October 18, 2014 Week 8 · Regular Season Belt changed hands

West Virginia takes the belt, 41–27, at home over Baylor.

Home · New Holder

West Virginia 41

Away · Defending Holder

BaylorAP No. 4 27

AP poll, week 8: Baylor No. 4 at West Virginia unranked · No. 1 that week: East Carolina. The belt vs. the polls →

Belt context

Where this game sits in the lineage

West Virginia took the belt here, ending Baylor’s run of 7 days and 0 defenses (reign #289) and starting reign #290. It lasted 14 days and 1 defense, until TCU took it on November 1, 2014.

For West Virginia this was its 11th shot at the belt; it had held the belt once before — and it took it back here.

It was the 3rd of 3 belt games between the two; going in, the series stood 1–1; all-time West Virginia leads 2–1. Every meeting →

AI-Written

Recap

West Virginia claimed the College Football Belt with a 41-27 victory over Baylor in Morgantown, taking control early behind Clint Trickett's aerial assault. The Mountaineers struck first when Trickett connected with Kevin White for a 36-yard touchdown just over a minute into the game, and they never relinquished the lead despite Baylor's offensive firepower. West Virginia's defense and special teams proved the difference, recovering a crucial fumble on a Baylor punt return in the second quarter and forcing three turnovers overall, while Baylor's mistake-free execution couldn't overcome the Mountaineers' aggressive play-calling and strong execution in the air.

Kevin White's 36-yard TD catch on West Virginia's opening drive set the tone and gave the Mountaineers an early 7-0 lead they would not surrender
Daryl Worley's fumble on the punt return in Q2 that Baylor recovered, leading to Andrew Buie's 1-yard scoring run to extend West Virginia's lead to 21-13
Dreamius Smith's 9-yard TD run in Q2 with Josh Lambert's 54-yard field goal just before halftime gave West Virginia a commanding 31-13 lead entering the break
Clint Trickett's interception to Xavien Howard in Q1 was one of three West Virginia turnovers that kept Baylor within striking distance but ultimately not enough to overcome the deficit

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

West VirginiaBaylor

Total yards456318

Rushing yards13495

Passing yards322223

First downs3322

3rd down conv.6/153/16

Turnovers30

Penalties–yards14–13818–215

Time of possession30:2328:42

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:01	Baylor	+7 yd	Bryce Petty pass complete to Corey Coleman for 7 yds for a TD, (Chris Callahan KICK)
Q1 13:15	West Virginia	+23 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Wendell Smallwood for 23 yds to the WVirg 38 for a 1ST down
Q1 12:02	West Virginia	+36 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Kevin White for 36 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK)
Q1 12:02	West Virginia	+25 yd	Michael Molinari kickoff for 63 yds , Lynx Hawthorne return for 25 yds to the Bayl 27
Q1 7:50	Baylor	+20 yd	Shock Linwood run for 5 yds to the WESTVIR 46 for a 1ST down WEST VIRGINIA Penalty, Illegal Use of Hands (NA) to the WVirg 31 for a 1ST down
Q1 6:29	Baylor	+38 yd	Chris Callahan 38 yd FG GOOD
Q1 5:02	West Virginia	-15 yd	Clint Trickett pass intercepted Xavien Howard return for 15 yds to the WVirg 37
Q1 2:33	Baylor	+34 yd	Chris Callahan 34 yd FG GOOD
Q1 2:33	Baylor	+28 yd	Spencer Evans kickoff for 62 yds , Shelton Gibson return for 28 yds to the WVirg 31
Q1 1:12	Baylor	-3 yd	Shock Linwood run for a loss of 3 yards to the Bayl 28 Shock Linwood fumbled, recovered by Bayl Bryce Petty WEST VIRGINIA Penalty, Personal Foul (NA) to the Bayl 28
Q2 14:51	Baylor	+36 yd	Spencer Roth punt for 36 yds , Daryl Worley returns for a loss of 1 yard to the WVirg 29 Daryl Worley fumbled, recovered by Bayl Jimmy Landes
Q2 13:40	West Virginia	+37 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Kevin White for 37 yds to the Bayl 37 for a 1ST down
Q2 10:56	West Virginia	+1 yd	Andrew Buie run for 1 yd for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK)
Q2 8:25	Baylor	+63 yd	Bryce Petty pass complete to Antwan Goodley for 63 yds for a TD, (Chris Callahan KICK)
Q2 5:15	West Virginia	+22 yd	Dreamius Smith run for 7 yds to the Bayl 38 for a 1ST down BAYLOR Penalty, Illegal Use of Hands (NA) to the Bayl 23 for a 1ST down
Q2 4:21	West Virginia	+9 yd	Dreamius Smith run for 9 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK)
Q2 4:21	West Virginia	+20 yd	Michael Molinari kickoff for 65 yds , Clay Fuller return for 20 yds to the Bayl 20
Q2 0:30	West Virginia	+24 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Andrew Buie for 24 yds to the Bayl 37 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:00	West Virginia	+54 yd	Josh Lambert 54 yd FG GOOD
Q3 9:28	West Virginia	+24 yd	Josh Lambert 24 yd FG GOOD
Q3 9:28	West Virginia	+33 yd	Michael Molinari kickoff for 65 yds , Clay Fuller return for 33 yds to the Bayl 33
Q3 4:29	West Virginia	+57 yd	Nick O'Toole punt for 49 yds BAYLOR Penalty, Offensive Holding (NA) to the Bayl 8
Q3 3:50	Baylor	+42 yd	Bryce Petty pass complete to Corey Coleman for 42 yds to the WVirg 23 for a 1ST down
Q3 0:38	Baylor	+1 yd	Shock Linwood run for 1 yd for a TD, (Chris Callahan KICK)
Q3 0:31	West Virginia	+23 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Kevin White for 8 yds to the Bayl 36 for a 1ST down BAYLOR Penalty, Face Mask (15 yards) (Xavien Howard) to the Bayl 49 for a 1ST down
Q3 0:38	Baylor	+26 yd	Spencer Evans kickoff for 63 yds , Shelton Gibson return for 26 yds to the WVirg 28
Q4 11:36	West Virginia	+12 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Kevin White for 12 yds for a TD BAYLOR Penalty, Defensive Pass Interference (Xavien Howard) declined, (Josh Lambert KICK)
Q4 12:10	West Virginia	+42 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Andrew Buie for 42 yds to the Bayl 14 for a 1ST down
Q4 7:35	West Virginia	+39 yd	Clint Trickett pass complete to Mario Alford for 39 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK)
Q4 4:24	Baylor	+24 yd	Shock Linwood run for 24 yds to the WVirg 21 for a 1ST down

