Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Second Quarter Flurry Puts WVU Ahead at Halftime
November 10, 2018 01:55 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. West Virginia used a flurry of touchdowns late in the second quarter to take a 24-3 halftime lead over visiting TCU here at sunny and windy Milan Puskar Stadium this afternoon.
After spending the first 20 minutes in a field position battle that resulted in field goals from both teams, West Virginia finally caught fire when it decided to speed things up and not let the Horned Frogs get lined up on defense.
Four quick Will Grier passes to Gary Jennings Jr., Kennedy McKoy and two straight to David Sills V got the ball to the Horned Frog 33 where the Mountaineers crossed them up with a draw play to McKoy. He got past the first wave of tacklers, angled back toward the middle of the field and dove into the end zone for the game's first touchdown with 5:09 remaining in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, freshman Taye Barber failed to field Staley's short kickoff to the Horned Frog 17 and backup linebacker Exree Loe pounced on the loose football.
Five plays later, the Mountaineers were right back in the end zone when Martell Pettaway bulled his way in from the 1.
The offense got the football back at its own 36 after a quick TCU possession burned just 1:19 off the clock and West Virginia taking over with 2:13 still showing and all three timeouts at its disposal. Here, Grier again went to work with his quick game by hitting Pettaway out in the flat for a 15-yard gain to the TCU 49.
A 17-yard Pettaway rush got the ball to the 32, and two plays later, Grier hit a wide open Trevon Wesco down the far sideline for a touchdown, his first of the season. There was no defender within 15 yards of Wesco when he caught the ball and leisurely jogged into the end zone.
After a slow start, Grier came alive to completed 15-of-25 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown. The WVU ground game also came alive with 71 yards – most of that coming in the final five minutes of the second quarter.
TCU, which got a Jonathan Song 30-yard field goal on the game's opening possession, managed just 114 yards on 35 offensive plays. The Horned Frog ground game accounted for just 13 of that on 17 attempts.
TCU will get the football to begin the second half.
After spending the first 20 minutes in a field position battle that resulted in field goals from both teams, West Virginia finally caught fire when it decided to speed things up and not let the Horned Frogs get lined up on defense.
Four quick Will Grier passes to Gary Jennings Jr., Kennedy McKoy and two straight to David Sills V got the ball to the Horned Frog 33 where the Mountaineers crossed them up with a draw play to McKoy. He got past the first wave of tacklers, angled back toward the middle of the field and dove into the end zone for the game's first touchdown with 5:09 remaining in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, freshman Taye Barber failed to field Staley's short kickoff to the Horned Frog 17 and backup linebacker Exree Loe pounced on the loose football.
Five plays later, the Mountaineers were right back in the end zone when Martell Pettaway bulled his way in from the 1.
The offense got the football back at its own 36 after a quick TCU possession burned just 1:19 off the clock and West Virginia taking over with 2:13 still showing and all three timeouts at its disposal. Here, Grier again went to work with his quick game by hitting Pettaway out in the flat for a 15-yard gain to the TCU 49.
A 17-yard Pettaway rush got the ball to the 32, and two plays later, Grier hit a wide open Trevon Wesco down the far sideline for a touchdown, his first of the season. There was no defender within 15 yards of Wesco when he caught the ball and leisurely jogged into the end zone.
After a slow start, Grier came alive to completed 15-of-25 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown. The WVU ground game also came alive with 71 yards – most of that coming in the final five minutes of the second quarter.
TCU, which got a Jonathan Song 30-yard field goal on the game's opening possession, managed just 114 yards on 35 offensive plays. The Horned Frog ground game accounted for just 13 of that on 17 attempts.
TCU will get the football to begin the second half.
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