WACO, Texas — The Baylor Bears went to Morgantown, West Virginia night and looked for their first ever win against the Mountaineers in Milan Puskar Stadium.
Baylor fell behind quickly after a Tony Mathis Jr. touchdown run early in the first quarter.
The Bears offense quickly responded in what may have been the best first half since Jeff Grimes took over the offense.
After a field goal that made it 7-3, Ben Sims took a one-yard rush into the end zone for a score followed by a Blake Shapen strike to Gavin Holmes for 35-yards.
Up 17-7, things then went south for the Bears. After a West Virginia field goal, Shapen fumbled the ball and it was returned 65 yards to tie things at 17.
BU would head into the locker room with a 24-17 lead thanks to a Craig Williams touchdown catch that was good for 39 yards.
At the end of the first, the Bears had 358 total yards.
It looked like Shapen was on his way to a career night until he took a hit to the head with just over 6 minutes to play in the third quarter. As Shapen slid at the end of the play, he was hit by a Moutaineer who was ejected for targeting.
Kyron Drones took over and immediately responded in the big moment. He found Al Presley on 4th-and-goal to give them a 31-24 lead.
All tied up again at 31, Qualan Jones scored a touchdown to make it a six-point game but the point after attempt was blocked and returned by the Mountaineers to make it 37-33.
Mathis Jr. followed that up two drives later with a 34-yard touchdown run to give the Mountaineers a 40-37 lead.
After a Drones interception, the Bears forced one of their own thanks to Dillon Doyle who stepped in front of a J.T. Daniels pass.
The Bears tied it up at 40, but couldn't hold the Mountaineer offense.
West Virginia drove down the field and set up a game-winning 22-yard field goal.
The Bears fell 43-40 and fell to 0-6 when playing at Milan Puskar.