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

West Virginia

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Clint Trickett	23/35	322	9.2	3	1	82.8

Baylor

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT	QBR
Bryce Petty	16/36	223	6.2	2	0	24.9
Seth Russell	0/1	0	0.0	0	0	1.4

Rushing

West Virginia

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Wendell Smallwood	20	66	3.3	0	13
Dreamius Smith	13	60	4.6	1	11
Andrew Buie	9	24	2.7	1	8
Rushel Shell	3	13	4.3	0	6
Jordan Thompson	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Clint Trickett	3	-25	-8.3	0	4

Baylor

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Shock Linwood	21	69	3.3	1	24
Devin Chafin	7	31	4.4	0	8
Levi Norwood	1	4	4.0	0	4
Antwan Goodley	1	3	3.0	0	3
Corey Coleman	1	-3	-3.0	0	0
Bryce Petty	11	-9	-0.8	0	6

Receiving

West Virginia

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kevin White	8	132	16.5	2	37
Andrew Buie	4	63	15.8	0	42
Mario Alford	4	53	13.3	1	39
Daikiel Shorts	2	33	16.5	0	18
Wendell Smallwood	1	23	23.0	0	23
Jordan Thompson	3	18	6.0	0	8
Dreamius Smith	1	0	0.0	0	0

Baylor

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Antwan Goodley	9	132	14.7	1	63
Corey Coleman	5	77	15.4	1	42
KD Cannon	1	10	10.0	0	10
Levi Norwood	1	4	4.0	0	4

Show more stats (5 more categories)

Interceptions

West Virginia

No recorded stats in this category.

Baylor

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Xavien Howard	1	15	0

Kick Returns

West Virginia

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Shelton Gibson	4	81	20.3	28	0
Wendell Smallwood	1	9	9.0	9	0

Baylor

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Clay Fuller	2	53	26.5	33
Lynx Hawthorne	2	38	19.0	25
Levi Norwood	1	16	16.0	16

Kicking

West Virginia

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Josh Lambert	2/2	100.0	54	5/5	11

Baylor

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Chris Callahan	2/2	100.0	38	3/3	9

Punt Returns

West Virginia

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Jordan Thompson	1	2	2.0	2	0
Daryl Worley	1	-1	-1.0	-1	0

Baylor

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Levi Norwood	2	2	1.0	1	0

Punting

West Virginia

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Nick O'Toole	6	256	42.7	0	3	55

Baylor

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Spencer Roth	9	403	44.8	0	4	69

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.

Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400547874) · This game in the downloadable dataset

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