West Virginia football finished off its season strong with domination in its Duke’s Mayo Bowl bid, as the Mountaineers defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday. WVU reached nine wins for the first time since 2016 with a decisive bowl victory, the second bowl win under head coach Neal Brown.
The Mountaineers started their postseason bid with an explosive play on the first snap of the game when West Virginia (9-4, 6-3 Big 12) quarterback Garrett Greene faked the handoff and threw a deep strike to wide receiver Traylon Ray. The freshman pass catcher then ran away for a 75-yard touchdown in only 11 seconds on the initial play.
On North Carolina’s (8-5, 4-4 ACC) first possession, freshman quarterback Conner Harrell took the place of star signal caller Drake Maye and made his first career start against the Mountaineers, running for 32 yards on the opening drive. Ultimately, this chance ended in a punt.
WVU went back and forth on its next possession, gaining a first down on the ground and a personal foul in their favor, but a costly holding penalty ended the drive early with a punt.
Next, North Carolina got deep into West Virginia territory with a chunk pass play from Harrell down to the 12-yard line, but it was cut short after an overthrown pass was intercepted by safety Aubrey Burks with three minutes to go in the first quarter.
Leading 7-0, West Virginia got to midfield and handed the ball off to running back DJ Oliver on third and short, but the freshman fumbled on his first carry since the second game of the season, giving the football back to North Carolina in plus territory.
Starting the second quarter, the Tar Heels ran the ball well for 38 yards and converted a fourth down but a false start inside the 10-yard line held them to a 28-yard field goal for kicker Noah Burnette, making the score 7-3.
After the Mountaineers spent three minutes but only accumulated 10 yards on the subsequent drive, a swing play went in WVU’s favor as the punt hit a UNC returner and bounced around, landing in West Virginia’s hands for a new opportunity in the red zone. However, nothing came of this chance as WVU only went backward and kicker Michael Hayes was short on a 52-yard attempt.
The Mountaineers battled for its first three-and-out stop and it immediately paid off on special teams. All-American cornerback Beanie Bishop, who took the place of usual returner Preston Fox, took the following North Carolina punt back 78 yards for a touchdown to push WVU ahead 14-3, marking the first punt return touchdown for WVU since Tavon Austin’s return in 2012.
After this big return happened with one minute left in the second quarter, the Tar Heels turned around by going 76 yards down the field in only 58 seconds. In response, Harrell fired a 16-yard touchdown pass down the sideline to wide receiver JJ Jones to make the score 14-10.
West Virginia executed well to get points before the break, going the length of the field in only 26 seconds to tack on a 29-yard field goal by Hayes, making the score 17-10 at the break.
To begin the third quarter, the Tar Heels moved the ball down the field well but after six plays of offense, WVU defensive end Tyrin Bradley made an outstanding show of athleticism and intercepted the second-down Harrell pass with one hand, giving West Virginia a new possession.
However after the Mountaineers failed to capitalize, WVU punted and held North Carolina to a fourth down until it jumped offside and gave UNC another chance. Although after two more first downs, the Tar Heels still ended up punting back to WVU.
West Virginia led 17-10 with six minutes remaining in the third quarter and its offense fired out to a 54-yard possession on its eighth drive of the game. After being stumped, this chance was capped off by another field goal by Hayes. After his 34-yard attempt, it made the Mountaineers’ advantage 10 points at the end of the third quarter.
After North Carolina continued to struggle following two sacks that led to a punt, fireworks flew as the Mountaineers began the fourth quarter with their next drive. Greene kicked it off by scrambling for 48 yards before he completed a 24-yard pass to tight end Kole Taylor into the red zone.
Soon thereafter, freshman All-American running back Jahiem White finished off the drive as he ran untouched for an 11-yard touchdown to make the score 27-10 in WVU’s favor.
After four plays, only one of which gained positive yardage, UNC failed to convert on a fourth down after Harrell sailed a pass over wide receiver Gavin Blackwell’s head. This led to a turnover on downs inside its own 30-yard line that set up West Virginia in prime territory.
On the next possession, WVU went three plays and lined up for a field goal but this squad decided to take a risk and ran a fake kick run play to the holder Leighton Bechdel, who ran for 17 yards down inside the Tar Heels’ five-yard line. However, it was to no avail as three more plays went for three yards or less and WVU settled for Hayes’ 29-yard kick.
After the kick, the Mountaineers took control leading 30-10 but North Carolina hit on an explosive play to backup tailback British Brooks, who rumbled for 53 yards to start the next possession. However, after three plays for a net loss of four yards, the West Virginia defense slammed the door shut with five minutes remaining.
The Mountaineers secured the win by running out the clock in the final five minutes to reach nine wins in a season for the first time since 2016, marking a strong season for West Virginia football with a Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory to finish off the 2023 season.
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