Monday Morning Quarterback: WVU needed this one
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Early in the fourth quarter West Virginia had just taken a 31-13 lead over Arizona on a 54-yard touchdown pass to Traylon Ray.
WVU fans were breathing a sigh of relief and putting their feet up to relax and enjoy closing out a road win.
But as we all have experienced over many years, the Mountaineers seldom make things easy.
The West Virginia defense, which had been solid most of the night, suddenly reverted to form. The Wildcats scored on three straight possessions, the last two of which occurred over a four minute span midway through the fourth to close within 31-26.
Long yardage pass plays, which have been the bane of the West Virginia defense all season, were being converted.
If Arizona were to get the ball for one last possession, a huge comeback would likely have been completed.
The Mountaineer offense needed to run out the clock, and they converted two key third down plays to do just that to preserve the win.
West Virginia scored touchdowns on three fourth down plays, including a fake field goal attempt in the first quarter.
Overall the Mountaineers were 7-of-16 on third down conversions and 4-of-4 on fourth down.
Quarterback Nicco Marchiol, who is from Arizona, took over for an injured Garrett Greene and had an outstanding day, completing 18 of 22 passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns.
Most importantly, he committed no turnovers. Marchiol doesn't have the lightning speed possessed by Greene, but he is a more accurate passer.
In four games over his career, when he has started or come off the bench early (previous were Oklahoma State in '22, Pitt and Texas Tech in '23) the Mountaineers have come up victorious.
The rushing attack showed a bit more life with 207 yards on 37 attempts, including a 55-yard run by Jahiem White in the first half. Special teams were excellent.
In addition to the fake field goal stuffing the Wildcats at their own 12 on the kickoff return to start the second half was key to maintaining momentum.
Oliver Straw averaged 46 yards on his three punts. Not turning the ball over and being solid on special teams can make the difference in close games, as they did on Saturday.
West Virginia will now enter its second bye week of the season, which hopefully will enable several injured players to recover.
In a very competitive Big 12 Conference all of the four remaining games are winnable, so a successful season is still within reach.
But the opposite is also true.