Live blog: Mountaineers hang on against BYU 35-32

LANDOVER, Md. — West Virginia and BYU faced off for the first time ever, in a venue where the Mountaineers were playing for the second time ever. (That 2012 romp over James Madison … ah, such memories.)

The 2016 game was far more memorable, and as the Mountaineers made their way to 3-0, we topped the blog with updates throughout the day:

Fourth quarter

— BYU’s last chance looked promising, penetrating the WVU 30 and perhaps setting up for the tying field goal. But Hill went deep toward the goal line, where Nana Kyeremeh’s deflection led to a Maurice Fleming interception at the with 1:00 left.

— Wow, West Virginia squandered a first-and-goal when Tyler Orlosky’s shotgun snap hit an unsuspecting Skyler Howard in the leg.

— BYU took over at is 13 with a chance to take the lead only to see a Taysom Hill’s pass glance off the hands of a receiver, resulting in a Jeremy Tyler interception.

— Desperately needing to chew clock, West Virginia suffered its second consecutive three-and-out. A third-down pass was wide open after Ka’Raun White pushed the corner deep, but White dropped it at the sticks.

SCORE: Taysom Hill 18-yard touchdown pass to Moroni Laulu-Pututau (5:55) WVU leads 35-32: Hill went 4-of-6 for 60 yards on the drive and has found his rhythm — and WVU has found itself in a dogfight again. The series took only 2:01 over nine plays and 79 yards. The nation’s 105th-ranked offense is averaging 6.5 yards per snap today.

— West Virginia went three-and-out for only the second time today.

SCORE: Jamaal Williams 3-yard touchdown run (9:19) WVU leads 35-25: Hill got the drive going with three keepers before a pass interference flag on Rasul Douglas helped the Cougars into the red zone. The drive required eight plays to go 67 yards in 2:01. BYU tried and failed on another 2-pointer, though this one earned kudos for creativity as Mitch Juergens took a reverse pitch and tried to throw back to quarterback Taysom Hill. Such a kooky play could end in no more fittingly than with Noble Nwachukwu intercepting at the goal line.

SCORE: Skyler Howard 9-yard touchdown pass to Daikiel Shorts (11:27) WVU leads 35-19: The Mountaineers marched 99 yards in 12 plays to carve out breathing room, with 81 of those yards coming on Howard’s passing. He was 5-for-7 on the drive, highlighted by a 19-yarder to Ka’Raun White on third down and a 32-yarder to Gibson over the middle.

Third quarter

— BYU gains a first down but no more. Johny Linehan dropped a 42-yard punt out of bounds at the WVU 1.

SCORE: Howard 5-yard touchdown (2:32) WVU leads 28-19: On the first play after the turnover, Howard floated a 51-yarder to Shelton Gibson, who beat freshman Chris Wilcox. On third-and-goal, Howard filtered through several reads before tucking and dashing toward the pylon. (WVU improved to 3-for-3 in the red zone today.)

— With BYU driving for a potential lead, Adam Shuler stripped Williams on third down and Khari Sharif recovered.

— West Virginia, despite starting inside its own 14 for the fourth time in five drives, moved across midfield. That’s where a second-down bomb to Devonte Mathis became a near-miss TD. After a third-and-1 sneak by Howard was clogged, Holgorsen sent in two fullbacks for fourth-and-inches, and that play went nowhere. Howard was dropped for a 2-yard loss and BYU took over at its 41. Potential game-changing sequence there.

SCORE: Jamal Williams 7-yard touchdown (10:44) WVU leads 21-19: The Cougars used two third-down conversions — including a third-and-11 QB draw that Hill took for 27 yards — to pull closer on the opening drive of the second half. Critics might cry it was too early to chase the 2-pointer, but I liked the timing. A fade route to 6-foot-6 Nick Kurtz (leaping over the 6-3 Douglas) was juggled and caught, though Kurtz was flat-backed on the boundary line.

Halftime notes

— West Virginia narrowly outgained BYU 244-226 in the half. Each team ran 35 plays.

— The Mountaineers’ two red-zone trips netted 14 points, versus only six on two trips for BYU.

— Skyler Howard was 19-of-22 for 180 yards passing, while Taysom Hill went 10-of-16 for 80. Each threw an interception, with Hill’s hurting more.

— With Williams at 14 carries for 128 yards, BYU is averaging 8.1 per rush.

