Saturday, November 4
Morgantown, W.Va.
7:00 p.m.
West Virginia University
6-3 , 4-2
37
vs
7
BYU
5-4 , 2-4
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
BYU
0
0
0
7
7
West Virginia
14
13
10
0
37
West Virginia Becomes Bowl-Eligible With 30-Point Win Over BYU
November 04, 2023 10:57 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia became bowl-eligible with its 37-7 victory over BYU tonight in front of 50,266 at Milan Puskar Stadium. It was the largest margin of victory in a conference game since a 47-10 win over TCU in 2018.
Garrett Greene completed half of his 24 pass attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to backup Nicco Marchiol early in the fourth quarter.
Jahiem White rushed for a season-high 146 yards and CJ Donaldson Jr. added 102 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, his third 100-yard rushing effort for the season. White had his second as the Mountaineers finished the game with a season-high 336 yards rushing. Its the most rushing yards against any team since 2016 when the Mountaineers had 388 yards in a 56-28 loss to Oklahoma.
"I thought we put a lot of good football out there tonight," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said afterward. "This was a first complete game of the season, and this team is coming along, and I like where we are at."
BYU's Jake Retzlaff, making his first career start in place of injured starting quarterback Kedon Slovis, completed 24 of his 42 passes for 210 yards and was sacked three times. National pass breakup leader Beanie Bishop Jr. had five more today and now has 17 for the year.
"It's hard to prepare for a quarterback who doesn't have game film, but I thought we did well," Bishop said.
West Virginia (6-3, 4-2) had 567 yards of total offense, second most this season, and its fourth straight game with at least 450 yards.
WVU played a near-flawless first half, scoring on five of its six offensive possessions.
West Virginia took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in 11 plays with Donaldson finishing off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Then, following a fourth-down stop at the Mountaineer 46, it took just four plays to get Donaldson in position to tally his second touchdown, a 1-yard run.
It's the seventh straight game the Miami resident has reached pay dirt via the ground.
The Mountaineers, despite three false start penalties and a hold, tacked on three more points when Michael Hayes booted a 46-yard field goal. White got the bulk of the work on that drive, ripping off runs of 32 and 17 yards.
Following another defensive stop, West Virginia produced its longest drive of the first half by marching 93 yards in 10 plays, the culminating play being Greene's 12-yard touchdown pass to Preston Fox in the back of the end zone.
Aubrey Burks' forced fumble and recovery at the WVU 18 gave the Mountaineers possession of the football with 1:05 showing on the clock and all three timeouts remaining.
A Greene 38-yard pass to Devin Carter down the near sideline on third and 14 put the Mountaineers in business at the BYU 37. Another Greene pass to Carter for 11 yards put the ball at the Cougar 4 with five seconds remaining in the half.
Brown called his final timeout and opted to bring out Hayes to kick a 22-yard field goal to conclude the half.
The beginning of the second half began with a bang when Keelan Marion returned Hayes' kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, but Isaiah Glasker was called for holding and the ball was brought back to the Cougar 10.
Mike Lockhart's sack of Retzlaff on third and 5 put the ball back at the BYU 8, and West Virginia regained possession of the football at its 42. A 15-yard facemask penalty called on Max Tolley during Donaldson's short run and White's 32-yard burst down the far sideline helped get the football to the BYU 3. But on third and goal at the 5, Greene overthrew Donaldson to the near flat and Hayes came out to boot his third field goal, a 23-yarder. That made the score 30-0.
The Mountaineers added seven more points to the scoreboard when a wide-open Kole Taylor took Greene's pass on a dead run and dragged a BYU defender into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown. It was Taylor's third touchdown reception and his longest of the season.
Marchiol took over with 11:44 left and finished the game. His first carry of 22 yards put West Virginia over 300 for the game.
West Virginia's bid to pitch a shutout ended with 6:44 left when Aidan Robbins took a pitchout and ran 10 yards a touchdown.
BYU tried to get points on the scoreboard earlier when Will Ferrin attempted a 50-yard field goal, but his kick sailed wide left.
A combined 20 penalties for 169 yards were called on both teams.
"The only negative was the penalties," Brown said. "I want to thank the crowd because there was a lot of energy in the stadium."
