West Virginia finally has its first Big 12 win of the season, and the Mountaineers certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves. WVU beat Cincinnati 45-42 in a wild shootout Saturday afternoon in Morgantown, using a walk-off field goal to snap a three-game losing streak and improve to 4-3 on the season and 1-3 in Big 12 play.
It was a fitting way for West Virginia to finally break through in conference play.
Game Recap
The Mountaineers entered Saturday having allowed more than 40 points in each of their first three Big 12 games, and the defense once again had major issues against Cincinnati. But this time, West Virginia’s offense did enough to overcome it.
Cincinnati led 21-14 at halftime and held a 28-21 advantage entering the fourth quarter before the game completely opened up. The teams combined for 38 points in the final 15 minutes, with West Virginia scoring 24 of them.
The craziest part of West Virginia’s win? The Mountaineers never led until the game was over. Cincinnati controlled the scoreboard for most of the afternoon and took a 28-21 lead into the fourth quarter, but WVU erupted for 24 points in the final 15 minutes. The Mountaineers eventually tied the game at 42 before getting one final opportunity to win it, and Jack Cassidy drilled a 35-yard field goal as time expired. It was West Virginia’s first lead of the entire afternoon — and it came with 0:00 on the clock. After three straight Big 12 losses, that’s about as dramatic as a first conference win can get.
West Virginia vs. Cincinnati Fall Out
For a Mountaineers team that had been searching for answers during its three-game losing streak, style points didn’t matter Saturday.
Getting the win did.
West Virginia had started the season 3-0, including an impressive victory over then-No. 25 Virginia, before consecutive Big 12 losses to Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Arizona sent the season in the opposite direction. The Mountaineers entered Saturday at 0-3 in conference play and badly needed something positive before the second half of the schedule. They finally got it.
For Cincinnati, this is a brutal loss and one that could completely change the direction of its season. The Bearcats opened the year 4-0, including a Big 12 win over Kansas State, and looked like they might be one of the surprise teams in the conference. But after getting blown out 34-7 at Arizona, Cincinnati had a bye week to regroup and then came to Morgantown and lost to a West Virginia team that was 0-3 in Big 12 play. Now the Bearcats are 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the conference, and the schedule is about to get significantly tougher. Cincinnati’s next four games are against Texas Tech, Utah, Houston and Iowa State before finishing with Colorado and a road trip to BYU. Saturday felt like the game the Bearcats needed to have before entering that stretch. Instead, they let it get away, and suddenly a season that began with plenty of promise could get away from them quickly.
Meantime, for WVU, there are still major concerns defensively. Allowing 42 points isn’t a recipe West Virginia can rely on every week, especially after surrendering at least 40 points for the fourth consecutive Big 12 game.
But after three straight conference losses, Rich Rodriguez and the Mountaineers will gladly take this one. Sometimes you don’t need it to be pretty. You just need to survive.
