Zzzzzzzz.

This guy. Unbelievable.

He was in that very position on that very play for five full seconds, and you can see all the looks he was getting once it happened. He was driven into the ground and had to mess with his helmet and blink a few times once he did get back up to his feet. And it wasn’t that kind of hit, which underscores the caution Dana Holgorsen and Shannon Dawson insist upon when they praise and critique Clint Trickett.

But for a moment, however brief, I wondered and likely you wondered what was going to happen Saturday and the eight Saturdays and one Thursday that follow because of what happened on the ninth play here.

And homey plays 99 more snaps and throws for 511 yards. The starting quarterback for the New York Jets is the only guy to top that, but no one in WVU lore has thrown for more yards in a road game.

Let’s go with the Geno Smith comparisons, shall we? Physically, there aren’t many except that they throw the ball with the same arm and they had the early part of their WVU careers altered by injuries. I guess when they want to be or have to be they’re similarly capable, if that’s the right word, with their legs, but Geno was bigger and had a better arm.

But Clint has more yards through three games here than Geno had in the first three games of his three seasons … and Peak Geno only had one three-game span at any point in any season with more yards (1,405 yards in the second, third and fourth games of the 2012 season against FCS James Madison, game Maryland and atrocious Baylor … though that remains the gold standard for quarterback play.) Clint’s done this against Alabala, two-plus quarters of FCS Towson and game Maryland. This is heady stuff.

Geno had more touchdowns in the first three in 2012, but just as many in the first three in 2011 (seven) that Clint has now. Geno’s completion percentage in 2012, with rare exceptions, was ridiculous, but Clint is better in 2014 than Geno was in 2011, and he shouldn’t be made to apologize for 75.4 percent merely because it pales in comparison to Geno’s 81.4 percent to start the 2012 season.

I think Clint sees things Geno saw, whether before or during the snap or when things get dicey, and that speaks to an awareness, a comfort, a zone that is hard to reach and harder to attain. WVU can do and set up and take the things it wants, where that almost never happened last season, with or without Clint, who I just realized secured First Name status here. Anyhow, the ball is going to the right place with very few exceptions, and when you’re snapping it 90 or so times a game and throwing on about half of them, to say nothing of being in charge of whether to run or throw on most of them, that’s sort of special.

The weapons around both matter, but that’s another comparison and another conversation for another day.  How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the Good and the Bad of WVU v. Maryland.

Good: Hidden yardage
My head was not down and I was not writing as this happened because this whole drive was captivating. Consider it started with Jordan Thompson’s decision to let a punt bounce at his 22-yard line and roll back 17 yards to give his team a chance to win the game and a directive to not set up Maryland’s game-winning possession. Then Dreamius Smith gets four straight carries after carrying just three times all game and only days after his running backs coach sized him up. Then Dustin Garrison trots on the field and catches that laser screen that always looks a tick away from disaster, but he manages to turn it into a 13-yard savior on third-and-9. Then Daikiel Shorts makes a play. Then … well, you get the point. But those are three reserves in the critical sequence of the game, and all along the clock is ticking away and the Mountaineers seem lost in “Well, we wanted to be careful and at worst punt with just a little time left and Maryland showing no timeouts, and now we might win and we have three timeouts and every reason to believe we can do this, so how do we not screw this up to put a cherry atop this sundae?” And they didn’t screw it up. It was fantastic and you sort of have to believe Holgorsen when he says they executed it perfectly. You’re inclined to believe that was the plan. Look, his brand of football requires constant audibles, so you have to allow for some wild moments, and that was one drawn-out wild moment. And it worked, right down to the scream-inducing pass here that is actually necessary. I knew the numbers: Josh Lambert is 1-for-5 from 50 yards and out in his career, and 35 + 17 = 52. A 52-yard kick requires a low trajectory, and Lambert has had two kicks blocked this season that were inside 50 yards. So, yeah, four yards is valuable. WVU knew it and Maryland didn’t. Call a timeout there, as many wanted Holgorsen to do, and then go run a play and Maryland can cover it. There was no timeout and there is a huge cushion in front of Mario Alford. That set up the game-winner, which was inside 50 yards.

