Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Freshman Sam Ehlinger came off the bench to throw two touchdown passes and lead Texas to a 28-14 victory over West Virginia Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium.
 
West Virginia, playing most of the game without starting quarterback Will Grier, couldn't muster much offense against a stout Longhorn defense.
 
Grier left the game in the first quarter when he dislocated a finger on his passing hand while attempting to score from the 1 on West Virginia's second possession of the game.
 
Earlier on that drive, Grier's 34-yard pass down the far sideline to David Sills V got the Mountaineers to the Longhorn 22. A 7-yard Justin Crawford run and a short Gary Jennings Jr. catch gave West Virginia a first and goal at the 10. Here, Crawford found open field to the far sideline and took off toward the pylon where he reached the football in an attempt to score. A touchdown was signaled on the field, but the replay official upstairs ruled that Crawford stepped out before crossing the goal line.
 
Another Crawford crack nudged the ball inches closer to the end zone to set up a third and goal. Here, Grier faked the handoff to Crawford and rolled out to his left, first looking for an open receiver before choosing to run it in himself. He extended the ball out and hit the pylon as he slid out of bounds.
 
Once again, the run was ruled a touchdown on the field, but instant replay showed that he lost the ball as he fell out of bounds. It was ruled a fumble and the ball was given to Texas at the 20, but more damaging to the cause was Grier running off the field with his finger pointing at an awkward angle.
 
He did not return.
 
"Injuries are a part of college football. When that happens, guys need to step up," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said.
 
Texas, with Ehlinger now in the game in place of starter Shane Buechele, scored twice on long touchdown marches. The first began at the Longhorn 9 but field position got much better when Elijah Battle lost track of Reggie Hemphill-Mapps running down the near sideline and Ehlinger hit him for a 50-yard gain to the WVU 20.  
 
The defense forced a fourth and 2 at the 12, but Ehlinger slipped through a crack and ran 8 yards to the WVU 4. Again, the defense held, but 260-pound tight end Kendall Moore was able to slip out of cornerback Mike Daniels Jr.'s grasp on a third-down pass out in the flat and fell into the end zone for the game's first touchdown.
 
On its next possession, Ehlinger orchestrated another long scoring drive, this one starting at the UT 13. The big plays were a 17-yard Ehlinger run to the Texas 46 and a throwback pass from receiver Jerrod Heard to Ehlinger for 23 yards to the WVU 31.
 
Three plays later, after a procedure penalty, Ehlinger hit running back Chris Warren III down the seam for a 20-yard touchdown. Mitchel Becker's second conversion kick gave the Longhorns a 14-0 lead, which it took into the locker room at halftime.
 
"That team (Texas) lost their quarterback about four games ago and went out and won three games," Holgorsen said.
 
Freshman Kenny Robinson gave the home crowd an immediate lift midway into the third quarter when he picked off an ill-advised Ehlinger pass at the WVU 6 and followed a convoy of blockers down the far sideline for a 94-yard touchdown, his second scoring play of the season and the third this year by the Mountaineer defense.
 
Sophomore linebacker Dylan Tonkery caused the poor throw when he came with pressure and hit Ehlinger.
 
Robinson's touchdown snapped a scoreless drought for the Mountaineers that lasted four quarters going back to the last Saturday's Kansas State game.
 
"If you can't score you can't win," Holgorsen said. "We had a hard time getting first downs. We had a hard time finishing drives, and you are not going to win any games when that happens."
 
The defense then forced Texas to punt, but the offense was unable to flip the field and Hemphill-Mapps returned Billy Kinney's low punt 14 yards to the WVU 46. Two Longhorn runs had them back in the end zone a third time. Daniel Young went off tackle, broke to his left and took off down the far sideline 36 yards to the WVU 10.
 
On the next play Kyle Porter scored.
 
West Virginia answered two possessions later with its only sustained drive with Chugunov leading the offense. A targeting penalty on Longhorn linebacker Breckyn Hager on Chugunov's completed 13-yard pass to Sills added 15 yards to the Texas 47. Another Chugunov pass down the middle of the field netted 30 yards to Ka'Raun White, giving the Mountaineers a first down at the 17.
 
Three short runs, with a delay of game penalty in between, made it fourth and five at the 12 where Chugunov threaded the needle to White for the senior's 11^th touchdown grab of the season.
 
Evan Staley's conversion kick made it a seven-point game with 9:01 remaining.
 
West Virginia rolled the dice and tried a "surprise kick," which Texas was waiting for, and Lorenzo Joe fell on the ball at the WVU 43.
 
"We had it schemed up," Holgorsen explained. "It was not an onside kick. It was a surprise kick where we were attacking an area and we had one guy not do his job. I thought the kick was good; I thought it was there and there was an area we played to attack, and confirmed in on the previous couple of kicks. The space was there but we had one guy who didn't do his job."
 
Texas couldn't move the sticks but Michael Dickson's 35-yard punt was down at the WVU 4.
 
A tipped Chugunov pass was caught by Jennings for 16 yards to the 20, but two plays later, Gary Johnson blindsided Chugunov at the 15, forcing a fumble that was eventually recovered at the 6 by Texas' Chris Nelson.
 
Two Young cracks at the middle of West Virginia's line got the football in from the 1, making it 28-14.
 
Chugunov completed 14-of-26 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked twice and was under constant duress the entire game. Jennings caught 10 for 78 yards; White added six catches for 63 yards in his final home game for the Mountaineers. He was one of 20 seniors recognized prior to kickoff.
 
"We're in a bad spot on offense, and it's my responsibility to get it right," Holgorsen said. "There have been some things I've overlooked and it's not going to happen anymore. We're going to work hard here to fix it in the next week.
 
"Last week we were not very efficient. Our third downs were horrible and we can't finish drives in the red zone," Holgorsen added. "When you play good defenses, and to be able to win games like that, you have to be more efficient."
 
Ehlinger completed 12-of-19 passes for 136 yards, two of those going to Hemphill-Mapps for 58 yards. Young was the game's leading rusher with 85 yards on 12 attempts.
 
Texas, 6-5, is now bowl-eligible with this afternoon's victory.
 
A crowd of 52,133 sat in a steady rain to watch today's game.
 
The Mountaineers (7-4) have been officially eliminated from the Big 12 championship game picture with one regular season game left at No. 4 Oklahoma next Saturday in Norman.