MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It was a “True Blue” Saturday at Mountaineer Field, where No. 20 West Virginia and 10th-ranked TCU fought to remain in the Big 12 title race. The last ticket was sold six days ago, and perhaps you heard that “College GameDay” was here also.
A recap of the live updates and photos throughout the game:
FINAL: TCU wins 31-30
—Jaden Oberkrom 37-yard touchdown run (0:00 fourth quarter) TCU wins 31-30
A blown coverage in the WVU secondary allowed Boykin to hit Kody Listenbee for 40 yards and TCU ran for another first down to set up Oberkrom’s game-winner on the final play.
— WVU has three consecutive three-and-outs, each one brutally ineffective.
— On fourth-and-3 at the West Virginia 43, Gamblin’ Gary Patterson goes for it. He had the play but Catalon was caught up in the traffic and couldn’t catch up to Boykin’s pass over the middle.
— A busted flea-flicker turns into a 21-yard scramble by Boykin. West Virginia missed more tackles on that play than it had all day.
— A nearly big return by Alford ends at the 28 and WVU goes backward for 3 yards. That makes minus-5 on the Mountaineers’ last two series.
— B.J. Catalon 6-yard touchdown run (7:33 fourth quarter) West Virginia leads 30-28
TCU’s eight-play 51-yard drive was clutch, especially with Catalon taking in the toss sweep on third-and-goal from the 6. West Virginia’s linebackers couldn’t reach the edge.
— West Virginia took over at its 8, ran three plays and punted back to TCU.
— It looked like fastbreak football when Aaron Green ripped off a 25-yard run, but TCU stalled at midfield and Boykin missed on a third-down pass. He’s now 8-of-25 passing.
— Josh Lambert 23-yard field goal (14:56 third quarter) West Virginia leads 30-21
Trickett made a big throw, finding Mario Alford on a 46-yard bomb to move West Virginia into scoring position. The five-play drive bogged down in the red zone, however, partially due to an illegal motion flag. That led to Lambert’s third kick of the day.
— END OF THIRD QUARTER: West Virginia leads 27-21
— B.J. Catalon 23-yard touchdown run (2:25 third quarter) West Virginia leads 27-21
Suddenly the points are coming in bunches as the Frogs cashed in three plays after the Trickett interception.
— TCU punted AGAIN, and then West Virginia turned it over AGAIN. Facing third-and-forever, Trickett was flushed out of the pocket and flipped a pass toward the sideline that never made it. Linebacker Paul Dawson intercepted the throw, that even if completed, would have left WVU 12 yards shy of the a first down. I’m guessing Trickett didn’t see him.
— Terrell Chestnut 35-yard touchdown return (6:36 third quarter) West Virginia leads 27-14
The long fumble-recovery drought is over for West Virginia. Chestnut stripped receiver Josh Doctson along the sideline and scooped up the Mountaineers’ first recovery of the season. And then he kept going, into the end zone.
— Dreamius Smith 5-yard touchdown run (6:51 third quarter) West Virginia leads 20-14
After Smith’s 50-yard run re-energized the home crowd, the senior capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run. Huge answer for the Mountaineers, who hadn’t scored in eight possessions.
— Trevone Boykin 2-yard touchdown run (9:27 third quarter) TCU leads 14-13
On its fourth short-field opportunity, TCU finally cashed in. Catalon’s 15-yard run started the series and TCU stayed on the ground for all six plays.
— TURNOVER ALERT: Trickett appeared to be changing play when Tyler Orlosky snapped it prematurely. TCU ball at the WVU 27.
— TCU went three-and-out on its first drive of the half, and Boykin missed two open throws across the middle. Hard to believe how erratic he has been so far.
— Halftime stats of note: WVU ran 53 plays to TCU’s 29 in the first two quarters.
— Halftime stats of note: WVU holds 236-129 edge in total offense but only 4.5 to 4.4 edge in yards per play.
