Saturday, September 26
Morgantown, W.Va.
7 p.m.
West Virginia University
vs
Oklahoma State
Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Mountaineers Rally to Knock off 25th-ranked Virginia in Charlotte
September 19, 2026 11:19 PM | Football
Double-digit underdog West Virginia overcame early deficits of 7-0 and 14-7 to upset 25th-ranked Virginia 38-27 in the Duke's Mayo Classic played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Mountaineers, 3-0 for the first time since 2018, got 123-yard rushing efforts from running back Cam Cook and quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., and Hawkins accounted for all five touchdowns in the upset victory.
"We have a home field in Charlotte, North Carolina – a great home-field advantage; our kids played hard and we made a few mistakes here and there, but nobody panicked at any time, and it was a nice win," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.
Hawkins completed 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 190 yards and two touchdowns, both going to DJ Epps, who finished the game with three catches for 92 yards.
West Virginia's ground game accounted for 247 yards and the Mountaineers outgained the Cavaliers 437 to 354.
Cook got his 123 yards on 30 carries.
"I was definitely trying to do my best to make people miss out there," Cook said. "That's my job to make the first guy miss, rely on our O-line to do what they do and at the end of the game, they definitely showed their strength and that means a lot for us."
The triumph was the 197th of Rich Rodriguez's coaching career, and the 23rd against a ranked team.
WVU limited Virginia to 90 yards below its season rushing average, requiring quarterback Beau Pribula to go to the air 33 times. He finished the game passing for 197 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked three times, and was successful on just six of Virginia's 16 third-down conversion attempts.
Both of Virginia's first-half touchdowns were the result of short fields.
After forcing West Virginia to a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, Virginia took over at its own 38 and 12 plays later, eight of those runs, Jekail Middlebrook skirted in from the 8.
The other Cavalier score also came on the ground when Xavier Brown broke free on third and 2 and ran untouched 47 yards to paydirt.
Hawkins used his legs to cross the goal line twice in the first half, the first one coming from the 13 on WVU's second possession and the second right before the end of the first half from the 15.
In between, he completed a 29-yard seam pass to a wide-open Epps, who hauled the ball in at the 5 before stretching to get the ball across the goal line. Epps also caught a 42-yard pass to set up Hawkins' second touchdown run.
After an exchange of possessions to begin the third quarter, Virginia used a fourth-down conversion from West Virginia's 34 to knot the score at 21.
Pribula, facing a fourth and 10, was flushed out of the pocket and hooked up with Rico Flores Jr. for a 26-yard completion down the near sideline to the Mountaineer 8. Flores managed to secure the catch over his back shoulder at the 11 with West Virginia's Kamari Wilson in tight coverage before stepping out of bounds.
Three plays later, Pribula flipped a 1-yard pass to Middlebrook who was standing open in the end zone.
West Virginia couldn't move the sticks on its next possession, but the defense stepped up at midfield when it forced Virginia to punt the ball back to the Mountaineers. Matt Sieg fair-caught Daniel Sparks' punt at the West Virginia 12, but an illegal formation called on Virginia gave WVU five more yards to the 17.
Hawkins immediately went to work, passing 17 yards to John Neider to the WVU 31. Runs of 6 by Cook and 5 by Hawkins got the ball to the 45, and West Virginia continued on the ground with the pair. A Hawkins run of 5 was aided by Virginia defender Brandyn Hillman's illegal block a Mountaineer offensive lineman to give WVU a new set of downs at the 35.
Three plays later, Hawkins went back to the air again to Epps for a 21-yard touchdown.
Virginia got a big break when tight end John Rogers's fumble at the 41 was initially ruled recovered by West Virginia, but the Cavs maintained possession. Middlebrook took the next play 16 yards to the WVU 47, and Pribula followed with an 18-yard pass to Dakota Twitty to the Mountaineer 29.
Virginia's drive stalled at the 13 when Pribula was sacked for a 9-yard loss back to the 22, where Will Bettridge came on to try a 39-yard field goal.
His kick sailed wide right, giving WVU possession of the ball with 9:13 remaining.
A Hawkins run of 9 yards got the ball to the 33, and the big play came on third and 5 from the 38 when Hawkins, with two defenders in his face, lofted a pass down the far side of the field to Jaden Bray, who outfought Jacobie Henderson for a 38-yard gainer to the UVA 24. Henderson was called for pass interference on the play, but WVU declined the penalty.
A Cook run of 15 yards got the ball to the 9, and two plays later, Hawkins faked a pitch to his left, reversed field and ran 5 yards untouched across the goal line. Jack Cassidy's conversion kick put West Virginia ahead 35-21.
Virginia got the ball back at its 25 but was immediately faced with a third and 5 when Pribula's deep pass down the far sideline to De'Shawn Martin fell incomplete. Pribula again took another shot downfield, but Nick Taylor broke up his pass intended for Flores.
On fourth and 5, Pribula was sacked by Geimere Latimer II for a 9-yard loss, giving the Mountaineers possession of the football at the Cavalier 21. Six runs moved the ball to the 3, burning Virginia's final two timeouts, to set up Cassidy's chip-shot, 21-yard field goal.
Virginia scored a meaningless late touchdown with 21 seconds left that was aided by three West Virginia penalties when Pribula completed a 2-yard pass to backup tight end John Rogers.
Pribula's two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, and Neider recovered Bettridge's onside kick to run out the clock.
