West Virginia won’t have wide receiver Traylon Ray for the remainder of the season.

Ray was injured with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter against Baylor and he was carted off the field with a leg injury after hauling in 3 catches for 22 yards and a touchdown. The sophomore entered the game as the leading receiver for the Mountaineers with 25 catches for 404 yards and 3 scores.

The injury will cost him the final two regular season games and a potential bowl match up.

“Yeah, he won’t be back this year. Yeah, he will not be back. It’s bad. He’ll recover. He’ll be fine, but he won’t play this year,” head coach Neal Brown said.

The injury is one that will affect West Virginia in a variety of ways as Ray was one of the most reliable pass catchers on the roster and was especially adept at winning against man coverage. It also made things difficult in the moment because of the nature of how it unfolded.

“It not only hurt us because he was winning a lot, but it hurt us emotionally. We had some guys that really struggled with that because it was visible on the field what the injury was and our skill groups really close and that emotionally that was tough to overcome,” Brown said.

That was evident when the entire offense came over to the cart to see Ray.

It was something similar to what the Mountaineers dealt with after Trey Lathan was injured against TCU last season but the game continued and the players had to regroup quickly.

“I think the guys did a pretty good job of kind of flushing that and then, you know, just kind of trying to go make plays and do their jobs for No. 7,” quarterback Garrett Greene said.

The Mountaineers have two games remaining and will need other pass catchers to step in his absence. That will likely come in the form of transfer wide receiver Justin Robinson who has played well at times on top of potentially welcoming back another transfer in Jaden Bray who has missed time due to injury.

Both of those players are going to be asked to step into a bigger role beside Hudson Clement.

“I think that’s the one that really has to step up. I hope we get Jaden Bray back this week. If we can get him back that’ll help,” Brown said.

Following Saturday evening’s loss to Baylor, the West Virginia Mountaineers are virtually out of the Big 12 Conference title race.

They’re still mathematically alive, thanks to Kansas pulling off yet another upset, taking down undefeated BYU. That being said, they need approximately 87 things to go their way, in addition to winning the final two games of the year against UCF and Texas Tech, to punch a ticket to Dallas.

*Whispers* It’s not happening.

It’s year six of this regime, and they’re struggling to make it to win six. Being content with just getting bowl-eligible this deep into a tenure is not acceptable. Coaches can have a down year every now and then, even six years in, but you have to have shown something in the past that shows you’re capable of winning. This staff has yet to do that.

I went back and looked at last year’s schedule a little deeper and found that the six teams that West Virginia beat had a combined Big 12 record of 16-38. The four league wins they have this year have a combined record of 7-19. Only one of those ten wins (Texas Tech last year) came against a team with a winning record in Big 12 play. Teams with a pulse, they can’t beat. That’s a problem.

I’m not here to put Neal Brown on blast, although it may seem that way. All I’m saying is something has got to change. This program, this state, deserves better. If it’s continuing on with Neal Brown, then there needs to be new faces that populate the coaching staff, better decisions made in the transfer portal, and better scouting of high school prospects. NIL is a big piece of this, too, and they must find a way to be more competitive in that space.

I’m aware that after each of the Mountaineers’ last three or four losses, my Sunday morning columns have talked about the job security of the head ball coach to a certain degree. I don’t believe in pressuring someone to make a change after every single loss; I really don’t. The only reason it has been a main point of these weekly stories is because of the nature of each loss and how this team continues to fall short of expectations.

Why is it that players can’t take the next step and bring some star power to this team? Aside from Zach Frazier and Wyatt Milum, WVU hasn’t had pro-level talent that they recruited out of high school and developed. There used to be four or five of those guys every year in previous regimes.

Why is it that Garrett Greene hasn’t turned into one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12? Why has CJ Donaldson not evolved into one of the top backs in the league? Why is someone like Justin Robinson not putting up big numbers? Could you imagine what type of numbers he would have put up in a Dana Holgorsen offense? They say his biggest issue is playing away from the ball. Okay? Then throw it to him. That’s his number one job anyway, isn’t it?

Development has been a big problem with this staff at the skill spots on offense and everywhere on defense. And when you’re a program that is lined with big pockets to use in the transfer portal or high-end recruits, development is the one thing you have to ace.

Will Wren Baker make a change? I don’t know. But the longer this goes, the more stale the product becomes to the fanbase and, eventually, to the players being recruited to West Virginia. I’m not sitting in Baker’s chair, but once again, all I know is the people of West Virginia deserve better. What that looks like and who returns the program to relevance is for Baker to figure out.

MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI

Mountaineer Postgame Show: Baylo 49, WVU 35

Initial Thoughts on West Virginia’s Fourth Home Loss of the Season

WVU WR Traylon Ray Carted Off the Field Following Lower Body Injury Versus Baylor

Look What I Found! Traylon Ray in Perfect Position for Tipped Touchdown

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown and Mountaineer players Garrett Greene and Reid Carrico discuss the Baylor loss.

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