The Cougars finished with just 67 yards rushing on 21 attempts and ended the game with 277 total yards. Linebacker Lee Kpogba led the Mountaineer defense with eight tackles, 1½ tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.
Sacks were made by linebacker Ben Cutter, defensive linemen Hammond Russell IV, Asani Redwood and Mike Lockhart.
"The stats really tell the story defensively," Brown said. "Any time you can hold a team to 67 yards rushing, you've got a good chance of winning the game."
At the conclusion of the first quarter, Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Chuck Howley's No. 66 was officially retired. Howley's son, Scott, daughter-in-law, Emily, and granddaughter Anna were on hand to accept on his behalf.
This was BYU's first appearance in Morgantown and the second game against the Mountaineers. West Virginia held on to defeat the Cougars 35-32 at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, on Sept. 24, 2016.
Tonight's loss drops BYU to 5-4, 2-4.
West Virginia travels to Oklahoma to play the Sooners on Saturday, Nov. 11. The Big 12 announced a 7 p.m. game time and it will be televised on FOX. Earlier today, OU lost 27-24 to Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam game to drop to 7-2, 4-2.
Texas and Oklahoma State are now 5-1 and sit atop the Big 12 standings, while West Virginia is among a five-team logjam right behind them at 4-2.
BYU returns home to play Iowa State next Saturday.
Garrett Greene completed half of his 24 pass attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to backup Nicco Marchiol early in the fourth quarter.
Jahiem White rushed for a season-high 146 yards and CJ Donaldson Jr. added 102 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, his third 100-yard rushing effort for the season. White had his second as the Mountaineers finished the game with a season-high 336 yards rushing. Its the most rushing yards against any team since 2016 when the Mountaineers had 388 yards in a 56-28 loss to Oklahoma.
"I thought we put a lot of good football out there tonight," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said afterward. "This was a first complete game of the season, and this team is coming along, and I like where we are at."
BYU's Jake Retzlaff, making his first career start in place of injured starting quarterback Kedon Slovis, completed 24 of his 42 passes for 210 yards and was sacked three times. National pass breakup leader Beanie Bishop Jr. had five more today and now has 17 for the year.
"It's hard to prepare for a quarterback who doesn't have game film, but I thought we did well," Bishop said.
West Virginia (6-3, 4-2) had 567 yards of total offense, second most this season, and its fourth straight game with at least 450 yards.
WVU played a near-flawless first half, scoring on five of its six offensive possessions.
West Virginia took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in 11 plays with Donaldson finishing off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Then, following a fourth-down stop at the Mountaineer 46, it took just four plays to get Donaldson in position to tally his second touchdown, a 1-yard run.
It's the seventh straight game the Miami resident has reached pay dirt via the ground.
The Mountaineers, despite three false start penalties and a hold, tacked on three more points when Michael Hayes booted a 46-yard field goal. White got the bulk of the work on that drive, ripping off runs of 32 and 17 yards.
Following another defensive stop, West Virginia produced its longest drive of the first half by marching 93 yards in 10 plays, the culminating play being Greene's 12-yard touchdown pass to Preston Fox in the back of the end zone.
Aubrey Burks' forced fumble and recovery at the WVU 18 gave the Mountaineers possession of the football with 1:05 showing on the clock and all three timeouts remaining.
A Greene 38-yard pass to Devin Carter down the near sideline on third and 14 put the Mountaineers in business at the BYU 37. Another Greene pass to Carter for 11 yards put the ball at the Cougar 4 with five seconds remaining in the half.
Brown called his final timeout and opted to bring out Hayes to kick a 22-yard field goal to conclude the half.
The beginning of the second half began with a bang when Keelan Marion returned Hayes' kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, but Isaiah Glasker was called for holding and the ball was brought back to the Cougar 10.
Mike Lockhart's sack of Retzlaff on third and 5 put the ball back at the BYU 8, and West Virginia regained possession of the football at its 42. A 15-yard facemask penalty called on Max Tolley during Donaldson's short run and White's 32-yard burst down the far sideline helped get the football to the BYU 3. But on third and goal at the 5, Greene overthrew Donaldson to the near flat and Hayes came out to boot his third field goal, a 23-yarder. That made the score 30-0.
