In the middle of the third quarter of the Liberty Bowl, West Virginia was in dangerous territory. The Black Knights had just scored in a brand run: 13 plays for 75 yards. It took exactly eight minutes for the Army to rise from 21 to 10. It was the kind of momentum that would make almost any opponent end the day and attack. Being 11 points below is not the end of the world, but going against the Army, with its slow and methodical triple option, limits the opportunities for momentum. And the opportunities that West Virginia had up to that point were wasted with twists, falls and missed opportunities in general. But by switching to once Austin Kendall as quarterback, West Virginia was able to start his comeback, resulting in a 24-21.
Kendall replaced Jarret Doege, who was ineffective in the first half and turned the ball twice. His second turn, a disaster at the end of the second half, immediately led to an Army touchdown two moves later. Kendall got off the bench in the second half and led the Mountaineers in an attempt to score 10-play and 80 yards to reduce the deficit to 21-16.
Knowing that the Army could run out of time again, West Virginia coach Neal Brown opted for a surprise kick, which the Mountaineers recovered. The resulting impulse did nothing, but stole a precious asset from the Army.
West Virginia’s defense did as good a job against the Army’s triple option as anyone could ask it to do. Of the Army’s 10 possessions, only two were long and sustained scoring attempts. The rest never lasted more than six moves. And while West Virginia’s attack didn’t perform much better – falls were a big problem and running back Leddie Brown never really got 3.3 yards per race – Kendall hit TJ Simmons for a 20-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
The Army falls short of its fourth victory of 10 in the school’s history. West Virginia ends 2020 with a 6-4 record, not bad for Year 0.5 for Brown. Driven by defense throughout most of the season, the Mountaineers are expected to make major improvements in attack in 2021.