West Virginia Rallies For 24-21 Win at TCU

Saturday, September 30

Fort Worth, Texas

8 p.m.

West Virginia University

4-1 , 2-0

TCU

3-2 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

West Virginia

TCU

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

October 01, 2023 12:27 AM | Football

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By: John Antonik

Apparently the oddsmakers forgot about special teams. Two-touchdown underdog West Virginia blocked a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to hold on for a come-from-behind, 24-21 victory over TCU, ending the Horned Frogs' 10-game regular season Big 12 winning streak in the process.

The West Virginia defense, which had allowed just one touchdown over its last nine quarters in victories over Duquesne, Pitt and Texas Tech, limited the nation's 11^th-ranked offense to just 121 yards in the second half and 17 points below their season scoring average.

Twice, TCU marched nearly the length of the field to get into position for Griffin Kell to kick game-tying field goals and both times they were blocked. Kell's first try from the WVU 28 was deflected by Mike Lockhart, and the second one from the 37 was knocked down by Sean Martin.

It appeared Martin had gotten a sack on the prior play, but the replay official ruled that Chandler Morris got off a pass before falling to the ground.

Had he been ruled down, Kell's attempt would have been for 57 yards.

It was West Virginia's third straight win at Amon G. Carter Stadium and boosts the Mountaineers' series mark to 8-5 against the Frogs.

"This was a fight," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "We are a team built for ugly football and I felt during the spring and summer that we had a team that could win close football games.

"I'm drained," he added.

The script played out tonight as it did against Pitt and Texas Tech with the Mountaineer defense coming up with big plays and the offense doing just enough to get another hard-fought victory.

Quarterback Garrett Greene completed 10-of-21 passes for 142 yards and ran 12 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns. CJ Donaldson, who finished with 22 carries for 61 yards, got the other touchdown.

Morris' night included 23 completions in 41 attempts for 298 yards and two touchdowns, most of that coming in the first half when TCU built a 21-14 lead.

After forcing a three-and-out on West Virginia's opening possession, TCU got on the scoreboard first when Morris hit JP Richardson in stride for a 59-yard touchdown. The scoring drive consumed 70 yards in just 51 seconds of game time.

The Frogs also ended the half in blitzkrieg fashion, marching 75 yards in only 1:26 after WVU tied the game on CJ Donaldson's 1-yard touchdown run with 1:50 remaining in the second quarter. Five plays after completing a 13-yard pass to Savion Williams on third and 2, Morris fired a dart over the middle to Dylan Wright in stride and he raced 36 yards for a touchdown.

A Greene pass to Preston Fox for 23 yards put West Virginia in position for Michael Hayes to kick a 53-yard field goal, but tackle Nick Malone was flagged for illegal motion before Hayes' kick sailed through the uprights.

His second try from 58 yards sailed right of the crossbar to end the half.

The two quarterbacks were responsible for the other two first-half touchdowns, Greene racing 35 yards to pay dirt with 8:53 left in the first quarter and Morris running 31 yards on the first play of the second quarter.

Dropped passes and dropped interceptions plagued the Mountaineers in the first half. WVU was unable to come up with a couple first-down catches to extend drives and gave the Frogs life with some mishandled picks.

Linebackers Lee Kpogba and Jared Bartlett ran into each other trying to secure a tipped pass deep in TCU territory in the first quarter. Cornerback Beanie Bishop was unable to come up with an interception early in the second quarter and just before Wright's touchdown catch, Kpogba couldn't secure Morris' third-down pass thrown behind tight end Jared Wiley.

A fourth pick was dropped by Hershey McLaurin on TCU's second possession of the third quarter that would have been a sure touchdown. A scrambling Morris overthrew Wiley and McLaurin couldn't secure the interception at midfield.

On the ensuing possession, the Mountaineers got the ball to the TCU 29, thanks to Jahiem White's 25-yard run, but Greene's fourth-down pass to Fox was broken up by Soni Misi.

The Mountaineer defense forced another TCU punt, which Fox returned 15 yards to the WVU 41. Another 15 yards were tacked on for Jasper Lott's late hit out of bounds, giving WVU a first and 10 at the TCU 44.

A Greene fourth-down pass to Hudson Clement for 12 yards gave WVU a first down at the TCU 15, a White 10-yard run and a couple of TCU penalties set up Greene's 1-yard touchdown run.

The West Virginia defense, which held TCU to only 1 yard in the third quarter, forced another TCU punt and WVU took over at its 38.

Greene completed passes of 17 yards to Kole Taylor and 19 yards to EJ Horton put WVU in position to score the go-ahead touchdown. Another Greene pass over the middle to Clement was ruled a touchdown on the field, but the replay official said his knee touched the ground at the 5, making it a 19-yard gainer instead of a 24-yard touchdown.

Two Donaldson runs and a 3-yard pass to Taylor put the ball at the TCU 1. Another Donaldson run on fourth and goal was pushed back a yard to the 2 with starting offensive linemen Wyatt Milum and Tomas Rimac out of the game, allowing TCU to take possession.

TCU got one first down, its first of the second half, but had to punt the ball back to West Virginia. Taking over at the Frogs' 47, West Virginia used Rodney Gallagher III's 15-yard reverse run to get into range for Hayes to boot a 49-yard field goal to give the Mountaineers their first lead of the game at 24-21.

It held up.

Kpogba led the defense with 11 tackles, a sack and one tackle for a loss. Eight of his tackles were solos. Bartlett, Tomiwa Durojaiye, Edward Vesterinen, Tyrin Bradley and Jalen Thornton were involved in the five sacks for the Mountaineers.

However, the victory was costly to the Mountaineer defense as starters Aubrey Burks and Trey Lathan had to be carted off the field, Burks for an upper body injury and Lathan for a lower leg injury. Brown said afterward that both players are remaining in Fort Worth tonight for observation.

"Defensively, I can't say enough about tonight's performance," Brown said. "They have really good skilled guys."

"We deserved to get beat," TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. "Our problem was first down the whole game."

The victory was the fourth straight for Brown, who evens his West Virginia record to 26-26, and boosts the Mountaineers' record to 4-1, 2-0, heading into an open week. It's the first time West Virginia has won four straight since Dana Holgorsen coached the team in 2018.

WVU will face Holgorsen's Houston Cougars on Thursday, Oct. 12 in Houston. The Cougars lost 49-28 to Texas Tech earlier today.