— West Virginia fans were hooting heartily at the refs as they exited the field, but remember, it was the booth official who made the ruling. From my view of the replay, it appeared the ball hit turf a fraction of a second before 0:00.

Second quarter

SCORE: Rhett Almond 25-yard field goal (0:00) WVU leads 21-13: A 50-yard kick return by Aleva Hifo jumpstarted BYU’s 2-minute drill, which moved 43 yards on 10 plays. The Cougars appeared to come up empty, however, when Juergens took a pass to the WVU 7 and time expired as Hill spiked the ball. When the replay booth gave BYU one more second, Almond converted.

SCORE: Rasul Douglas 54-yard interception return (2:23) WVU leads 21-10: Back-to-back blitzes showed Tony Gibson wasn’t willing to drop eight into coverage anymore. Justin Arndt’s pressure off the right edge led to Hill’s careless jump-pass into the flat. That’s when Douglas pounced.

— WVU fails on a third-and-2 run by Justin Crawford. It looked as though BYU’s Logan Taele shot through Tyler Orlosky and Kyle Bosch to make the stop.

— Finally, on the game’s sixth series, we have a punt. BYU kicks from midfield.

SCORE: Rushel Shell 2-yard touchdown run (9:50) WVU leads 14-10: The Mountaineers drove 86 yards in 12 plays, with Howard working the short game (6-of-6 for 55 yards). One of those involved Shell turning an innocent-looking dump-down pass into a 13-yard catch-and-run to convert a third-and-7 in the red zone.

SCORE: Almond 22-yard field  goal (2:44) BYU leads 10-7: Williams went over the 100-yard mark with a 56-yard dash, but BYU couldn’t fully capitalize on first-and-goal from the WVU 3-yard line.

First quarter

— WVU threatened again, but Howard’s 10-of-10 start ended with a deep-ball overthrow for White. Then Howard panicked on a late throw over the middle, finding BYU linebacker Butch Pau’u, who returned the interception 20 yards to the BYU 41.

SCORE: Mitch Juergens 25-yard touchdown pass from Taysom Hill (2:44) Score tied 7-7: The Cougars countered with a 12-play, 78-yard drive on which Hill went 4-of-5 for 42 yards and Williams ran like a steer. BYU converted all three third down, including the third-and-7 score on which Juergens beat Khairi Sharif inside.

SCORE: Shell 6-yard touchdown run (9:22) WVU leads 7-0: Moving 88 yards in 13 plays, WVU scored three times on its opening drive, though only one counted. The Mountaineers overcame a third-and-10 on a 35-yard pass to Shelton Gibson. When Holgorsen didn’t hesitate to try a fourth-and-5 at the BYU 32, Howard hit Ka’Raun White for 8 yards. A third-and-1 at the 2 was converted when BYU jumped offsides, though it negated Howard’s quick-strike TD pass. On first-and-goal Howard surged in on the sneak only to have WVU flagged for illegal formation. Finally, one play later, Shell danced in for his second TD of the young season. Howard was 8-for-8 passing for 79 yards on the series.

Pregame

— Lineup shuffle for the Mountaineers: Adam Pankey moves back to left tackle, and Game 2 starter Colton McKivitz shifts to right tackle, where he’s presumably behind Marcell Lazard. Tony Matteo starts at left guard, where he started the opener during Pankey’s DUI suspension.

Why is the Pankey move curious? Because after he struggled at left tackle last season against TCU, the coaches suggested he was uncomfortable on the edge, and that he “needs to be a guard.” A season later, Pankey needs to be a tackle.

— Uni alert: BOTH TEAMS ARE WEARING BLUE PANTS!!!!!

— WVU is 2-of-8 converting touchdowns in the red zone (cue Holgorsen eye-roll) and BYU has allowed opponents only two TDs in six red-zone trips.

— Barring a surge of walk-ups, a crowd of 50,000 looks unlikely today. A couple officials told us to expect closer to 40,000.

— Former WVU defensive assistant Steve Dunlap on the “GameDay” broadcast just now: “(Taysom Hill) will flush. He’ll get impatient and he’ll start running around when he doesn’t have to.”

— Check out the “Four-Down Territory” preview, in which McKivitz’s performance was addressed.

— Today’s final score predictions from the MetroNews crew:

— WVU favored by 7.5 today but Brad Powers tells MetroNews “Gameday” that Holgorsen 1-11 against the spread after a bye.





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