Chaos is becoming the norm in the Big 12.
Despite committing two early turnovers, a terrific defensive effort and a super performance by wide receiver Kevin White helped West Virginia upset College Football Playoff contender Baylor, 41-27.
Outside of the stellar play by the home team to pull out the victory, the story of the day involved the referees and a full load of yellow laundry flying everywhere on the field. There were penalties galore on both sides in Morgantown, 32 of them to be precise, just four away from tying the FBS record in a game. Most of them were pass interference flags on the Bears as they attempted to cover White down the field.
White, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound senior, recorded eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. Defensive backs had no luck slowing him down, even when they were flagged for pass interference (he caught a TD pass on one such play). His second score of the day proved to be the game winner for West Virginia, as he captured the ball effortlessly with a one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone.
Mountaineers quarterback Clint Trickett put on a show for the NFL scouts in attendance, outdoing Baylor's Bryce Petty, his more highly touted counterpart, by throwing for 322 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
Petty, coming off one of his best outings of the season in a stunning comeback win over TCU, turned in perhaps the worst game of his career. He ended up just 16-of-36 for 233 yards and two touchdowns, failing to mount a late-game comeback this time. He was sacked four times and never seemed comfortable in the pocket, missing a number of throws that he typically would hit.
Add in a rushing game that averaged just 2.3 yards per carry, and it was a game that Baylor won't be excited to break down on tape when the team gets back to Waco. Some of the issues can be traced back to the offensive line, which lost another starter to a season-ending injury when right tackle Troy Baker departed with a torn ACL.
That's not to discount the terrific play by the West Virginia defense, though. While it didn't force any turnovers, the Mountaineers held the Bears to just three third-down conversions on 16 tries and disrupted any kind of rhythm Art Briles' team was trying to establish. Defensive lineman and former FCS star Shaq Riddick had his best performance as a Mountaineer, sacking Petty three times and registering four total tackles for loss.
Meanwhile, it was a relatively quiet game for Shawn Oakman, the monster Baylor defensive end who has been projected as a first-round pick.
The result likely takes Briles and his Bears out of playoff contention at the moment and makes their path to a second straight Big 12 title that much more difficult. The Mountaineers had played a number of top-25 teams closely so far this season and finally tripped one up at home.
Not a bad day for those country roads.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
