Deuce Bailey was responsible for 18 of Coastal Carolina's 24 points
It came down to the final possessions. What separated West Virginia from Coastal Carolina.
Michael Hawkins Jr. scored 12 of West Virginia's points. They edge Coastal Carolina, 31-24 at Milan Puskar Stadium. It stayed within one score late, and West Virginia made the plays down the stretch. Michael Hawkins Jr. threw for 132 yards on 14 attempts with one touchdown and ran 20 times for 103 yards and one score.
The plays that turned it
Cumulative margin after each quarter (comeback bid). Above the line = CC ahead, below = WVU ahead.
Most of the movement came on three plays. Cam Cook's 72-yard run on 1st-and-10 at Q1 14:46. Then Michael Hawkins Jr.'s 49-yard throw to Armoni Weaver-Bomar for a touchdown on 3rd-and-5 at Q1 02:14. Later, Michael Hawkins Jr.'s 9-yard run that came up short on 2nd-and-8 at Q2 10:24.
How it unfolded
West Virginia struck first through Cam Cook, led 24-0 at the half and the final points came on a late field goal by Coastal Carolina.
The big plays only went one way
Coastal Carolina produced 12 plays of 15+ yards to West Virginia's 6, chiefly Deuce Bailey (involved in 12), Clayton Coppock (involved in 2) and Tristian Gardner (involved in 2). West Virginia converted 9 of 18 third downs (50%) to Coastal Carolina's 20%: Michael Hawkins Jr. (8/14), Cam Cook (2/6) and DJ Epps (2/2). West Virginia won anyway.
How the two sides actually played on the night.
The standouts
Michael Hawkins Jr. threw for 132 yards on 14 attempts with one touchdown and ran 20 times for 103 yards and one score, including that score from inside the 20, eight third-down conversions and a hand in five plays of 15 yards or more. Cam Cook ran 30 times for 142 yards and two scores and caught two passes for 11 yards, including two of them from inside the 20 and two third-down conversions. DJ Epps ran two times for 5 yards and caught three passes for 36 yards, including two third-down conversions. For Coastal Carolina, Deuce Bailey threw for 373 yards on 37 attempts with three touchdowns and ran 10 times for 19 yards, with that score from inside the 20 and a hand in 12 plays of 15 yards or more. Clayton Coppock caught four passes for 83 yards, two of them for touchdowns. Colton Hinton caught three passes for 53 yards, one of them for a touchdown, with that score from inside the 20. Nate Gabriel was the disruptive one for West Virginia: 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1.5 tackles.
The takeaway
Historically similar games since 2019 — close margin, both offenses held far below norm — and how often that offense outperformed this level the following week.
A nervy, earned win for West Virginia; Coastal Carolina was one play from flipping it.
Discussion
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