Box Score MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Seventh-ranked TCU used four big first half plays to hold off upset-minded West Virginia 41-31 before a sun-drenched Homecoming crowd of 50,426 this afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium.
 
The undefeated Horned Frogs, ranked third in the country in scoring offense, improved to 8-0, 5-0 under first-year coach Sonny Dykes, primarily on the basis of those explosive first-half scoring plays.
 
TCU's four first-half scores covered distances of 71, 55, 51 and 30 yards.
 
"Our kids competed," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said afterward. "People can be upset with me, that's fine, but those kids battled today."
 
On the Frogs' second possession of the first quarter, quarterback Max Duggan got slot receiver Taye Barber isolated on WVU middle linebacker Lee Kopbga and flipped a pass down the middle of the field that Barber caught and raced 71 yards for a touchdown.
 
Duggan's second touchdown pass early in the second quarter went to a wide-open Quentin Johnston down the near sideline for 55 yards when the WVU defender covering him fell down.
 
TCU's final two scores of the first half were on the ground, one a 51-yard Kendre Miller jaunt up the middle following a JT Daniels fumble, and the other a 30-yard run from backup running back Emani Bailey with 24 seconds in the half.
 
West Virginia did its best to stick close to turbo-charged TCU, reaching the end zone on three of their five first half possessions.
 
WVU's opening possession of the game resulted in a CJ Donaldson 1-yard touchdown to culminate an eight-play, 80-yard drive.
 
Donaldson got into the end zone once again to begin the second quarter on a 1-yard run, capping a 10-play, 75-yard march that consumed 4:34 of the clock.
 
The Mountaineers added another touchdown late in the half when Daniels flipped a fourth-and-goal pass to Justin Johnson in the near flat to score from the 5. That drive covered 89 yards in 15 plays.
 
West Virginia got points on its opening drive of the third quarter as a result of an odd play. The Horned Frogs appeared to have the Mountaineers stopped at their own 40, but Noah Daniels was unable to handle Oliver Straw's punt at the TCU 20 and Malachi Ruffin recovered the ball at the 17. There appeared to be kick-catch interference on the play, but it wasn't called, and WVU gained possession of the football inside the red zone.
 
However, three runs netted just 2 yards, resulting in Casey Legg's 33-yard field goal, his 12^th successful kick in 12^th tries this season. That score reduced TCU's lead to 28-24.
 
West Virginia had a great opportunity to score more points, driving from its 42 to the TCU 4, but two incomplete Daniels passes into the end zone gave the ball back to the Horned Frogs on downs. 
 
There was plenty of contact on receiver Kaden Prather on Daniels' fourth-down throw, but no penalty was called on the play.

"If our kid doesn't have a chance to make a play, then it has to be pass interference," Brown said.
 
Another explosive play flipped the field when Duggan hooked up with Savion Williams for a 57-yard pass play to the WVU 27, but the Mountaineer defense came up with a goal-line stand to force a Griffin Kell 30-yard field goal. 
 
Freshman linebacker Raleigh Collins III tracked down Johnston on a wide receiver reverse for an 11-yard loss back to the 12, forcing TCU to kick the field goal. 
 
But a quick three-and-out possession by WVU's offense gave the ball back to TCU, which used Miller runs of 21 and 8 yards to kick another field goal and give it a two-possession lead. The Horned Frogs stalled at the WVU 25 when Duggan was thrown for a 3-yard loss, but Kell punched through a 46-yard field goal, making the score 34-24.
 
Two pass interference penalties on TCU, a second against Bud Clark while defending a deep pass to Sam James, put West Virginia in position for Daniels to fire a 23-yard touchdown pass to Reese Smith, who absorbed heavy contact while making a difficult catch. That was Smith's first touchdown catch this season and the second for his career.
 
After an unsuccessful onside kick attempt, West Virginia got the football back at its own 15 when Malachi Ruffin picked off Duggan's 50-50 ball to tight end Jared Wiley down the near sideline. But an incomplete Daniels pass, a Jaylen Anderson run for a loss of 3 and another unsuccessful Daniels throw to Prather forced West Virginia to punt the ball back to TCU with the Mountaineers having all three timeouts remaining.
 
TCU was able to ice the game with a third-down conversion, and then a Duggan 29-yard touchdown flip to Williams down the near side of the field against man coverage with just 20 seconds left on a fourth-and-1 play.
 
Kell's conversion kick made the final score 41-31.
 
West Virginia's inability to take advantage of two great red-zone opportunities in the third quarter turned out to be its undoing this afternoon.

"We weren't as successful inside the 10 as we needed to be. That's really what came back to bite us," Brown said.
 
Duggan completed 16 of his 28 pass attempts for 341 yards and three touchdowns and one interception. Miller added 120 yards on just 12 carries, while Barber (99 yards) and Williams (97 yards) nearly surpassed the 100-yard mark in receiving.
 
Donaldson, who eventually left the game with an injury in the third quarter, led WVU's offense with 104 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. That was the freshman's fourth 100-yard rushing performance of the season.
 
Daniels was 23-of-39 for 275 yards and two touchdowns, with James catching six of those for 95 yards.
 
"We just didn't make enough plays in the second half, offensively," Brown said. "In the second half, they basically played an eight-man box (to stop West Virginia's running game)."
 
TCU had a 494-to-430 advantage in total yardage - despite a 79-55 disadvantage in total plays and 36:16-23:44 disadvantage in possession time - but overcame it by averaging 9 yards per play.
 
West Virginia was playing without starting guards James Gmiter and Doug Nester, in addition to several other starters on both sides of the ball.

"We're beat up. We were beat up pretty good coming in. A lot of guys didn't play, and we lost several more during the course of the game," Brown admitted. "It was next man up. I'm proud of how they played. We're based on outcomes, and I get that. The outcome wasn't what we wanted, but I'm proud of how they played."

Today's victory snaps West Virginia's four-game winning streak in the series and drops the Mountaineers' record this season to 3-5, 1-4.
 
West Virginia is back on the road to face Iowa State next Saturday in Ames. The Cyclones lost 27-13 to Oklahoma earlier today.