3rd Quarter Update

Syracuse 35, West Virginia 16

The defense is being exposed tonight.

The Mountaineers opened the second half on a promising note by putting together a nice drive that ate up some clock and put 7 points on the board. But special teams was shaky once again, nearly giving up another kickoff return, and the defense continued to struggle. The Orange got all the breaks they needed to keep drives alive, whether it was amazing one-handed catches, or great spots by the referees. 

The defense failed to step up, allowing Syracuse to drive down the field on their first possession and score to go up by 12. On the next Orange possession there was much of the same, as WVU didn't execute on third downs and the tight ends were open down the field. Syracuse scored again on a wide open pass to go up by 19. 

Then, needing a good drive, Geno Smith made a very bad play and threw an interception to a Syracuse defender with no gold and blue in sight. 

West Virginia is in full meltdown mode. 

3rd Quarter Update

33-9 at the end of the 3rd quarter.
Talk about a momentum swing. WVU got a much needed turnover to stop yet another methodical UCONN drive. A 78 yard return after a fumble recovery set up the Mountaineers at the UCONN 12, and Geno cashed in with a TD pass to Tavon Austin. The Mountaineer defense played with much more energy, forcing UCONN into a three-and-out on the next drive.
Geno then hit Stedman Bailey for a beautiful 84-yard touchdown catch-and-run to put WVU up 24-9 with 5:49 left in the third. The Huskies had to abandon their methodical, grind-it-out approach in order to play catch up, and seemed to be much more uncomfortable, giving up a safety with 2:31 left in the quarter.
The momentum swing combined with WVU's quick offensive tempo and scoring blitz appeared to suck the life out of Connecticut. Everything went the Mountaineers way in the 3rd, culminating in an amazing touchdown catch by Brad Starks in the corner of the end zone at the end of the quarter.
It's important that West Virginia doesn't fall asleep in the final quarter after getting the large lead. Maryland made a furious comeback earlier this year, a situation that hopefully is still fresh in the team's mind.