Longhorns’ rally comes close, but Mountaineers escape with win Stopped short of the mark
AUSTIN — For nearly two comedic minutes Saturday afternoon, the referee at Royal-Memorial Stadium unknowingly left his microphone turned on while he discussed a call with West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.
Expertly crafting his argument with a colorful anatomical metaphor unprintable in a family newspaper, Holgorsen at one point suggested his team possessed more courage than Texas players did.
But in the end, the No. 16 Mountaineers’ 24-20 victory wasn’t decided by bravery, guts or any other body part mentioned in passing by their fiery coach. Instead, it came down to a couple of opportunities, and a UT team that wasn’t quite ready to seize them.
“God, it was there for us,” Longhorns coach Charlie Strong said, lamenting what might have been on a day when his defense turned in an admirable effort and his offense nearly rallied from a 14-point deficit.
An inability to capitalize
Time after time in what turned into a scoreless fourth quarter, UT(5-5, 3-4 Big 12) and its plucky freshman quarterback saw chances to take the lead slip away.
First, Shane Buechele had the ball jarred loose deep in West Virginia territory when Kyz er White knocked the wind out of him with a brutal hit. Another promising UT drive was doomed by an ill-timed penalty, and the next one came down to a fourth-down pass from one freshman to another with just over two minutes remaining.
Buechele made a good throw. Collin Johnson made a nice catch. The problem was, because of one or the other’s inexperience, UT still came up a yard short of the first-down marker.
“You’d (like) to see him be a little bit longer,” UT offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert said of Johnson’s route.
Despite that, the Longhorns had one more shot at the end of the game, but Buechele’s 27yard heave into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
Overall, UT amassed 536 total yards and held the Mountaineers (8-1, 5-1) to 383. But the Longhorns were done in by an inability to capitalize on four West Virginia turnovers, which led to only seven UT points.
“It’s one of those you wish you could go back and do again,” said UT wide receiver Dorian Leonard, who caught seven passes for 125 yards.
For the Longhorns, the defeat meant they have to wait at least another week to clinch bowl eligibility. And it increases the public pressure on Strong, who is trying to prove his program is moving in the right direction in the third year of his five-year contract.
“I think we’ve made a ton of progress,” Strong said.
Asmuchassomefansmight scoff at that notion, it contains plenty of truth. Unlike in Strong’s first two seasons, the Longhornshaven’tbeenblown out. They have shown a degree of resilience, which they needed when the Mountaineers took a 17-3 lead Saturday.
In a game that might have gotten out of hand a year ago, tailback D’Onta Fo rushed for 167 yards, ing the 100-yard mark 11th game in a row, tyin Campbell’s school recor
Buechele completed passes for 318 yards, inc a nifty touchdown cat run from Johnson that c 20 yards in the third qu So close and yet so f
But still, the Lon were haunted by the on got away.
In particular, they set field-goal attempts on t drive of the first half — ended on fourth-andthe 2 — and on a third-q drive that ended on and-2 from the 20.
“I definitely would liked to have gone for said Foreman, who had ries in the game.
Because the secon was blocked, UT wou with only three point those two long drive bined. And once aga Longhorns were left s their heads about wha have gone differently.