West Virginia football: 3 takeaways from loss to Texas in Week 6
By Phil Poling
2. The ‘Eers beat themselves
Sam Ehlinger and the Texas Longhorns are a very good football team. They’re now 4-1 and will likely be a top-10 team for the foreseeable future. But West Virginia beat itself Saturday, the Longhorns just happened to be sharing a field with them.
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Without Austin Kendall’s four interceptions, the 42-31 win Texas escaped Morgantown with wouldn’t have been achievable. It’s obvious that turnovers aren’t good and derail any chance at victory, but the timing of each pick breathed life into a Texas team when the Mountaineers could’ve stepped on their throats.
The first WVU turnover came directly after a 16-play drive from Texas that resulted in a missed goal. Already leading 7-0, the ‘Eers could’ve put Texas on the ropes by going up two scores. Instead, an interception was thrown, giving the Longhorns’ an opportunity that started in West Virginia territory. Two plays later and the score was tied.
The second interception thrown by Kendall came just after halftime. The West Virginia defense had just forced a punt and trailed 21-14. Instead of a drive to pull the home team closer, Kendall threw one pass and it ended up in the hands of a Longhorn. Texas couldn’t capitalize, but it gave them some breathing room.
After orchestrating a field goal drive, Kendall appeared to have shaken his prior mistakes, but then it happened again. The Mountaineers’ forced a punt and gave the ball back to Kendall and the offense.
Trailing 21-17, the Oklahoma transfer could’ve become a hero. Instead, another one of his passes ended up in the hands of Texas. WVU’s defense surrendered a touchdown, and when Kendall took the field again, he threw an interception, again — his fourth of the day. A quick Texas touchdown and the ‘Eers saw their four-point deficit balloon to 18 points in just a dozen plays.
Give it up to the Longhorns, they capitalized on West Virginia’s mistakes, eventually. But if those mistakes didn’t happen at the absolute worst times, this outcome would’ve been very different.