West Virginia football grabbed its first win of the 2023 season against the Duquesne Dukes on Saturday, after the Mountaineer offense led by quarterback Garrett Greene scorched the Dukes for four passing touchdowns and then ran away in the 56-17 victory.
A lengthy lightning delay changed the complexion of Saturday’s home-opener in Morgantown but the final result was what West Virginia was looking for, especially in the second half. Duquesne only trailed 14-10 before the long break and looked poised to compete, but the Mountaineers widened the gap into a comfortable win in the latter half.
To start the game, West Virginia (1-1) was able to force a three and out on the Duquesne (1-1) offense. However on the punt return, the ball took a bounce off of a WVU player which awarded the Dukes with a new possession past midfield on the recovery. Duquesne then answered with the first score of the game, a 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Darius Perrantes to wide receiver D.J. Powell.
Trailing 7-0, West Virginia picked up one first down before a dropped pass on third down derailed the drive. Duquesne was held deep into their own territory on the following drive before the Mountaineers answered on the next with a passing touchdown, a connection from Greene to in-state native Hudson Clement which tied the game at 7 in the first quarter.
West Virginia’s Beanie Bishop forced an interception on the Dukes’ third drive, and then Clement hauled in another big play with a 39-yard reception. Running back Jaylen Anderson capped off the go-ahead drive, with an eight-yard rushing touchdown to put WVU ahead 14-7 in the early second quarter.
The Mountaineers forced another stop and opened up in Duquesne territory for the next possession, but a turnover on downs allowed the Dukes’ to sustain a new drive exclusively through the air with 55 passing yards. Brian Bruzdewicz finished the drive with a 39-yard field goal to make the score 14-10.
After a one hour and 54-minute lightning delay, play resumed in Morgantown in the middle of the second quarter with West Virginia still ahead by four. WVU’s Clement added onto his career performance following the delay, scoring a massive 70-yard touchdown from Greene that put the Mountaineers up 21-10, his second touchdown of the game.
After Duquesne was held without a first down in their opening drive following the delay, the walk-on Clement did it again for the Mountaineers, hauling in an eight-yard gain before scoring his third touchdown of the night from Greene, this one on a wide-open 46 yard completion.
The Mountaineers were able to force the fifth punt of the night and capped off their final drive before halftime with a 12-yard completion followed by a quick 22-yard touchdown to wide receiver Preston Fox, which was also Greene’s fourth passing touchdown against the Dukes.
After forgoing the halftime break because of the aforementioned delay, sophomore signal-caller Nicco Marchiol checked into the game for West Virginia, leading 35-10. Marchiol’s first drive at the helm ended after 34 yards gained and a turnover on downs.
The following drive ended on downs as well for the Dukes and then WVU’s true freshman tailback Jahiem White made the first impact of his career in the third quarter with a 31-yard carry. However, West Virginia fumbled the ball out of the endzone attempting to reach for the pylon and gave it back to Duquesne. The Dukes’ were stifled in their possession and punted back to WVU.
White on West Virginia’s next drive continued to make his presence felt, scoring a 19-yard touchdown on the ground to put his team ahead 42-10. Duquesne then strung together an impressive drive in the third quarter after five drives with no points, connecting for 61 yards and a touchdown to wide receiver Teddy Afful, but the Dukes still trailed 42-17.
A quick interception from WVU’s Avery Wilcox put the Mountaineers in plus territory and after 20 yards all coming on the ground, Marchiol punched the ball in from one-yard out to go further ahead at 49-17.
West Virginia held the Dukes to another three and out before it tacked on the final touchdown of the contest when freshman running back D.J. Oliver fought for the first touchdown of his career from five yards out. This proved to be the final blow West Virginia would give in the decisive 56-17 win over Duquesne.
The Mountaineers will remain at home for their next matchup as West Virginia is set to host the Pittsburgh Panthers in the Backyard Brawl on Saturday, Sept. 16, the first instance of this rivalry matchup in Morgantown since 2011. Kickoff from Milan Puskar Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.
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