West Virginia football tops TCU in regular season finale, 20-17
West Virginia (5-7, 3-6) ended the first season of the Neal Brown era on a high note, defeating TCU (5-7, 3-6) on the road by a score of 20-17 Friday night.
The West Virginia defense was able to come up with a takeaway on TCU’s first offensive drive with Tykee Smith’s second career interception.
West Virginia’s offense took over at the TCU 14-yard line and the Mountaineers scored first with a three-yard touchdown pass from Jarret Doege to Leddie Brown with 10:40 left in the first quarter.
After a West Virginia punt, a 64-yard run from TCU’s Taye Barber helped set up a two-yard touchdown run from Sewo Olonilua later in the drive for the Horned Frogs, evening the game at 7-7 with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
The Horned Frogs would take their first lead of the game at 10-7 with 9:49 left in the second quarter with a 30-yard field goal from Jonathan Song.
West Virginia answered back with a field goal of its own with Evan Staley hitting a 40-yarder to tie the game up at 10-10 and that would be the score heading into halftime.
Halftime Stats:
Doege threw his third interception of the evening on West Virginia’s first drive of the second half, but the Mountaineers were able to force the Horned Frogs to punt on the ensuing possession.
During a West Virginia punt, TCU took a 17-10 lead with 10:32 left in the third with a 70-yard punt return touchdown from Jalen Reagor.
After TCU quarterback Max Duggan threw his second interception of the game later in the third quarter, West Virginia was able to trim its deficit to 17-13 after a 24-yard field goal from Staley.
The Horned Frogs punted on their next offensive drive and West Virginia was set to go for it on fourth-and-one from the TCU 42, but a false start on left guard Mike Brown pushed the offense back and the Mountaineers decided to punt instead.
West Virginia's defense forced another TCU punt and the Mountaineers were able to get a couple of first downs late in the fourth quarter with the help of pass interference and targeting penalties.
The Mountaineers were able to capitalize on the penalties and took the lead with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Doege to Isaiah Esdale with 2:10 to go. This put West Virginia up by a score of 20-17.
On the ensuing drive, TCU's offense drove to its own 33-yard line but turned the ball over on downs. The Mountaineers then turned the ball over on downs themselves with 46 seconds left on the TCU 31-yard line.
The Horned Frogs drove to near midfield and after a false start penalty before a fourth down play, TCU turned the ball over on downs, sealing the win for West Virginia.
West Virginia will now enter the offseason.
Final Stats:
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