West Virginia football: 3 takeaways from loss to Texas in Week 6
By Phil Poling
West Virginia football hosted No. 11 Texas on Saturday, but the Longhorns ultimately prevailed, winning 42-31. What can we take from the loss?
It wasn’t the final outcome that WVU fans had hoped for, but Mountaineer Nation has plenty to be proud of. Being a tough out for a top-15 team isn’t an easy thing to do, but first-year head coach Neal Brown had his boys prepared for the visiting Longhorns.
From the very first drive of the game, it was obvious the Mountaineers meant business. In just four plays that spanned 1:29 seconds of game time, quarterback Austin Kendall moved the offense right down the field and into the endzone. They were aided by back-to-back defensive pass interference calls, but capped the drive off with a Kendall to Sam James hookup for six; Milan Puskar Stadium was rocking.
On the ensuing possession, Texas went on a seven-minute,16-play drive, but after missing a field goal, appeared to have given the ‘Eers a golden opportunity. Without fail, West Virginia threw an interception as soon as the offense took the field, but it didn’t break the team’s spirit.
They played the Longhorns tough throughout the game, keeping it a one-score game until early in the fourth quarter. And although West Virginia lost, we learned plenty about the 2019 Mountaineers.