The West Virginia Mountaineers got back in the win column on Saturday after beating the No. 22-ranked Houston Cougars, 45-35. Read more: WVU’s offense explodes in 45-35 victory over No. 22-ranked Houston
Throughout the game, the Cougars continuously made mistakes, and the Mountaineers capitalized on nearly every occasion. Scotty Fox Jr. also produced arguably the best quarterback performance the Mountaineers have had all season.
Coming out of the gates hot
Receiving the ball first, the West Virginia offense started the game as hot as they have all season.
Running back Diore Hubbard got the ground game going with a six-yard and a 13-yard rush in the first three plays. Clay Ash also had a strong eight-yard rush a few plays later.
Scotty Fox Jr. capped off the 12-play 75-yard scoring drive with a six-yard rushing touchdown to get the Mountaineers on the board first.
Conner Weigman and the Cougar offense looked to respond quickly with a 10-yard pass to Amare Thomas on first down. Just two plays later, Weigman found Koby Young for an 11-yard reception.
Related: WVU Men’s Soccer Wins Mountain State Derby Over Marshall
Just three plays later, the WVU defense made a crucial stand, forcing the Cougars to punt at midfield.
Hubbard once again got offense moving with a 10-yard run on second down. After a couple more successful runs, Fox located Rodney Gallagher up the seam for a 26-yard catch.
Three plays later, Cyncir Bowers ran 21 yards for WVU’s second touchdown in the first quarter.
Weigman took no time to respond with a 10-yard completion to Thomas on first down. After a two-yard run on first down from Dean Connors, Weigman and Young hooked up for a 30-yard pitch and catch. On that same play, Fred Perry was flagged for a face mask, making that play 45 yards in total for the Cougars.
After a nine-yard completion to star tight end Tanner Koziol and a pair of three-yard runs, Weigman and Koziol hooked up for a three-yard touchdown reception.
An up-and-down second quarter
After an incompletion on first down and a five-yard loss on second down, the Mountaineers opened the second quarter with a punt.
The Cougars received the ball on WVU’s 38-yard line. On third down, Weigman mishandled the ball in his delivery, and West Virginia’s Jimmori Robinson recovered it.
On just the second play, Fox threw a beautiful touch pass to Cam Vaughn to put West Virginia up 21-7.
The Cougars started hot again with a seven-yard pass following a pass interference call. Austin Carlise then ran for 13 yards to get the Cougars to WVU’s 36-yard line.
A few plays later, Weigman found Thomas for an 18-yard completion to convert a third-and-16. On the ensuing play, Connors ran 23 yards, falling just short of the endzone. Weigman followed with a successful QB sneak to score Houston’s second touchdown.
After that score, both teams traded three-and-outs, with the Mountaineers having their second in a row after Houston’s.
Weigman once again got the offense rolling with a 19-yard completion on first down. He found Thomas for a nine-yard touchdown catch three plays later.
The Mountaineers could not get anything going with the second half winding down. They were forced to punt, despite a seven-play drive that lasted over two minutes.
The Cougars opted to run out the clock and go into half tied 21-21.
An opportunistic third quarter
Houston opened up the second half with a 10-yard completion on first down. However, the WVU defense stepped up in a big way and forced an improbable interception.
Fox and the offense immediately started rolling after the great field position the defense gave them. After a first down, Kade Hensley capped it off with a season-high 50-yard field goal.
The Cougars responded with a 15-yard run and a 25-yard completion on back-to-back plays. Weigman lost the ball in his delivery again two plays later. Despite Houston recovering it, they had to punt after an incomplete pass on third down.
The Mountaineers, however, gave the ball right back after a three-and-out.
Houston got the ball back and started to drive after a 15-yard completion and a 22-yard run from Connors. However, Weigman threw a lazy pass towards the sideline that was jumped by Jordan Scruggs. He took it back 80-yards for a pick six.
The Cougars would respond with a methodical 12-play drive that was capped off by an eight-yard touchdown pass to Thomas.
A great finish
In response, Bowers got the drive going with a 23-yard run. After a pair of three-yard runs, the Mountaineers went into the fourth quarter down 31-28.
The Mountaineers continued to run hard. Fox ran right up the middle for a 34-yard rushing touchdown on fourth down.
Weigman and the Cougar offense looked to be driving, but they were forced to punt after a third-down sack.
Fox found Jeff Weimer for 53 yards to convert a fourth down on their own 30-yard line after a handful of short runs and Hubbard found the endzone three plays later off an 11-yard run.
Related: WVU battles to take down UC on Oct. 30 in Morgantown
The Cougars were forced to move quickly, down two scores late. After a 27-yard completion on third down and a pass interference call on the next play, they found themselves on WVU’s 43-yard line.
Weigman found Thomas on the next play for a questionable 27-yard touchdown catch.
Fox and the offense got a much-needed first down, but were forced to punt the ball back to Houston. However, a Houston player touched the ball with his foot, prompting the Mountaineers to jump on, and it all but ended the game.
The Mountaineers just had to kneel the ball after a few game-sealing carries to finish with the 45-35 victory.
Sweet, sweet victory
The Mountaineers now sit at 3-6 overall and 1-5 in conference play following the win. More importantly, they played their best football since their week three victory over Pittsburgh.
True freshman quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. played a gutsy game that proved he can be the future quarterback for years to come.
The defense came up clutch when it was needed, despite struggles on late downs and chunk plays.
This was a major morale booster for the program. It may not look like much, but this type of win is what will define the Rich Rodriguez 2.0 era.
West Virginia will aim to stay hot next week when it faces Colorado at home on Nov. 8; that game kicks off at noon.
