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No. 13 West Virginia (7-1, 5-1) defeated No. 17 Texas (6-3, 4-2) by a score of 42-41 in a thrilling game from start to finish in Austin Saturday afternoon.
Saturday’s contest saw a classic back-and-forth battle and 1,100 yards gained between West Virginia and Texas.
West Virginia quarterback Will Grier finished 28-of-42 for 346 yards and three touchdowns.
For Texas, quarterback Sam Ehlinger completed 24 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns.
West Virginia drove deep into Texas territory on its opening drive, but three penalties kept the Mountaineers out of the end zone. Evan Staley knocked through a 45-yard field goal to give West Virginia an early 3-0 lead.
The two teams would exchange punts on the next two possessions and Texas would capitalize on a short field (drive started on Texas’s 47) that ended with a one-yard touchdown rush from Ehlinger. The touchdown was set up by a 23-yard pass and catch from Ehlinger to Lil’Jordan Humphrey on 3rd-and-5.
On the ensuing drive, West Virginia regained the lead with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Grier to David Sills. Following the play, Sills was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and left tackle Yodny Cajuste was penalized and ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct on the extra point.
Texas capitalized on the short field again and went ahead by a score of 14-10 thanks to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Ehlinger to Humphrey. The touchdown capped a three-play, 39-yard scoring drive for the Longhorns.
West Virginia’s offense drove down into Texas territory again on the following drive. Will Grier would go down after being hit from behind, but only missed one play. He eventually connected with Sills for the second time of the afternoon on an 18-yard touchdown to give the Mountaineers a 17-14 lead early in the second quarter.
The Longhorns then answered back on their next drive which saw a touchdown get called back due to offensive pass interference and a conversion on 4th-and-3. Tre Watson gave Texas a 21-17 lead with a five-yard rush near the 10-minute mark in the second quarter.
Another West Virginia touchdown followed on the ensuing possession as Martell Pettaway’s longest rush of his college career (55 yards) resulted in a touchdown and 24-21 lead for West Virginia.
West Virginia’s David Long got the first sack of the game on the next possession, but the Longhorns capitalized on blown coverage and missed tackles from the Mountaineers on the next play as Ehlinger found Watson for a 32-yard touchdown pass, taking a 28-24 lead.
The Mountaineers closed the first half with a 44-yard field goal from Staley and trailed by a score of 28-27 at halftime. After one half, West Virginia and Texas had racked up 614 yards of total offense, 18 total penalties were called and there were no turnovers.
Texas drove into West Virginia territory to open the second half, but the Mountaineers got a much-needed stop as Ehlinger’s helmet came off on 4th-and-1 before he got the first down.
West Virginia was unable to capitalize on the stop as Tevin Bush was stuffed on 3rd-and-2. A 29-punt return set Texas up at its own 46, but despite getting the ball to West Virginia’s one-yard line, Texas was forced to settle for a 22-yard field goal which extended its lead to 31-27 late in the third.
The Mountaineers came up short on fourth down on their ensuing offensive drive, but their defense held Texas to another field goal to make it 34-27 in favor of the Longhorns.
On the next drive, West Virginia would drive 75 yards down the field in 11 plays to tie the game at 34 with a 13-yard rushing touchdown from Martell Pettaway with less than six minutes left.
Texas though would take back the lead as Ehlinger found a wide open Devin Duvernay for a 48-yard touchdown pass to put the Longhorns up, 41-34, with less than three minutes left to play.
Grier then found Gary Jennings for a 33-yard touchdown pass on the next drive. West Virginia went for the two-point conversion and got it as Grier scrambled into the end zone.
From there, West Virginia's defense held off Texas's offense and sealed the win.
The Mountaineers will return to Morgantown for a matchup against TCU next Saturday.
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