Horns Down in Morgantown

Morgantown, West Virginia – The West Virginia Mountaineers (5-6) kept hopes of a bowl game as a possibility by beating the Texas Longhorns 31-23 (4-7) inside Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia.

West Virginia led the Longhorns 21-10 but allowed Texas to hang around for most of the second half led by freshman quarterback Hudson Card, who was 9/13 for 119 yards and a touchdown in the second half in relief of starter Casey Thompson.  However, West Virginia was able to do just enough to get past the Longhorns today.

The Mountaineers had a huge game from senior running back Leddie Brown, who rushed 33 times for 157 yards and a touchdown.  Redshirt senior Jarret Doege, who reportedly told an ESPN sideline reporter that he is “excited to return to WVU next season”, was very effective, finishing the game 27/42 for 290 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Winston Wright had 6 receptions for 67 yards and 1 touchdown, Sam James had 5 catches for 64 yards and a touchdown, and Sean Ryan added 2 catches for 13 yards and a touchdown.

The Mountaineers will be back in action next Saturday at Kansas (2-8).  The Jayhawks upset Texas last weekend in double overtime at Austin, Texas.  West Virginia’s bowl eligibility will be on the line.

If the Mountaineers win, it will be their sixth win of the season and will make them bowl eligible.  If they lose, they will finish the season 5-6 and will miss out on a bowl game this season.

Observations

Huge win for the Mountaineers, but Texas is a really bad team right now with a lot of talented players out, including their best player, Bijon Robinson.

So great to see West Virginia commit Nicco Marchiol at the game.  He’s clearly very committed to the Mountaineers right now.

News of Jarret Doege coming back is a bit disappointing and alarming.  His return could cause a lot of problems for the team.  What does this mean for Garrett Greene, Will “Goose” Crowder and Nicco Marchiol?