Halftime: WVU 24, Baylor 20 after overpenalized, sloppy first half

To say that first half, despite 3 West Virginia turnovers, was not exactly ideal for the Bears would be a bit of an understatement.  Bryce Petty finished the half just 9/20 for 133 yards, though he does have 2 TDs, and the running game has so far been completely nonexistent with just 24 yards on 19 carries.  The only real bright spot for the Bears has been kicker Chris Callahan, who has now made 6 field goals in a row dating back to the TCU game including a career-long 38-yarder.

Honestly, the big story for me in this first half has to be the officiating, which was at best inconsistent and at worst incompetent.  Baylor was flagged numerous times defensively for calls that seemed fairly ticky-tack without corresponding treatment, and the half ended after one of the weirdest sequences in recent memory.  After a Clint Trickett pass was called back for an ineligible receiver downfield, the officials reviewed the penalty and determined that the pass had been completed behind the line, negating the penalty.  FOX's Mike Pereira openly questioned whether that could even be reviewed at all, and WVU kicked a 54-yard field goal as time expired.  Of course, we were also flagged on that play, as well, and the penalty will be enforced on the kickoff after halftime, which we will receive.

Going forward, Baylor is going to have to do a couple of things to turn this game around.  First, we have to stop he run.  WVU has made a living so far with balance, and we can't let that happen in the second half.  Second, Petty simply has to play better.  He's taken a couple of bad sacks so far that have killed drives, missed open receivers for should-have-been TDs, and looked very poor, generally.  If he keeps playing that way, and WVU keeps their momentum, we won't win.