ORLANDO, Fla. — For five weeks, it was a dream season for West Virginia.
Deep into autumn, the victories were many, the hopes of a place among the nation’s elite teams very much alive.
But then the Mountaineers season mutated into something of a nightmare, ultimately ending in a three-game losing streak that was capped by a 34-18 defeat to Syracuse Friday night in the Camping World Bowl.
After being a legitimate contender for a berth in the national championship playoff field for most of the season, West Virginia finished 8-4.
“A disappointing loss,” coach Dana Holgorsen said. “A disappointing end to our season.”
And an exhilarating punctuation to a season of revival for the program at Syracuse, which hadn’t been in a bowl game since 2013 and ended up 10-3.
“The [bowl game] trophy is really, really heavy,” Orange coach Dino Babers said. “And I’m glad we got it.”
The Orange secured it by virtue of scoring 17 unanswered points in the first 5:01 of the final quarter, transforming an 18-17 deficit into its 16-point margin of victory.
The game attracted an announced crowd of 41,125. The top seating level of three at Camping World Stadium was unoccupied.
Both teams were missing some key personnel, for a variety of reasons, but the most significant absence was that of West Virginia quarterback Will Grier, who fueled his team’s high-powered offense throughout the regular season.
Grier opted to skip the bowl game to prepare for the NFL draft, however, and his replacement, Jack Allison, turned in a fairly ordinary performance.
Holgorsen said “we’re obviously a different club” with Allison playing instead of Grier, but declined to criticize Allison.
“It helps to have all your guys, but I thought we had good practices and tried hard,” Holgorsen said. “And that’s all you can ask.”
Allison completed 17 of 35 passes for 277 yards, and had one intercepted.
Mountaineers receiver David Sills, who had four catches, suggested that “we, as players, could have helped Jack out a little more” and that “they were game-planned against our pass game.”
Syracuse senior quarterback Eric Dungey, who completed 21 of 30 passes for 303 yards and a touchdown, was named most valuable player of the game.
“The guy is amazing,” Babers said. “And he has the heart of a lion.”
In the second half, Dungey became the leading passer in school history, an accomplishment he shrugged off after the game.
“The only thing I care about is we’ve got 10 wins for the first time since 2001,” said Dungey, who made a futile attempt to choke back tears while speaking with reporters. “You’re only as good as your best receiver, as good as your line.”
If West Virginia had an MVP, it probably was place-kicker Evan Staley. He drove a first-quarter extra-point attempt off an upright, but recorded field goals of 28, 36, 44 and 49 yards, in that order.
“He had a lot of opportunities,” Holgorsen said.
Far too many for the Mountaineers chances of winning, actually.
West Virginia moved the ball effectively throughout the game — the Mountaineers finished with 423 yards of total offense, five more than the Orange — but routinely had drives stall once they made visual contact with the end zone.
“They have a style of play they believe in,” Holgorsen said. “They give up some yardage and give up some plays, but they don’t panic.”
And it doesn’t sound as if Holgorsen intends to, either, as he shifts his focus to 2019.
“It’s always nice to be able to end the year with a win, but we had a good year,” he said. “You can be disappointed all you want to, but we had a good year.”
Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG.
First Published: December 29, 2018, 2:06 a.m.
Updated: December 29, 2018, 3:20 a.m.