— END OF HALF: West Virginia leads 13-7
— Boykin promptly threw it right back to West Virginia’s K.J. Dillon, meaning TCU has scored zero points on three drives that began after turnovers in WVU territory. Boykin is 5-of-16 and Tony Gibson is a dancing little man right now.
— West Virginia turned it over AGAIN. This time Smallwood coughed it up at his own 23.
— TCU got nothing out of this scoring chance either, primarily because its O-line committed a chop block on the first play. After Boykin’s helmet came off, third-string quarterback Zach Allen faced a third-and-26. His run gained only 1 yard and TCU punted for the fourth time in five series.
— Trickett threw his ugliest interception of the season, which Chris Hackett returned to the WVU 21. Back-to-back turnovers for the home team.
— After Shell fumbled at his own 46, the West Virginia defense forced a three-and-out on which TCU netted minus-3 yards. Off-target so far, TCU’s Boykin fell to 3-of-9 passing.
— WVU ran 29 plays to TCU’s 10 in the opening quarter.
END FIRST QUARTER: West Virginia leads 13-7
— Deante Gray 47-yard touchdown pass from Trevone Boykin (1:44 first quarter) West Virginia leads 13-7
TCU countered quickly by moving six plays for 83 yards in only 2:06. Gray made a nifty cut on the touchdown screen pass and utilized a nice downfield block by lineman Jamelle Naff on WVU safety Dravon Henry. B.J. Catalon also had a 19-yard run early in the series.
— Josh Lambert 44-yard field goal (3:52 first quarter) West Virginia leads 13-0
After TCU’s kick-return gaffe, the Mountaineers missed a golden chance by picking up only 4 yards on the ensuing series. The officials also missed a blatant facemask when Trickett’s helmet was yanked sideways by defensive end Josh Carraway on a scramble. That brought WVU offensive linemen Quinton Spain and Marquis Lucas into the fray. No flags were thrown for the post-play dustup, which was appropriate considering no flag was thrown after Trickett’s near-decapitation.
— TCU’s kick return unit forget the return part, which is the most important part of the return game, allowing WVU to recover a kick that bounced at the 25. Clearly Joe DeForest doesn’t want to kick it deep to B.J. Catalon.
— Josh Lambert 21-yard field goal (6:19 first quarter) West Virginia leads 10-0
The Mountaineers drove 51 yards in 14 plays, converting a third-and-7 along the way when Trickett found White for 8. WVU also overcame a holding call on Alford to reach the red zone.) On third-and-2 at the goal line, however, Dreamius Smith was dropped for a loss. Smith has averaged 8 yards per carry the past two weeks, but with Shell and Smallwood in rhythm, you wonder why Smith was inserted there.
— TCU opened with a three-and-out as Boykin threw incompletions toward Doctson, Listenbee and Catalon. All were tightly blanketed by WVU’s man coverage.
— Mario Alford 23-yard touchdown pass from Clint Trickett (11:00 first quarter) West Virginia leads 7-0
The 10-play drive was run-heavy with Smallwood and Shell splitting seven carries, but Trickett made a gorgeous throw after Alford beat freshman corner Ranthony Texada. The Mountaineers went 3-for-3 on third downs, including a 23-yard pickup by Kevin White on a third-and-6 middle screen that TCU looked to have defended.
— Rushel Shell, a scratch last week at Oklahoma State, looked nimble in warmups. Presumably he’s good to go today, which could be crucial because he’s the Mountaineers best short-yardage runner.
— Injury update for West Virginia: Cornerback Terrell Chestnut appeared healthy during the pregame drills. He’s two weeks removed from suffering concussion symptoms after a crack-back block by Baylor.
— The turnover margin sits in TCU’s favor by a wiiiiiiide margin entering today. The Frogs rank second in the FBS (plus 12) while West Virginia is 119th (minus-9).
— TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin ranks third in the nation in total offense at 382.9 per game, with 58 of that on the ground. Clint Trickett isn’t far behind, ranked ninth at 336.