WVU-Virginia Simulation Has a Wild Ending in College Football 27

This week's simulation goes down to the wire.

College Football 27

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, I simulated tonight's game between West Virginia and Virginia on the College Football 27 video game. I normally do one every week, but because last week's game was against UT Martin, we didn't have a simulation because the game doesn't have FCS teams in it.

Here is how this week's simulation vs. Virginia went.

BOX SCORE

WVU: 7-7-0-7 — 21
UVA: 0-14-0-10 — 24

Individual Stats (WVU)

Offense

QB Mike Hawkins Jr.: 12/14 for 194 yards, one touchdown | 7 carries for 12 yards

RB Cam Cook: 11 carries for 93 yards | 3 receptions for 28 yards

WR Jaden Bray: 3 receptions for 21 yards

WR DJ Epps: 3 receptions for 36 yards | 1 carry for -1 yards

WR Prince Strachan: 2 receptions for 80 yards, one touchdown

TE Josh Sapp: 1 reception for 29 yards

Defensive leaders

S Kamari Wilson: 16 tackles, two tackles for loss

LB Ben Cutter: 10 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack

Individual Stats (Virginia)

Offense

QB Beau Pribula: 18/26 for 212 yards, two touchdowns | 6 carries for 7 yards

RB Peyton Lewis: 10 carries for 104 yards, one touchdown | 1 catch for 6 yards

RB Jekail Middlebrook: 7 carries for 12 yards | 1 catch for 13 yards

TE Dakota Twitty: 8 receptions for 95 yards, one touchdown

WR De'Shawn Martin: 4 receptions for 49 yards

WR Kameron Courtney: 3 receptions for 42 yards

WR Rico Flores Jr.: 1 reception for 7 yards

SCORES

1st quarter: Mike Hawkins Jr. 3-yard TD run, WVU leads 7-0

2nd quarter: Beau Pribula 4-yard TD pass to Kameron Courtney, game tied 7-7
Peyton Lewis 24-yard TD run, Virginia takes a 14-7 lead
Mike Hawkins Jr. 14-yard TD run, game tied 14-14

3rd quarter: No scoring.

4th quarter: Beau Pribula 8-yard TD pass to Dakota Twitty; Virginia leads 21-14
Mike Hawkins Jr. 76-yard TD pass to Prince Strachan with 1:48 left, game tied 21-21
Will Bettridge 37-yard game-winning field goal as time expires

What a 24-21 loss would mean

Well, for starters, Mountaineer fans would be beside themselves if this game unfolded the way this simulation did. When Hawkins hit Strachan and he broke a tackle deep downfield, I immediately knew that there was too much time on the clock. Still, the big explosive play to tie the game was clutch stuff. I do find it hard to believe that both teams will struggle running the ball with their quarterbacks and running it as little as they do here.

But a three-point loss to a ranked team that literally goes down to the wire would show that this team is going to do some good things this fall. Entering tonight's game, there are still a lot of questions about how good (or not) this West Virginia team really is.