West Virginia makes cardinal errors in loss to Louisville
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Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater throws a pass against West Virginia during the first quarter of Saturday's game in Morgantown.
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va.-- If one thing is clear about West Virginia this season, it is that the Mountaineers are capable of losing to any other Big East Conference team.
They proved the point again Saturday in a game filled with special-teams mistakes and offensive miscues that led to a weighty, 38-35 loss against Louisville that could ruin the Mountaineers' bid for a conference championship and BCS bowl game.
"Right now, we're definitely not doing what it takes to win," said quarterback Geno Smith. "We've got to fight, ignore the negativity. ... Right now, that locker room is kind of emotional. We've got to continue to make progress and not let the negativity seep in."
West Virginia (6-3, 2-2) fell down the standings in front of 57,287 at Mountaineer Field.
Worse for West Virginia, the loss means the Mountaineers no longer are in control of their destiny to reach the top of the conference standings.
West Virginia missed a pair of field goals, lost two fumbles, shanked a pair of punts that led directly to scores and dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone.
It is the second time this year the team has lost despite outgaining its opponent in total yardage; this time it was 533-351 yards.
The key swing came 12 seconds into the fourth quarter when the Cardinals blocked a field-goal attempt, and Andrew Johnson ran it back for a touchdown to give Louisville a 31-21 lead.
Smith fumbled on the next series, Louisville's Calvin Pryor recovered, and the Mountaineers had less than 12 minutes to rally when they got the ball back.
Smith, pinned on the 4 from the previous punt, drove West Virginia 96 yards, and, with 9:01 left, Shawne Alston muscled into the zone, pummeling his lineman on the way.
Suddenly, the Mountaineers were trailing by only 31-28, but West Virginia's defense -- which played well in spurts, including two sets of back-to-back sacks -- could not get off the field.
The Cardinals, led by true freshman quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, chewed 7:03 off the clock and scored on Dominique Brown's 3-yard run to go up 38-28 with 1:50 remaining.
Smith drove the Mountaineers 65 yards and connected with Stedman Bailey for a 1-yard touchdown pass with 42.5 seconds left.
First Published November 6, 2011 12:00 am
