Austin Kendall Steps in and Delivers Second Half Comeback
The West Virginia Mountaineers were in desperate need of some offense after the Army Black Knights opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive while chewing up eight minutes and taking a 21-10 lead before backup quarterback Austin Kendall took over the offense and led the Mountaineers to a 24-21 comeback win.
Starting quarterback Jarrett Doege committed two turnovers in the first half. He threw into double coverage on the Mountaineers' second drive of the game, setting up the Army offense just inside West Virginia territory.
The Mountaineer defense continued to keep the Army triple-option rushing attack in check, while the offense sputtered with dropped passes continue to be an eyesore. Still, there were missed reads by Doege as the offense was completely out of rhythm.
West Virginia found the endzone for the first time in the game after constructing a 77-yard touchdown drive with just over four minutes left in the half and taking a 10-7 lead. Freshman receiver Sam Brown highlighted the drive with three receptions for 42 yards, one of which was brought in after going through the hands of teammate Winston Wright Jr and turning upfield for 19 yards. Another was on a slant for 14 yards with a receiver draped all over him.
The defense gave the offense another shot, but West Virginia head coach Neal Brown had to use three timeouts to do it. The Mountaineers took over at their own 13, and after a seven-yard gain on a touch pass to Wright and another nine yards on a screen to receiver Sean Ryan, it appeared West Virginia was going to add to its lead. However, on the next play, Doege could not find an open receiver, held onto the ball too long, got sacked, and was stripped, and Army recovered at the seven-yard line. Army capitalized in just two plays taking a 14-10 lead right before the half.
Brown said the direction to go with Austin Kendall was a group decision with quarterback coach Sean Reagan and receivers’ coach Gerad Parker.
“Jarrett has played very, very well all year, but he just, for whatever reason, didn’t see it well. I thought coach Woody and Army really did a nice job of mixing it up, and we had two uncharacteristically bad turnovers,” said Brown.
Trailing 21-10, Kendall orchestrated a 10 play 80-yard drive, throwing for 69 yards and a touchdown on 4-7 passing capped off by a three-yard touchdown pass out in the flat on fourth and two to get back within a possession. One of the incompletions was a dropped pass, the seventh of the game, and the eighth came on the two-point conversion.
“I thought he came in, in relief, and did a nice job. We had some drops, and that’s kind of plagued us throughout the year, but we made plays when we needed to,” said Brown.
West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Austin Kendall throws the ball against the Army Black Knights during the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal-Imagn Content Services, LLC
West Virginia caught Army off guard with an onside kick and recovered it but, the Mountaineers were unable to capitalize, being held to a three and out and again on their following drive after back-to-back dropped passes was the end of another drive.
The Mountaineer defense continued to slow the Army offense holding the unit to just 239 total yards on the day.
Kendall trotted the offense out onto the field with just over eight minutes left in the game. Suddenly, West Virginia was facing a third and eight, but a pass interference kept the drive alive.
Kendall was facing a third and 14 when he found Sam James over the middle of the field for 14 yards and the first down. He delivered a quick pass to Bryce Ford-Wheaton for seven yards before hitting a wide-open TJ Simmons for a 20-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone for Simmons' and Austin's second touchdown of the evening to take the lead.
“Austin has practiced really well during bowl prep and really for about the last six weeks has practiced really well, and we have confidence in him,” said Brown, later adding, “I thought over the last two months of the season he handled adversity really well. He had a good attitude, was fun to coach, and then when his number got called but made the most of it.”
Simmons and Liberty Bowl Most Valuable Player reiterated the same sentiment. “He still practices hard,” he said. He comes to work every day, he ready to work, and he puts in extra work every day regardless if he is the starting quarterback or not.”
Also adding, “I felt like with this being his last game, he should get some time on the field, and when he went out there and made some plays, it felt like last year. It was just natural for us; we were just making plays together.
West Virginia opted to go for two points after failing to convert to cut the Army lead to three was now looking to take a three-point advantage. Kendall took the snap and darted left down the line of scrimmage for a speed option, but receiver Reese Smith peeled back and took the pitch for an end around and converted to give the Mountaineers a 24-21 lead.
It was fitting the West Virginia defense sealed the victory with Josh Chandler-Semedo stepping in front of a Christian Anderson pass for an interception as the as it was for Austin Kendall to lead the offense in victory formation to complete the 11-point comeback.
“I would have loved to punctuated that thing and been able to run the ball out and run the clock out there without having to put our defense, but that wasn’t the way it went,” said Brown.
The Liberty Bowl win marks the first postseason win since West Virginia beat Arizona State in the Cactus Bowl following the 2014 season, preserving Neal Brown’s perfect bowl record to 4-0 and his first bowl win at West Virginia.
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