Bad: Special teams
I don’t know how to handle this. I catch grief from all directions all the time for the way I discuss special teams, but what am I supposed to do with that performance? There can be no wiping away the errors and the reality four guffaws (five if you want to count Al-Rasheed Benton’s moment, which I won’t) nearly lost a game WVU otherwise had no business losing. And the fact I have to repeat this position seemingly once or twice ever season should be making my point. Sure, there was a punt block safety. Sure, there was a game-winning field goal (oh, more on that in a moment). But those plays are outnumbered. Here’s the thing about special teams: Kids are going to miss field goals and shank punts and leave their lanes and miss tackles. They shouldn’t do it a lot, especially if your thing is just to kick field goals or punt or cover kickoffs or tackle punt returners, and WVU has many of those guys, and guys who are good at it, too. You can go entire seasons and not see good or bad teams do the bad things the Mountaineers did in that one game.  I’m past the point of handing out helmet stickers when someone catches a punt cleanly or downs a punt inside the 5. Ordinary events should be just that, but in most instances at WVU, they are not. There’s something nervy involved in most field goals, punts, returns, etc., right? I don’t know what the fix is. WVU sure as hell practices it a lot. And there are good players all across the field. They all know what they’re supposed to do, and they do make good plays, but the bad plays do happen, too. WVU got out of jail Saturday. It won’t happen again.

Bad: Ohmygosh
“There’s something nervy involved in most field goals, punts, returns, etc., right?” Peep the stutter step. I was certain he was going to miss that, only because I didn’t think a kicker could do what Lambert did. That’s Good, for sure. Apparently Lambert couldn’t hear the snap count and had to anticipate the snap … but that’s not the first time he’s kicked a field goal. Not sure what happened there, but his right leg bailed WVU out of a major embarrassment. (I talked to someone after the game — not Someone … I just can’t remember who it was … maybe Greg Madia? — who said Lambert was practicing that very kick in pregame.)

Good: Offensive line
I thought Quinton Spain (seen burying a guy in this video) was really good, Mark Glowinski was beyond-serviceable-as-usual and Tyler Orlosky took a Bic to last year’s film. WVU’s interior did a great job with the run, with getting out on screens and with giving Trickett a pocket to work with and windows to see through, the latter being really important for all the intermediate stuff across the middle that the Mountaineers like to do. They were what they had to be, and they might have done their best work at the end of the day when they were playing the quantity of snaps no one in school history had ever played. I don’t have a read on the tackles yet, though. Pankey seems athletic and Lucas isn’t a problem, but I feel like most of the damage occurs inside or bounces outside. My point is they’ll have to be terrific Saturday. Oklahoma’s front is great and feasted on Tennessee’s youngsters Saturday with five sacks and 13 tackles for a loss. It was a mismatch from the start and poor Butch Jones knew it and had to make it work.

Good: No. 93
Maryland’s Alex Monroe is a player. Stout guy, big motor and a handful inside. He was fun to watch, and WVU, for one reason or another, knew where he was at all times.

Good: G.A.M.
There’s an opinion going around college football that no one has upped his professional stock more this season than Kevin White, and I touched on that before Saturday’s game. I’m not about to argue this. He has a better body, a better disposition, a better verve and a better impact on every game. And he’s thriving in this offense. We can pick out any one of a number of plays — I thought his deep reception in the middle in the fourth quarter, when WVU was backed up and Clint threw it long and high with the safeties loitering, but clapped when White went up and came down with it, was a major play — but this was fun. WVU is going fast from one play to the next and you can see it puts Maryland’s players in conflict. They’re running all over and one guy has to leave the left side for the right side because he has to get the running back. Then WVU motions the back out and the middle is wide open. If you’re hurrying from one play to the next and you’re either scrambling at the snap or you see your teammates scrambling, you do not want a short pass to a guy on the run. Maryland gets it and has no chance. WVU has hats for hats and it’s a touchdown from the start. (Side good: Orlosky!)

Good: Super!
This guy’s not bad, either, and there’s a, hmm, shell game WVU is playing with them that we’re going to try to explain this week. But if you followed the live post in the game, you caught onto this trend: Will Likely could not guard White. He couldn’t. He didn’t. It looked to me like he had no idea what to try next. White was beating him again and again off the line and then down the field and WVU was going to it. And this play is one reason why. White is at the bottom and Likely is covering. Check out the safety. Very close. Now check out the other safety. WVU’s run game was working, so that guy had to linger and he takes the cheese on the play fake. It’s brief, but brief is big. One safety is too close to White and one is too close to the line of scrimmage to discourage Clint from throwing this pass. It was open and it was a perfect throw in a perfect situation.

Bad: Maryland corners
If Likely and Alvin Hill play the rest of the way like they did Saturday, the Terrapins are going to have problems. Likely is talented and he’s good against the run (and pass, as it turns out …  I’ll explain), but height is height and there are big guys in the ACC Big Ten (Ed: Damn it, I knew better than to make that mistake … I was even looking at Michael Thomas highlights in advance of the Ohio State game and then went down a Geronimo Allison rabbit hole.) Hill is a bigger guy, but he lost some matchups when he had the opportunity to be more physical. Opponents are going to study what happened Saturday and see how they can replicate it.

