Most college football fans view offense and defense as the most important aspects of a football game. However, special teams errors can be costly, and West Virginia shot themselves in the foot with a brutal error on a kick return in their game on Saturday against Oklahoma State.
West Virginia was leading 24-20 going into the fourth quarter, and were about to get the ball back after their defense forced Oklahoma State to punt on fourth down.
Mountaineers return man Preston Fox was back to return the kick, but he never even got a chance to field the punt. He was taken out by his teammate Andrew Wilson-Lamp, who absolutely trucked him to the ground as he went to catch the ball.
The ball then hit him, which made it a live fumble that Oklahoma State then recovered.
Great punt coverage by West Virginia to DRILL the West Virginia returner and caused a muffed punt that Oklahoma State recovers! 💥
— The Transfer Portal CFB (@TPortalCFB) October 21, 2023
It’s a mistake that simply can’t happen, and the college football world could not believe what they saw…
Oh West Virginia what are we doing pic.twitter.com/f9Q0DCnnhj
— Unnecessary Roughness (@UnnecRoughness) October 21, 2023
Nobody beats West Virginia like West Virginia beats West Virginia
— West By God Virginia (@WestByGodWV) October 21, 2023
The West Virginia player is pushed into the punt returner and it is ruled a fumble recovery for Oklahoma Statepic.twitter.com/PwUiPYrmbt
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) October 21, 2023
Last week we lost on a hail mary because Greene couldn't keep his mouth shut after a TD and our deep ball passing defense is fraudulent.
This week we're likely gonna lose because of *friendly fire* on our punt returner. It just doesn't get any more West Virginia than this 🤌🏻
— kcj.tm (@kcjwv) October 21, 2023
It looked like Wilson-Lamp may have been pushed into the returner by an Oklahoma State player, but no foul was called. And if you are Wilson-Lamp, you have to know to stay away from the return man in that situation.
The muffed kick return would come back to cost West Virginia, as Oklahoma State would go on to score shortly after due to the great field position that the fumble caused.
#⃣2⃣ on the day for @Ollie_Gordon2 🤠
Pokes back on top!
📺: ESPN pic.twitter.com/0ZlA44eyZJ
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 21, 2023
West Virginia has looked fine on offense in the game. But this costly special teams error could be the difference in the game.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.