The West Virginia football bounced back on the road putting together their most complete game of the season in a 41-28 road win over UCF.
The Mountaineers moved to 5-3 on the season and and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
Offense. The Mountaineers started out the gate quickly in this game and put together a strong offensive performance with a nice mix of a dominant ground game and timely passing. West Virginia rolled up 450 offensive yards and 41 points, as head coach Neal Brown called a very good game throughout. The offense was able to keep UCF off balance and outside a few miscues played very well throughout. It was an aggressive approach that was nice to see from an offensive that has been anything but at times.
CJ Donaldson. Welcome back, CJ. After struggling to the tune of just 39 yards on 13 carries against Oklahoma State, Donaldson ran the ball much more decisively and was able to generate yards after contact on his way to 121 yards and a score. He was able to get multiple first downs in short yardage situations and was key in this win.
Jaheim White. You could have grouped the two running backs together, but it's hard not to highlight what the true freshman did in this one. Showing a different gear, White looked to bring the explosive element out of the backfield that hasn't been there for much of the season and rushed for 89 yards on just 9 carries with a score. His role should just continue to grow down the stretch as White impressed.
Garrett Greene. Greene didn't throw for eye-popping numbers at just 156 yards, but was asked to do a lot in this game and responded. Despite leaving with what looked like an ankle injury at one point, Greene accounted for three rushing touchdowns and made some very impressive plays on the edge. The junior is far from a finished product and left some plays on the field in this one, but he is giving the Mountaineers a chance every week with how well he is playing all-around as a dual-threat option.
Winning the right way. West Virginia had only four penalties in this game, controlled time of possession by over 14-minutes and forced a total of four turnovers which they cashed in for 21 points. The Mountaineers played a clean game for the most part and were opportunistic on defense which paved the way for this win.
Opportunistic. West Virginia didn't play their best on defense with several key contributors out, but the Mountaineers did enough. This team was able to record three interceptions, two by Beanie Bishop, and force a fumble that turned the tide of the game. UCF had some success moving the ball, but for the most part this group didn't break in critical moments and came out with a win.
Special teams. After an unexplainable mistake a week ago, the Mountaineers were much better in this phase of the game against the Knights. West Virginia booted the ball for touchbacks on every kick outside one return for 18-yards. The Mountaineers also didn't give up any punt return yardage to the Knights and kept their explosive playmakers in that department from making any real impact on the game.
Related: WVU football needed takeaways and Bishop led the way in UCF win
NOT:
The trick play. It wasn't the call that was necessarily bad, as it appeared that West Virginia had a chance to get a big gain if executed correctly. But that second part didn't happen as the ball was pitched to Jaylen Anderson and he took his eyes off it and fumbled the ball for the only turnover of the game.
Drops. West Virginia had a chance to really seize momentum at several times in this game but either the throw was off or a pass catcher just couldn't bring it in.
DEFINING PLAYS:
4th and 1 from WVU 45. After getting stuffed on third down, West Virginia elected to roll the dice and running back CJ Donaldson took a carry and bounced it off the left side for a 21-yard gain to keep the offense moving. The Mountaineers would score three plays later to take a 7-0 lead.
3rd and 6 from WVU 34. Leading 7-0 the Mountaineers defense allowed UCF to drive deep into their territory but had an opportunity to get off the field on third down. Instead, john Rhys Plumlee connected with Kobe Hudson on a slot fade for a 34-yard touchdown to tie the game.
1st and 10 from WVU 37. On the second drive for the Knights, the offense had just gotten a first down on fourth to open the quarter and took a shot deep to Javon Baker. The ball bounced off the Baker and into the air as he attempted to haul it in and landed in the arms of Beanie Bishop who returned it 31-yards.
3rd and 9 from WVU 37. The Mountaineers had gone nowhere on the first two plays after the pick, but on third down Greene connected with Devin Carter for 14-yard gain to keep the drive alive.
3rd and 1 from UCF 29. On third down, CJ Donaldson was able to get a first down with a five-yard carry. Three plays later, Jaheim White would get into the end zone to give the Mountaineers a 17-7 lead.
1st and 8 from WVU 8. UCF would score quickly to cut the score to 17-14 after Plumlee kept the ball into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown run.
3rd and 10 from UCF 36. Nicco Marchiol had to come into the game after an injury to Garrett Greene and on third down the Mountaineers attempted a hook and lateral play to Jaylen Anderson, but he did not look in the ball and fumbled it to the Central Florida defense.
1st and 10 from UCF 28. On the next play, Plumlee dropped back to pass but was hit by Eddie Vesterinen and the ball fluttered into the arms of Marcis Floyd for the second interception of the first half. However, the Mountaineers were unable to turn that drive into points and were forced to punt.
2nd and 8 from WVU 32. After the opening the second half with a promising drive, Plumlee dropped back to pass and fired a ball into Jarrad Baker down the field, but it appeared two UCF players collided, and Beanie Bishop was able to pick off the ball for the second time in the game.