Bad: This, I guess?
Likely dropped what should have been an interception later, and it was costly because WVU scored to go up 37-27, but this happened. He was a nickel back here and I wonder if Trickett didn’t account for it because it wasn’t what he was used to seeing. Likely baits Trickett into this, and I’ll assume also that Trickett didn’t see Likely, but saw the people behind his receiver. Sometimes the defense makes a good play. They practice, too.

Good: Offenses practice, too.
You pick: Hill gets beat here, and I don’t think it’s a reach to say a cornerback can make this play, but Alford does a great job slowing his strides and maintaining his skill set. (Again, one high safety, one low safety and Trickett goes over the top and drop it in a bucket.)

Bad: Physics
Not sure how K.J. Dillon doesn’t at least deflect this. I mean, at worst bat it into the receiver’s hands. He saw it and tracked it and went at it and came up empty. He’s had better days — he conspired to allow that bomb to Stephon Diggs — and I wonder if WVU wonders about him in coverage. He’s the best guy they have there, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve seen a few instances now where he’s been That Guy on big plays and near misses.

Bad: All of this
Tony Gibson blitzed and hoisted Brandon Golson upon the backfield, perhaps too cleverly. Golson is there quickly, but he opens up the back side of the play, which is part of Maryland’s plan. You can miss on plays like this, but you have to miss small. Credit WVU for going big all day, including this fiasco. It should be swallowed for a loss, but, hey, aggression backfires and you tackle the guy for 17 yards and start a new set of downs. That four guys — good guys, too, in Dillon, Darly Worley, Dravon Henry and Golson again — let Brown escape is hard to believe. It’s easier to watch through a particular lens, though. (Aside: Said lens pairs well with the special teams miscues.)

Good: Golson
Speed rush, speed rush, speed rush.  You start to build a profile for Golson and you refer to it in certain situations. Then he does this: He’s a defensive end on the ground and he pushes back the tackle and then shrugs off the running back’s chip and makes a one-handed sack. I’m telling you, he’s a specimen. There’s nobody on that team who looks like him.

Good: Twas Noble
Good luck, left tackle. Linemen tumbling at your feet is a bad sign for the quarterback, and watch C.J. Brown pull the cord here. This was the best game so far and by far for the defensive line. Christian Brown and Kyle Rose had a nice platoon working. The defensive ends made plays and pressured C.J. Brown. The three let the safeties and linebackers do their job. It was a good look, and they too will need that Saturday. Oklahoma’s line is also very good, and on 87 carries this season, Oklahoma’s top three backs have a total of seven negative rushing yards. Rushel Shell has 15 on 51 carries.

Bad: Grip
Considering where his teammates are, Shell probably scores if he holds onto the ball, right?

Good: Grit
Trickett passed for 511 yards. White had 216 yards receiving. Alford had 131 and two scores. Garrison was the team’s offensive player of the game, almost solely because of this play. Effort is oftentimes overlooked.

Good: Clutch play
This was big in so many ways. Maryland needs a measly yard to move the sticks and march on toward a field goal. And Maryland telegraphs a run. WVU gambles and sells out and, honestly, doesn’t get the stop. Isaac Goins appears to be past the marker on his initial push. Let’s agree to say it’s very close, close enough that if it’s short, Maryland might think about going for it. But Goins soldiers on and steps out of the mess, which resets his forward progress. He’s tackled by Worley for a five-yard loss and the Terrapins have to punt and WVU wins the game. Effort is sometimes overrated.

Bad: Maryland on third down
Terrible, really. Started 4-for-5, ended 4-for-15 and was 0-for-7 in the first half. On the seven third downs in the second half, Brown was sacked for a loss of 6 yards and threw three incomplete passes, and Maryland ran three times for minus-12 yards. The last four third downs needed 4 yards for a first down, 6 yards for a touchdown and 7 yards and 1 yard for a first down. That’s why WVU won the game. I’ll add to that here, too. WVU’s cornerbacks had a very good day. Gibby played a lot of different coverages and he blitzed a lot and trusted his cornerbacks to hold their own against Maryland’s receivers. There was a bunch of heavy pressure and Cover Zero stuff and those can be white knuckle moments, but WVU was never really made to pay in those situations. Ishmael Banks is back this week. Jaylon Myers is coming. Travis Bell has been OK when needed. Worley and Terrell Chestnut have played admirably. Barring an injury or another suspension, WVU will be just fine at cornerback in the Big 12.

