MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Mountaineer Week at West Virginia University concludes with a Military Appreciation Game against Baylor on Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium.

The 4.p.m. kickoff to accommodate ESPN2 television coverage means the contest will begin in daylight and conclude under the lights.
 
"We've played well in these Veterans Day games and Military Appreciation games over the last few years," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said, "and we've got a lot of our players' family and staff's family that have either been in the military or active in the military currently, so this is a game that's really important to us."
 
Brown calls Baylor "one of the hottest teams in the Big 12" right now based on its three-game surge that features victories over Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and TCU. In those games, the Bears have averaged 44.7 points, including 59 in a 24-point win over the Red Raiders on Oct. 19.
 
"They are playing their best football winning three in a row and coming off a bye week," Brown said. "We're going to get their best shot, and we've got to be ready in all three phases."
 
Baylor offensive coordinator Jake Spavital is a familiar name to Mountaineer fans, having operated former coach Dana Holgorsen's offenses here on two different occasions, while also boasting head coaching credentials at Texas State.
 
The 39-year-old has been in the coaching profession since he was 23 and returns to Morgantown for the first time since 2018.
 
Baylor's offense found its way when Spavital turned to junior quarterback Sawyer Robertson to run the attack after Dequan Finn was injured in the Utah loss.
 
Robertson passed for 248 yards in the Air Force victory and has thrown for at least 222 yards in every game since the BYU loss. He threw for 274 yards and five touchdowns against Texas Tech and had three touchdown passes versus Oklahoma State. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder has also accounted for four touchdowns on the ground.
 
"Their quarterback is playing really well," Brown pointed out. "He didn't begin the year as the starter, but he earned that position and now he's throwing the ball efficiently. But the biggest difference for them during this winning streak is their ability to run the football. Their offensive line has jelled, and they're balanced – 200-plus in each phase over the last two games."
 
Bryson Washington, a 6-foot, 203-pound redshirt freshman, has emerged as the team's leading ground gainer with 576 yards and seven touchdowns. He's coming off a season-high 196 yards and four touchdowns in the TCU victory two weeks ago.
 
Dawson Pendergrass, a 6-foot-2, 218-pound sophomore, and Richard Reese, a 5-foot-9, 181-pound junior, are listed as co-starters on Baylor's depth chart.
 
The Bears have rushed for 255, 343 and 257 yards in their last three games and are now averaging 185 yards per contest on the ground.
 
Sophomore Josh Cameron is a two-phase threat as the team's leading receiver with 29 catches for 424 yards and seven touchdowns on offense, while doubling as one the nation's leading punt returners with a 20.7 average, which includes a 73-yard return against Texas Tech.
 
Baylor's kick return game is once again formidable with senior Jamaal Bell returning one 100 yards for a touchdown against Colorado and averaging 24.8 yards per return. Of course, the Mountaineers gave up two kickoff returns for touchdowns in last year's 34-31 victory over the Bears in Waco.
 
"Probably the scariest aspect of Baylor right now is their return units. They hit two kickoff returns against us last year down at Baylor, and both their punt returner and their kickoff returner are really dangerous," Brown said.
 
"They've done a nice job with their return units, and their specialists are good. Their kickers have been really efficient. They've hit a 50-yarder already this year, and that's going to be a challenge. A real key for us is our ability to maintain our high level of special teams play," Brown added.
 
Safeties coach Matt Powledge owns the title of defensive coordinator, but head coach Dave Aranda is once again doing the signaling, and the Bears have made across-the-board improvement since last season.
 
Two weeks ago, Baylor limited TCU to 105 yards rushing, a week after the Bears held Oklahoma State to just 74 yards on 34 attempts.
 
Middle linebacker Matt Jones is having an exceptional year with 82 tackles, 8½ tackles for loss, three sacks, five pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
 
Garmon Randolph, a 6-foot-8, 260-pounder, shows 3½ sacks, while his backup, Steve Linton, has three sacks from Baylor's Jack position.
 
Nine different players have generated sacks, and six different players have intercepted passes, led by backup strong safety Corey Gordon Jr.'s two for 37 yards.

"Dave Aranda is calling the defense – one of the best defensive minds in college football; they are attacking in a bunch of different ways, mixing up their coverages and mixing up their fronts with simulated pressures, so we're going to have our hands full," Brown said.
 
Most recently, Baylor (5-4, 3-3) defeated TCU 37-34 on Isaiah Hawkins' 33-yard walk-off field goal with no time on the clock. The Bears are hitting the road for the first time since Oct. 19 when they routed Texas Tech at Jones AT&T Stadium.
 
West Virginia (5-4, 4-2), meanwhile, got two defensive touchdowns and some great special teams play from returner Preston Fox and punter Oliver Straw to outlast Cincinnati 31-24. At one point, the Mountaineers led 24-7 before the Bearcats rallied.
 
Anthony Wilson Jr.'s 79-yard interception return, and a 14-yard fumble return from Tyrin Bradley Jr. helped offset Cincinnati's sizable advantage in total yardage and time of possession, fueled by a 79 to 43 edge in total plays.
 
It was West Virginia's first game with Jeff Koonz overseeing the defense. He was appointed interim defensive coordinator following West Virginia's 31-26 victory at Arizona.
 
Backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol improved to 3-0 as a starter in his career but completed just 9 of his 15 pass attempts for 157 yards, and the Mountaineers were limited to a season-low nine first downs.
 
Brown indicated earlier this week that starting quarterback Garrett Greene was cleared to begin throwing and will get some 11-on-11 work for the first time since suffering an upper body injury in the Kansas State loss.
 
The coach said a decision on a starting quarterback won't be made until later this week.
 
West Virginia is 3-0 in conference road games but only 1-2 in Big 12 action at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers rallied to defeat Kansas 32-28 and lost 28-16 to Iowa State and 45-18 to Kansas State.
 
"We've got to put up a much better product on the field this Saturday compared to when we last played here against Kansas State," Brown noted. "We're a much better football team, and we've got to go out and show it."
 
WVU also lost 34-12 at home to Penn State, now ranked fourth in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll.
 
WVU and Baylor are among 12 league teams still in contention for the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game to be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 3. The conference enters week 12 with seven teams already bowl eligible and three others just one win away, including WVU and Baylor.

The Big 12 also owns the second-highest Sagarin ranking in FBS behind only the SEC.
 
Mike Monaco, Kirk Morrison and Dawn Davenport will handle the call on ESPN2 for Saturday's game, while Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning will oversee Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
Radio coverage begins at 1 p.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show.
 
Tickets remain and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
 
WVU wraps up the home portion of its schedule on next Saturday, Nov. 23, against UCF. The regular season concludes at Texas Tech on Saturday, Nov. 30.