West Virginia returns to Morgantown to open Big 12 play next Saturday night against Oklahoma State, which defeated No. 6 Oregon earlier this season and improved to 2-1 with today's blowout victory over Murray State.
Tickets remain on sale for that game and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
The Mountaineers, 3-0 for the first time since 2018, got 123-yard rushing efforts from running back Cam Cook and quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr., and Hawkins accounted for all five touchdowns in the upset victory.
"We have a home field in Charlotte, North Carolina – a great home-field advantage; our kids played hard and we made a few mistakes here and there, but nobody panicked at any time, and it was a nice win," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.
Hawkins completed 10 of his 17 pass attempts for 190 yards and two touchdowns, both going to DJ Epps, who finished the game with three catches for 92 yards.
West Virginia's ground game accounted for 247 yards and the Mountaineers outgained the Cavaliers 437 to 354.
Cook got his 123 yards on 30 carries.
"I was definitely trying to do my best to make people miss out there," Cook said. "That's my job to make the first guy miss, rely on our O-line to do what they do and at the end of the game, they definitely showed their strength and that means a lot for us."
The triumph was the 197th of Rich Rodriguez's coaching career, and the 23rd against a ranked team.
WVU limited Virginia to 90 yards below its season rushing average, requiring quarterback Beau Pribula to go to the air 33 times. He finished the game passing for 197 yards and two touchdowns but was sacked three times, and was successful on just six of Virginia's 16 third-down conversion attempts.
Both of Virginia's first-half touchdowns were the result of short fields.
After forcing West Virginia to a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, Virginia took over at its own 38 and 12 plays later, eight of those runs, Jekail Middlebrook skirted in from the 8.
The other Cavalier score also came on the ground when Xavier Brown broke free on third and 2 and ran untouched 47 yards to paydirt.
Hawkins used his legs to cross the goal line twice in the first half, the first one coming from the 13 on WVU's second possession and the second right before the end of the first half from the 15.
In between, he completed a 29-yard seam pass to a wide-open Epps, who hauled the ball in at the 5 before stretching to get the ball across the goal line. Epps also caught a 42-yard pass to set up Hawkins' second touchdown run.
After an exchange of possessions to begin the third quarter, Virginia used a fourth-down conversion from West Virginia's 34 to knot the score at 21.
Pribula, facing a fourth and 10, was flushed out of the pocket and hooked up with Rico Flores Jr. for a 26-yard completion down the near sideline to the Mountaineer 8. Flores managed to secure the catch over his back shoulder at the 11 with West Virginia's Kamari Wilson in tight coverage before stepping out of bounds.
Three plays later, Pribula flipped a 1-yard pass to Middlebrook who was standing open in the end zone.
West Virginia couldn't move the sticks on its next possession, but the defense stepped up at midfield when it forced Virginia to punt the ball back to the Mountaineers. Matt Sieg fair-caught Daniel Sparks' punt at the West Virginia 12, but an illegal formation called on Virginia gave WVU five more yards to the 17.
Hawkins immediately went to work, passing 17 yards to John Neider to the WVU 31. Runs of 6 by Cook and 5 by Hawkins got the ball to the 45, and West Virginia continued on the ground with the pair. A Hawkins run of 5 was aided by Virginia defender Brandyn Hillman's illegal block a Mountaineer offensive lineman to give WVU a new set of downs at the 35.
Three plays later, Hawkins went back to the air again to Epps for a 21-yard touchdown.
Virginia got a big break when tight end John Rogers's fumble at the 41 was initially ruled recovered by West Virginia, but the Cavs maintained possession. Middlebrook took the next play 16 yards to the WVU 47, and Pribula followed with an 18-yard pass to Dakota Twitty to the Mountaineer 29.
Virginia's drive stalled at the 13 when Pribula was sacked for a 9-yard loss back to the 22, where Will Bettridge came on to try a 39-yard field goal.
His kick sailed wide right, giving WVU possession of the ball with 9:13 remaining.
A Hawkins run of 9 yards got the ball to the 33, and the big play came on third and 5 from the 38 when Hawkins, with two defenders in his face, lofted a pass down the far side of the field to Jaden Bray, who outfought Jacobie Henderson for a 38-yard gainer to the UVA 24. Henderson was called for pass interference on the play, but WVU declined the penalty.
A Cook run of 15 yards got the ball to the 9, and two plays later, Hawkins faked a pitch to his left, reversed field and ran 5 yards untouched across the goal line. Jack Cassidy's conversion kick put West Virginia ahead 35-21.
Virginia got the ball back at its 25 but was immediately faced with a third and 5 when Pribula's deep pass down the far sideline to De'Shawn Martin fell incomplete. Pribula again took another shot downfield, but Nick Taylor broke up his pass intended for Flores.
On fourth and 5, Pribula was sacked by Geimere Latimer II for a 9-yard loss, giving the Mountaineers possession of the football at the Cavalier 21. Six runs moved the ball to the 3, burning Virginia's final two timeouts, to set up Cassidy's chip-shot, 21-yard field goal.
Virginia scored a meaningless late touchdown with 21 seconds left that was aided by three West Virginia penalties when Pribula completed a 2-yard pass to backup tight end John Rogers.
Pribula's two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, and Neider recovered Bettridge's onside kick to run out the clock.
West Virginia returns to Morgantown to open Big 12 play next Saturday night against Oklahoma State, which defeated No. 6 Oregon earlier this season and improved to 2-1 with today's blowout victory over Murray State.
Tickets remain on sale for that game and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
Players Mentioned
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