The game is now long in the books and WVU is $2,303,382.50 richer, less expenses, for the experience. The Mountaineers, now ranked eighth, are better than they were a week and certainly two weeks ago, though this one win wasn’t performed as emphatically or stylishly as the first one.

The offense was again sharp at the start, the defense was very good when challenged and then the offense seized momentum when it needed to and ran with it. There were also some dubious moments to keep us talking and thinking about what’s to come — and Baylor is coming quick.

Let’s take a closer look and examine the good and the bad …

Good: Heat

May God have mercy on Colin Dunlap if the Pirates and Cubs went extra innings. Joel Hanrahan got us out in time for the Root Sports intro.  Apparently it wasn’t easy.

Good: Washington monuments

Seriously, if you give Geno Smith five seconds and more than enough time to make the third read on a deep square-in to convert a third-and-11, you, kind defensive coordinator, are screwed.

JMU tried some pressure and succeeded from time to time, which contributed to a safety, one big hit on Geno and a handful of negative yardage running plays, but WVU’s offensive line was again up to the task.

Maryland’s defensive line is going to have the most talent yet, led by Joe Vellano in the middle, but it sure looks like WVU is able to win many of these 5-on-3 or 5-on-4 situations. Bring a fifth or sixth? The story changes.

Bad: Safety first

Bad moment for Jeff Braun here as defensive lineman Sean O’Neill gets quick and sharp leverage and creates a lane so that he and a safety Dean Marlowe to make the tackle. The Dukes muscled up and won the down. No more, no less.

Bad: Stedman Bailey’s royalties

It was the gifted outside receiver who dubbed Jordan Thompson “Squirt” after a “Finding Nemo” character, a fact that did not make the pregame notes.

Good: One-yard jukes

Not the best day for Shawne Alston, but WVU didn’t need or ask for his best day. He ran some nice zones and blocked well and punched in a short touchdown, but this play stood out among the others. Not sure he makes that move and then moves the chains in he past.

Watch him spot the sudden attack and make a cut in stride and turn a loss into a gain. He didn’t try to barrel over the opponent, which would have slowed things down and let others pile on to likely stop the play short. He instead saw a yard and took a yard.

Good: All-around Shawne

More of this: A year ago, Alston probably comes off the field after the short-yardage run and Andrew Buie or Dustin Garrison subs in so WVU can return to its normally scheduled offense already in progress. But Alston is the man this season and WVU doesn’t sub him and doesn’t have to sub him. Mike Logan’s line of “West Virginia’s offense continues to roll” is, perhaps unwittingly, apt here.

So we quickly pick up with the same play as above and quickly transition to the next, when Alston runs up the field, throws on a defender and springs Tavon for a big gain. Part of this is circumstance because JMU’s defensive end opted to go inside and take on Pat Eger, who did his job.

But that let Alston bypass the end and head for the open field and he goes at the guy’s feet and wins the play. He didn’t try to run into the guy and then run him off the play. He instead made a very difficult block and let Tavon do Tavon stuff. Tremendous play.

Bad: Geno Smith’s pocket presence

Picky, picky, picky, I know, but this stuff can’t continue to happen, and Dana Holgorsen is harping on it now. Geno is in the pocket a long, long time and as good as the line has been, and was, it’s too much to ask those guys to pass block that long. That’s too long for anyone.

Geno has to be a little more definitive and authoritative — and he knows and says that, to be fair. But he almost got crunched and then had to hustle and nearly threw an interception. That was about as out-of-control as we’ve seen Mr. Smith this season, but understand there are going to be more moments like this.

Also, side “Good” to Andrew Buie for just throwing himself at people to give Geno time and space.

Good: Play call

WVU was clever early on and had JMU going side to side before the Mountaineers started to eat up the middle of the field. I thought this was great — and so did another college writer who texted me almost right away.

This is immediately after the previous play and JMU really wants to sack Geno. So WVU goes middle screen. Watch the line just give way to the pass rush, but do so deceptively to get up the field and block for the screen. That’s devilish.

I don’t recall seeing this play too often and the double whammy here is most of WVU’s screens go to inside receivers. Say a defense is really coached up and spots the deception by the offensive line. Those defenders likely rally to Tavon or Jordan Thompson. They’re blockers on this play. Need a little better work from the line here, but there is a lot of timing involved. Big gains are good, but touchdowns are possible if this hits.

Good: That

I mean, good luck. JMU is in the right defense here. It does nothing wrong. The pressure gets there. The Dukes get hands on Geno. The coverage is not terrible. But the throw is just … gosh.

How does this happen? WVU was in the wrong play — or, more likely, a bad play. Geno sees it and changes it and calls for corner routes for Tavon and Stedman because he knows six guys are coming. Watch the final replay. Stedman is open, too.

Also, side “Good” to Buie for another good block.

Bad: That, a little later

Virtually the same thing happened later and Geno got smacked. That was the one time he got hit-hit all game. I’m telling you, JMU threw some good stuff at WVU and WVU will, or should, be better for it.

Bad: Pressure misses

WVU threw some good stuff at JMU, too, and managed four sacks, which quintupled the season total. But there could, and should, have been more. Shaq Petteway blows up this play because he invades with a knife in one hand and a torch in the other and has no way to get Justin Thorpe. This is not to single out Shaq, though — this happened a few times to the Mountaineers.

Bad: Daunte Culpepper comparisons

Say what you will about Mike Logan — and you have, marvelously — but you probably don’t want to put any commentator in the position to liken a FCS quarterback to Daunte Culpepper, who was a beast in college. Yet, under the above circumstances, you can probably understand. Dozie Ezemma, Terence Garvin and then K.J. Dillon all miss chances to get Thorpe before he gets a fist down. Dillon came through will all sorts of bad intentions, but nothing good came of it.

