As West Virginia watched time tick away on the scoreboard of AT&T Jones Stadium in Lubbock, it seemed to come more with a sigh of relief than a shout of victory.
The No. 9 Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0) knocked off the then-No. 24 Texas Tech Red Raiders 42-34 in their first true road game of the season. One would think that a road win over a ranked conference opponent would bring immediate celebration, but after WVU nearly watched a 25-point lead by not scoring a single offensive point in the second half.
“We focused all week on starting fast, we did that, I guess I just forgot to tell them you’ve gotta play the whole game,” WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen quipped at his weekly press conference.