MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Coach Gary Patterson has won a lot of football games at TCU, but he's never lost one quite as badly as this one - at least since the Horned Frogs joined the Big 12 in 2012.

West Virginia's offense played keep away and came away with an attention-getting 34-10 victory Saturday afternoon before another sellout crowd of 61,870 at Milan Puskar Stadium.

"You are not going to win ball games when you turn the ball over, and if you can't move the football and don't score," Patterson said. "You've got to give West Virginia credit. They're 6-0 and they're doing the job."

Prior to today, TCU's worst defeat in Big 12 play came against Texas on October 26, 2013 when the Frogs dropped a 30-7 decision to the Longhorns.

"Obviously, I'm proud of the guys," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen, who has won 11 of his last games since falling at TCU 40-10 in Fort Worth last October 29. "I thought it was our most complete game."

Today it was all West Virginia from the get-go. It took the Mountaineers just 56 seconds to get on the scoreboard after Marvin Gross Jr. forced Deante Gray to fumble the game's opening kickoff and Nana Kyeremeh jumped on the ball at the TCU 17.

Three plays later, West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard had West Virginia in the end zone when he completed a pass to Daikiel Shorts Jr. inside the five, and he bulled his way over the goal line for an 11-yard score.

Three possessions later, the Mountaineers were in the end zone once again when Howard connected on two big pass plays, the first to Shorts for 36 yards to the TCU 22 and then 22 yards to Shelton Gibson across the middle for the game's second score and a 14-0 lead for the Mountaineers.

From there, the chase was on for a TCU offense that came into today's game averaging 40.2 points per game.

The Horned Frogs had some success running the ball with Kyle Hicks, and actually scored the game's next 10 points on Brandon Hatfield's 30-yard field goal and Kenny Hill's back-shoulder touchdown pass to Jaelen Austin, but West Virginia answered with perhaps its best drive of the game.

After Gibson returned Cole Bunce's kickoff 31 yards to the Mountaineer 33, two Rushel Shell III runs netted 12 yards to the WVU 45.

Howard then flipped a pretty screen pass to Shell along the near sideline and he followed his blockers 28 yards to the TCU 27.

Aaron Curry's personal foul penalty on Kennedy McKoy's four-yard run gave WVU a first and 10 at the 11, where Howard hit a wide-open Gary Jennings along the far side of the field and he literally was able to walk into the end zone.

Mike Molina's conversion, one of four he made today, gave WVU a 21-10 lead, which it took into the locker room at halftime.

"We got into a rhythm," Holgorsen said. "I think we ran nine plays that drive and moved it down the field. I felt much better about where we were at after that drive."

At the beginning of the third quarter, West Virginia took over at its 25 after Bunce's kickoff was downed in the end zone, and the Mountaineers methodically moved the ball down the field. Although West Virginia didn't reach paydirt, in some ways what it did was more effective than scoring a quick touchdown.

It ate 7:24 off the clock and ended with three points when Molina punched through a 38-yard field goal - his longest of the season.

"There were some frustrating moments offensively for us, Holgorsen said. "But with that said, we were extremely efficient."

A quick three-and-out possession by the Horned Frogs got West Virginia the ball back with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter. Again, WVU methodically advanced the ball down the field and again it was the hard running of Shell, who finished with a season-high 117 yards on 24 carries, which keyed things. He got 12 right off the bat and three more runs, two by Howard, advanced the ball to the TCU 46.

A Howard pass to Shorts on second and 11 was good for 17 yards to the TCU 29, and two plays later, Howard and Shorts hooked up again for 11 yards to the TCU 17 on third and nine.

A false start penalty on Adam Pankey and a six-yard Howard run presented West Virginia with a second and nine at the TCU 16, where a scrambling Howard rolled out to his right, flung a pass over his right shoulder in the general direction of the end zone where Ka'Raun White came back to the ball and made sliding catch. Replay officials confirmed the play, giving WVU an insurmountable 31-10 lead.

Molina booted a 26-yard field goal with 2:23 left to conclude the scoring.

Tony Gibson's defense, coming off a 17-point performance last weekend against high-scoring Texas Tech, came up with another outstanding effort this afternoon.

The Frogs, who scored 59 points in their opener against South Dakota State, 38 in an overtime loss to Arkansas, 41 in a win against Iowa State, 33 at SMU and 46 in a loss to Oklahoma, managed just one touchdown and 300 yards of total offense.

Hill completed 18-of-31 passes for just 148 yards, and after a 77-yard, first-half rushing performance by Hicks, he got just 26 for the remainder of the game. TCU was 2 of 11 on third down.

"We didn't get anything over the top of them, which they really did a nice job of doing," Patterson admitted.

The West Virginia defense, which entered today's game ranked second in the Big 12 in points allowed averaging 19.4 points per game, sacked Hill three times and constantly put him under duress. It will remain in that spot following this weekend's action because Baylor, surrendering 17.2 points per game, was idle today.

Howard completed 16-of-23 passes for 231 yards and four touchdowns, four of those going to Shorts for 74 yards, while Shell's 117 yards led a WVU ground game that churned out 158 yards on 48 attempts. WVU gained 214 but lost 56 - mostly on Howard sacks. He was hauled down five times.

West Virginia moves to 6-0 for the first time since 2006 while TCU drops to 4-3. It's only the second time a Patterson-coached team has lost a football game while at TCU following a bye week.

"It feels good to be 6-0 and we'll approach this one like we do the rest of them," Holgorsen said. "(The team will) enjoy a win and tomorrow get back at it. You're only as good as your next one."

That next one comes on the road at Oklahoma State in a noon game that will be televised nationally on Fox. The Cowboys are now 5-2 following today's 44-20 win over Kansas.