West Virginia’s offense a disappointment in the desert, Mountaineers fall to Minnesota in Guaranteed Rate Bowl

The West Virginia Mountaineers closed out the 2021 campaign with an 18-6 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, early Wednesday morning.

Minnesota’s defensive line dominated the Mountaineer offensive line and made life miserable for quarterback Jarret Doege for most of the night. WVU finished the night with just 206 yards of offense, their second-lowest output of the season.

West Virginia was in the game well into the third quarter, thanks to a solid effort of the Mountaineer defense, but failed to put together a drive that lasted longer than three minutes before fizzling out.

Doege finished the night 18-of-31 (58%) passing for 140 yards, one interception. Doege was sacked five times for a loss of 30 total yards but scored the Mountaineers' only touchdown of the night on a 4th and 1 keeper in the second quarter.

Tony Mathis closed out his first career start with 56 yards on 13 carries and five receptions for 24 yards.

Lance Dixon led the West Virginia defense with 11 total tackles.

West Virginia finishes the season with a losing record for the second season in Neal Brown’s three-year tenure in Morgantown.