovers directly resulted in TCU scores – the bad snap that was recovered by the Horned Frogs at the 27 and Paul Dawson’s athletic, one-handed interception at the 35 – both taking place in the third quarter. The Mountaineers were able to neutralize one of the miscues with Terrell Chestnut’s equally athletic, 35-yard fumble recovery return for a TD, which also happened in the third quarter.
The game was decided in the final quarter when TCU was able to move the football when it had to and West Virginia couldn’t, and partly because TCU had the wind at its back at the end of the game. TCU coach Gary Patterson's defense could ride the wind in the fourth quarter if they could remain within striking distance.
It turns out nine points was well within striking distance.
If you recall, two years ago, Patterson also rode his defense and the wind, while using his timeouts economically late when West Virginia was trying to milk the clock and hang on to its 31-24 lead.
With 2:31 remaining and the ball close to midfield, all West Virginia had to do was get one first down (two at the most) and the ballgame was over. It didn’t get any yards, and more importantly, only managed to burn 24 seconds off the clock. That gave TCU’s offense more than enough time to tie it with 1:28 remaining before using a trick play in overtime to win it.
Hit the fast-forward button to last Saturday. The game came down to similar circumstances with West Virginia trying to protect a late lead and needing a first down to keep the clock moving.
Once again, West Virginia’s final seven plays of the game netted zero yards. On the flip side, TCU was able to produce 164 yards in the fourth quarter alone (including 100 yards on the ground on 17 attempts for an average of 5.9 yards per carry).
In November, when the weather is not always ideal and teams have a lot of information on each other, it’s always nice to have the depth, the experience and the capability of getting those tough yards late to salt away games. TCU got them on Saturday and West Virginia didn't.
“TCU is an excellent football team – very well coached, very experienced and very talented,” said Holgorsen. “There is nothing for us to be ashamed of, that’s for sure.”
Earlier this year, in last-second victories over Maryland and Texas Tech, the Mountaineers were able to get those tough late yards.
Hopefully, West Virginia can find a way to get them in crunch time on Saturday in what could be another down-to-the-wire Big 12 game in Austin.
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Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
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John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