Bad: Copycats
Serious question: Where was this play the rest of the game. Maryland ran it once and then faked it once on a failed third-and-goal. This wasn’t the smoothest operation, but Diggs made it work, with little help from his friends. He’s a special talent and ended up with five offensive touches — or one less than Andrew Buie — and 127 yards. Ridiculous.

Bad: Update
When Trickett moved to escape pressure Saturday, I had Trickett at 2-for-5 for 12 yards, and that almost-interception Likely dropped, plus one run for five yards. For the season, I have him at 7-for-12 for 100 yards with four carries for 28 yards in those situations. He wasn’t great Saturday, and that’s something to track now because Holgorsen warned after the Towson game the upcoming opponents can close, but overall it’s pretty good work.

Good: Clarity
WVU interchangeably tried and succeeded making things difficult  in the red zone and in short-yardage situations. We never saw William Crest so much as at the ready for a cameo. Does that suggest permanence?

Good: !
That’s all I’ve got.

Good: Starts, Part I
I thought a long time about this. The only way the game starts better for WVU is if Wendell Smallwood scores on this play and Ben Statler rushes the field to celebrate and then hands Dana a giant check to fund an indoor practice facility. Given all the baggage WVU brought along for the return to Maryland, this was a massive relief. WVU had no pass play longer than 12 yards last season. WVU had six in the first quarter Saturday. These guys are brash and they’re dangerous when they’re emboldened.

Good: Starts, Part II
This was similarly important, too. WVU believed it could get pressure to inconvenience Brown and interrupt the offense. It worked pretty well, and this was the first play. This, of course, led to a staring contest between Gibby and Maryland’s offensive coordinator, Mike Locksley. He kept calling screens to manipulate or discourage the blitzes and Gibby kept blitzing because he didn’t want to relent. The whole thing went sideways when the score hit 28-6 — and the defense had a lot to do with that — and WVU found some initial trouble (See: Diggs touchdown) when it cooled off and went with various coverages and zone pressure concepts. The Mountaineers were probably more sound when they blitzed, which is encouraging.

Good: Isaiah Bruce
We find ourselves in a pattern sometimes, we being reporters and fans, when an action triggers a reaction because we think that’s what’s supposed to happen. JaJuan Seider shines the light on Dreamius Smith and we wonder what’s wrong with Smith. Wes Tonkery beats out Isaiah Bruce for a starting spot and we think Bruce has lost a step. The former is evolving, and that WVU leaned on Smith late Saturday suggests it’s going the right way, but the latter never really intrigued me much. I thought Bruce had a great freshman season, but he led an awful defense in tackles. A true freshman safety was second. I remember my friend Jay drafting Arizona Cardinals running back Emmit Smith early in a fantasy draft one year and replying to the laughter by saying, “Someone on that team has to score.” He was wrong, because Smith wasn’t very good, but he was right, too. And in this analogy, someone had to make tackles in 2012 and Bruce, as a middle linebacker, was a pretty good option. But he went from being the most athletic linebacker and best blitzer to  one of the most athletic linebackers and one of the best blitzers, and he’s moved around more than a star probably should. Also, Tonkery can play and he was recruited to play this position in this defense. Don’t lose sight of the role he plays in Bruce’s situation. So is it Bruce not getting better or is it WVU getting better? Anyhow, Tonkery gets the starting spot and Dana answers a question about Bruce like a coach might and says something to motivate the kid. Now there’s a story out there: Bruce stinks! He needs to show his coaches and teammates more! People pounce because it’s instinctual, if not lazy, and there are questions posed to coaches, ones like, “How does a player like that handle a situation like this?” And I’ll tell you every one was answered like this: “Wha? He’s fine. We’ve got good linebackers. He’s one of them.” Then Tonkery gets hurt and Bruce and Shaq Petteway play well against Towson and then Bruce starts and Petteway plays when Tonkery can’t go against Maryland. And guess what? Bruce was good. He made plays (five tackles, two TFLs) and he didn’t (dropped an interception that wouldn’t have been easy, but probably would have been a touchdown) and not making this play was great. He has the pitch. Someone on top will get the quarterback. Tidy. In short: Get off Ike’s back.

Good: Depth
Smith, Garrison, Buie, Shorts, Bruce, Petteway, Chestnut, Shaq Riddick, Ed Muldrow and the fella blocking this punt. Backups. All of them.

Great: Amen
While we’re here, the WVU v. Maryland series is great, particularly for WVU fans who won’t road trip to conference games, and likely for Maryland fans who won’t road trip to Big Ten games. We get this next season and then not again until the 2020-21 seasons. The Mountaineers have one spot open for 2016-18 and two in 2019 … but Maryland’s move to the Big Ten brings a nine-game conference schedule beginning in 2016, so the Terrapins have no openings to accommodate this rivalry.