Good: Those three guys

Ezemma finished a play with a sack later on, Dillon was really good on special teams, and earned the team’s player of the week award, and Garvin was solid again. But Justin Thorpe is no Collin Klein. He’s not Nick Florence.

Good: More Josh Francis?  More Josh Francis!

Still small samples from the junior college pass-rush specialist, but he got the start Saturday, made 1 1/2 tackles for a loss and earned the team’s defensive player of the week award. He was too quick for a lot of the outside blockers, but sometimes used his force to get open.

What we’ve noticed so far is that the guy recognizes things pretty quickly and has some more discipline than he exhibited last season. This is worth repeating: He all but confessed to paralysis by analysis last season in the 3-3-5 and predicted better results this season because he was just out there playing. It’s a little more complicated than that, but he has the wherewithal to do stuff like this — see a play go the other way, stay at home and then pounce.

Bad: Punting

Know what bad punts do? They don’t just put your defense in a bad spot. They really pressure the offense. Corey Smith’s 24-yard punt set up a JMU field goal and, in a closer, more competitive game, it would compel the offense to do something to make up for it.

In the Big 12, the offense is going to have to do a lot to pick up the defense. You don’t want to pick up the punter — or the kickoff return team, for that matter, either. That’s part of this culture change that’s coming in the new conference. Iowa State hasn’t allowed a touchdown the past two games and has won with 46 points and a pedestrian offense. But the Cyclones have a good defense and a great punter who has had 14 of his 19 punts downed inside the 20-yard line and six of those downed inside the 10. That punter isn’t putting that defense, and by extension, that offense, in bad spots.

One wonders what awaits Michael Molinari in practice this week. Dana doesn’t mess around with that stuff.

Bad: Short yardage

Hey, don’t look now, but the Mountaineers had five negative yardage runs Saturday and four by Alston, who could’t run out of the JMU tackles like he did against Marshall. WVU is also 5-for-10 when it’s third or fourth down and the offense only needs one or two yards for a first down or a touchdown.

These are the third- and fourth-down plays from the first drive of the third quarter. The first wasn’t blocked very well, but I can’t figure out how the second didn’t work, except that a JMU safety made a nice play and a JMU defender used Quinton Spain to make a nice play.

Also, side “Good” to Buie, who sweeps across the play on fourth down to take out defensive end Brandon Lee, who made the play on third down. Buie wasn’t in on third down. Buie was in on a short-yardage fourth down to make a block for a much bigger running back.

Good: Buie

I thought he was terrific. I knew Geno wouldn’t get the team’s offensive player of the week award, so I hoped Buie would. He caught the ball, he ran the ball and he blocked wonderfully. I was right — and I’m prepared to say I was misled about Buie this season. He’s been very physical in two games and he’s able to stay on the field and do things that Alston or Ryan Clarke do, which helps with tempo.

Good: The FCS, everybody

Man, I loved this. Those guys played hard and that’s a lousy thing to say about a pretty good team. But this celebration — the defender in a sprinter’s stance watching the chain, the, um, jolly assistant, the sheer excitement — made me feel a lot better about their plight. Good for them.

Bad: Injuries

It can happen when FCS teams play up, but JMU lost starting receiver Daniel Brown for the season. He a tore an ACL on the very first play. The Dukes aren’t deep at that position — not like they are at running back, for example — so that hurts a lot. Hate to see that, especially when a player just gets tackled into a teammate.

Good: My goodness, Karl!

Yikes. That’s how you’re supposed to do it. Dip, drive and down. I know the JMU guy, Ryan Dixon, doesn’t have a lot of wiggle and he didn’t have much time, but that was fun to watch.

Bad: My goodness, Karl Joseph

JMU’s Jordan Anderson, who has 1,000 yards in his career, by the way, and filled in very nicely for Dae’Quan Scott, makes a nice play here. Joseph does not and comes in too sharp to get back out and tackle Anderson. That’ll happen to an aggressive safety.

Good: My goodness, Karl Joseph!

All is forgiven. Joesph is on the hash making sure the outside receiver doesn’t slant in and that a back or a tight end doesn’t come into his area, but he sees Anderson take the carry and jumps all over the play. He’s got something to him, huh? Anderson is 215 pounds and has 20 pounds on Joseph. On top of that, Anderson is plodding here and trying to find a spot. He’s not going fast enough that a blow by Joseph should send him spinning like that.

Good: The Arlias

I don’t know, maybe it’s bad. Connor’s family was seated in front of where we were in the press box. On this play, they all rose to their feet and cheered, albeit prematurely, for Arlia’s first college catch that was absolutely going to be a touchdown. Geno instead opted for a perfect, though extraordinarily difficult pass to Stedman. I’m not sure that happens in Austin, Texas.

The Arlias half cheered and half sulked, though Connor got his fist career catch a while later.

And this play was very much a part of the conversation between Geno and Jake Spavital after the game. “It’s a tough game, but it would have been a lot easier if he just threw it to the guy running wide-ass-open in the middle of the field,” Spavital said.

Good: Darwin Cook defending the end zone

This has nothing to do with his touchdown-saving tackle on the fourth down in the third quarter. Watch him take out the JMU receiver, who is entertaining a thought about catching the tipped pass in the end zone.

When a ball it tipped, there is no pass interference. If defensive players see a tip, they sometimes have an automatic call to let everyone else know, which tells guys like Cook to wipe out their man. Not sure if that happened here, because I didn’t catch this live, but it’s a smart play by Cook.

Also, acrobatic catch by Anderson, who was a very good tight end at Morgantown High. His spin makes sure tight end Brian Barlow can’t smack the ball out of his hands.