Third Quarter Woes Have Haunted Mountaineers

St. Clairsville’s Ferns could see playing time

MORGANTOWN -- In many ways West Virginia's offense, led by Heisman Trophy candidate Will Grier, has been one of the most prolific in school history.

Then, again, it hasn't. Especially after halftime.

"I bet you there are a lot of things if you look at it and study it that you could pin it to," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said "That's something we have to do better at is starting fast when we come out at the half, because typically, that first drive or those first few drives of that third quarter is going to set the tone of what the game is going to be like moving forward. When we struggle in the third quarter, we are typically in a dog fight.

"That's something we've all addressed. We all know that. You're getting down to the last game of the season right now, where it's more about you have to get ready to play. We need to make sure we're having a great week of preparation and making sure we're getting ready to play Oklahoma."

For Grier, who has thrown for 3,325 yards and 33 touchdowns during his final season in Morgantown, the explanation is a more, simple one.

"In many of those games we had big leads at the half and we just didn't come out with the same intensity and effort in the second half," Grier said. "That was the case at Oklahoma State. We didn't play with the same effort that we played with in the first half and it allowed them to get back in to the game.

"Then the game becomes a dog fight. It all just comes down to effort. With effort you get intensity. With intensity you get execution. And with execution you get wins."

But when you are playing host to the No. 6 team in the country -- Oklahoma -- one bad quarter could be the difference between a victory and another loss.

"We've gone toe-to-toe with these guys in the past, and there's been fun games, and they've whipped us before as well," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "They've been low-scoring games, high-scoring games, and they've whipped us. But I feel like this is the best team that we've had -- they are every bit as good as they always are -- but it comes down to this, and I think we'll be up for the challenge.

"I think we'll be ready to go. It would mean a lot, but I will say, it isn't the end-all-be-all now. I think we've improved our program and our recruiting and our talent and our overall body of work, I think it's continuously getting better. As much as I love our seniors and will miss them, once this season is over, we'll reload and keep moving forward. And all these experiences, I think, will be good for the younger guys as far as just learning on how it's supposed to be and what the expectations are and how we practice and how we play.

"The recruiting aspect of it is continuously getting better, so this isn't a do-or-die situation for me or this program. I will refute that until I can't refute it anymore. But it would be big, we know it would be big. Our goal has been the Big 12 Championship Game, everybody's goal is the Big 12 Championship Game. We get an opportunity to play for it on Friday night. That's all I can ask for."

In other game notes:

∫ St. Clairsville native Brendan Ferns could see more action at linebacker for WVU on Friday

"It (health of the defense) is not good," defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. "Five of our top six linebackers are out. It's the same thing it was last week.

"Ferns is more game-ready than what (Quandarious) Qualls is, but it's not fair to that kid to throw him in there. Now, we may have too. He's dressed, ready to go and getting reps. If I had to say, he's probably 85 percent game ready. His knee is 100 percent cleared, but there's still a mental makeup to that, and there's six months of doing nothing with football with that as well."