2nd and 4 from UCF 7. After opening the second half with a strong drive, Greene capped off the 68-yard march with a 7-yard touchdown run on a well-designed play where he got the edge. The Mountaineers moved ahead 24-14 with 9:01 remaining in the third quarter.
3rd and 7 from WVU 7. UCF quickly moved down the field and cashed in with a touchdown on a fade pattern to Baker to quickly recapture momentum and cut the score to 24-21.
2nd and 5 from UCF 36. After forcing West Virginia into a punt, UCF got the football back and Lee Kpogba came free on a blitz to sack Plumlee and force a fumble which was recovered by Jalen Thornton.
3rd and 1 from UCF 1. After a first down run was curiously not reviewed, CJ Donaldson was stuffed on second down and on third the Mountaineers got Greene on the edge on a bootleg into the end zone to give West Virginia a 31-21 lead with 14:12 left in the game.
4th and 5 from UCF 30. West Virginia was able to force their first punt of the game leading 31-21 with 13:37 left to play in the contest.
4th and 2 from UCF 26. West Virginia went for it on fourth down bypassing a field goal and the play design allowed Greene to get to the edge and he completed a 13-yard pass to Horton to get the first down. The Mountaineers would put the ball into the end zone on a six-yard run by Donaldson two plays later to give West Virginia a 38-21 lead with 9:25 left.
4th and 3 at the UCF 32. The Knights got the football back and facing a 17-point deficit and time ticking away elected to go for it on fourth down deep in their own end. Beanie Bishop broke on the ball and knocked it to the turf giving the Mountaineers the football back.
3rd and 5 from UCF 27. If there was any doubt remaining, West Virginia was able to convert a third down to chew up even more clock on an eight-yard run by Donaldson that would effective close it out.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
1-2 - West Virginia's record under Neal Brown against FBS teams this season when hitting 450 offensive yards.
3-0 - Record against UCF all-time.
7-7 - Redzone efficiency for West Virginia before the final kneel downs.
8 - Runs over 10+ yards by West Virginia in the game.
9.4 - Yards per carry for Jaheim White.
9-15 - Conversions for West Virginia on third and fourth down.
10 - Points off three turnovers for Oklahoma State.
11-22-2008 - The last time a West Virginia quarterback rushed for three touchdowns prior to Greene when Pat White did it against Louisville.
14:06 - Time of possession advantage by West Virginia.
19 - Punt return yardage allowed by West Virginia through eight games.
21 – Points off four turnovers for West Virginia.
32 - Long run on the season for CJ Donaldson. He rushed for 121 yards after putting up just 39 yards on 13 carries a week ago.
35 - Penalty yardage by West Virginia with two of those coming late in the game.
141 - Yards gained by West Virginia on their first two drives of each half. It resulted in 14 points for the Mountaineers.
286 - The most rushing yards that West Virginia has piled up against an FBS team since Neal Brown became the head coach in 2019. The Mountaineers are now 23-7 when rushing for at least 100 yards under Brown.
2,534 - Days since UCF last lost by double digits at home falling 35-20 to Tulsa on November 19, 2016.
GAME BALL:
The ground game. West Virginia relied on their run against a team that had struggled to stop it all season and the results were predictable. The 286 rushing yards are the most that the Mountaineers have eclipsed against an FBS team with Neal Brown atop the program and they were simply the more physical team up front. Despite multiple injuries on the offensive line, West Virginia didn't miss a beat as CJ Donaldson rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown playing his best football since the Pittsburgh game and true freshman Jaheim White provided a spark with 89 yards on just 9 carries. When you include what Garrett Greene was able to do with his legs with 55 yards on three touchdowns, it was a dominating effort. West Virginia controlled the time of possession in this game and while they were aggressive, the Mountaineers did it on the ground.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
Will we remember November? West Virginia has picked themselves off the mat after a rough two-game stretch that saw a once promising 4-1 start fall to 4-3. This team came into this game against UCF as more than touchdown underdogs on the road with an injury list that continues to mount. But as this team has shown resiliency all season and the Mountaineers once again displayed that in this game.
West Virginia didn't just beat UCF, the Mountaineers spoiled homecoming for the Knights and never trailed forcing four takeaways and turning that into 21-points of their own while displaying an aggressive nature on offense.
The end result puts West Virginia at 5-3 and 3-2 in the Big 12 Conference with four games left in the month of November. The Mountaineers are still technically in the race in this league, albeit a longshot, but the potential to close the season strong is still very much in play despite the difficult month of October.
This team will head home to take on BYU before a road game at Oklahoma and then a home game against Cincinnati before closing on the road at Baylor. That certainly isn't a daunting slate by any means and while this team is dealing with plenty of concerns still, there is no reason to believe that the Mountaineers can't surprise down the stretch.
Finding a way to beat BYU at home would be quite the start here, but this team has a chance to close the season strong and make November a memorable month. Can they get past some of their own limitations in order to do it?
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan, @zachanderson_11