The Mountaineers added seven more points to the scoreboard when a wide-open Kole Taylor took Greene's pass on a dead run and dragged a BYU defender into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown. It was Taylor's third touchdown reception and his longest of the season.
Marchiol took over with 11:44 left and finished the game. His first carry of 22 yards put West Virginia over 300 for the game.
West Virginia's bid to pitch a shutout ended with 6:44 left when Aidan Robbins took a pitchout and ran 10 yards a touchdown.
BYU tried to get points on the scoreboard earlier when Will Ferrin attempted a 50-yard field goal, but his kick sailed wide left.
A combined 20 penalties for 169 yards were called on both teams.
"The only negative was the penalties," Brown said. "I want to thank the crowd because there was a lot of energy in the stadium."
The Cougars finished with just 67 yards rushing on 21 attempts and ended the game with 277 total yards. Linebacker Lee Kpogba led the Mountaineer defense with eight tackles, 1½ tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry.
Sacks were made by linebacker Ben Cutter, defensive linemen Hammond Russell IV, Asani Redwood and Mike Lockhart.
"The stats really tell the story defensively," Brown said. "Any time you can hold a team to 67 yards rushing, you've got a good chance of winning the game."
At the conclusion of the first quarter, Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Chuck Howley's No. 66 was officially retired. Howley's son, Scott, daughter-in-law, Emily, and granddaughter Anna were on hand to accept on his behalf.
This was BYU's first appearance in Morgantown and the second game against the Mountaineers. West Virginia held on to defeat the Cougars 35-32 at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, on Sept. 24, 2016.
Tonight's loss drops BYU to 5-4, 2-4.
West Virginia travels to Oklahoma to play the Sooners on Saturday, Nov. 11. The Big 12 announced a 7 p.m. game time and it will be televised on FOX. Earlier today, OU lost 27-24 to Oklahoma State in the annual Bedlam game to drop to 7-2, 4-2.
Texas and Oklahoma State are now 5-1 and sit atop the Big 12 standings, while West Virginia is among a five-team logjam right behind them at 4-2.
BYU returns home to play Iowa State next Saturday.
Team Stats
BYU
WVU
Total Yards
277
567
Pass Yards
210
231
Rushing Yards
67
336
Penalty Yards
98
71
1st Downs
20
30
3rd Downs
3
3
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
24:33
35:27
1st Quarter
BYU 0, WVU 7
WVU - Donaldson,CJ 2 yd run (Hayes,Michael kick), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 05:01
BYU 0, WVU 14
WVU - Donaldson,CJ 1 yd run (Hayes,Michael kick), 5 plays, 52 yards, TOP 01:50
2nd Quarter
BYU 0, WVU 17
WVU - Hayes,Michael 46 yd field goal 6 plays, 37 yards, TOP 03:03
BYU 0, WVU 24
WVU - Fox,Preston 12 yd pass from Greene,Garrett (Hayes,Michael kick) 10 plays, 93 yards, TOP 05:35
BYU 0, WVU 27
WVU - Hayes,Michael 22 yd field goal 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 01:05
3rd Quarter
BYU 0, WVU 30
WVU - Hayes,Michael 23 yd field goal 8 plays, 53 yards, TOP 02:44
BYU 0, WVU 37
WVU - Taylor,Kole 43 yd pass from Greene,Garrett (Hayes,Michael kick) 7 plays, 85 yards, TOP 04:14
4th Quarter
BYU 7, WVU 37
BYU - Robbins,Aidan 10 yd run (Ferrin,Will kick), 8 plays, 62 yards, TOP 02:57
Game Leaders
CMP
12
TD
2
YDS
205
INT
0
CMP
4
TD
0
YDS
26
INT
0
Players Mentioned
CB
/ Football
S
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
K
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
DL
/ Football
TE
/ Football
RB
/ FootballGrayson Barnes | Nov. 25
Tuesday, November 25
Reid Carrico | Nov. 25
Tuesday, November 25
Zac Alley | Nov. 25
Tuesday, November 25
Rich Rodriguez | Nov. 25
Tuesday, November 25
