West Virginia's Big East hopes are on life support, and the Mountaineers have only themselves to blame.
Four deadly fumbles cost West Virginia big time on Friday night, as it fell to Connecticut 16-13 at the Huskies' Rentschler Field. The loss drops the Mountaineers to 1-2 in Big East play.
The West Virginia defense was stout much of the night, yielding only 277 total yards and one long touchdown drive to Connecticut. Unfortunately for WVU, though, its turnover-plagued offense allowed the Huskies to remain in the game and eventually force overtime.
It was in that extra period that the Mountaineers fumbled again, giving the Huskies their overtime possession, needing only a field goal to win. Connecticut got it in the form of a 27-yard field goal by Dave Teggart to end the game.
The West Virginia offense found a lot of success against UConn, out-gaining the Huskies 414-277. Four Mountaineers had greater than 40 yards rushing including Noel Devine (67 on 16 carries), Geno Smith (64 on 15 carries), Brad Starks (53 on a touchdown run in the first quarter), and Ryan Clarke (42 on 10 carries). Smith was accurate, completing 22/34 passes, however, he threw for only 160 yards, averaging 4.7 yards per completion.
It will be a couple of weeks before the Mountaineers can redeem themselves, as they now wait for a matchup with Cincinnati at home on Nov. 13.