LANDOVER, Md. — West Virginia receiver Gary Jennings didn’t play up the narrative of facing his home-state Hokies.
Sunday night’s 13-catch, 189-yard performance said plenty on its own.
“I know he played with an edge tonight,” Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said after a 31-24 win. “He played with an attitude and wanted to show we made a mistake.”
The mistake, Foster explained, involved the Hokies favoring another receiver over Jennings in the 2015 recruiting class.
Rarely leaving the field during the Mountaineers’ 89 snaps, Jennings overcame leg cramps to race 60 yards with a fourth-quarter touchdown that 24-all
“He ran by us a little better than I thought he could,” Foster admitted.
Previously a backup to current Eagles fifth-round draft pick Shelton Gibson, Jennings produced more yardage in the opener than he did in either of his previous two seasons.
“I really wanted to get that win though,” he said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Hokies’ Jackson impresses
In his first college game, Josh Jackson ran and threw for 326 combined yards and Virginia Tech’s offense played turnover-free football.
The redshirt freshman overcame a sluggish start to score on a 5-yard keeper 27 seconds before halftime, a sequence that started the Hokies on a run of 28 points over the final 31 minutes.
“I’ll give him a lot of credit,” West Virginia linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton said. “We heated him up a couple times, and I hit him a couple times, but he kept his composure and continued to play.”
Jackson’s signature moment, a 46-yard burst up the middle, preceded Virginia Tech’s game-winning touchdown in the final 7 minutes.
“It was another read-play,” said Hokies head coach Justin Fuente. “We’ve been running that play a long time and sometimes you some big ones on the inside. Sometimes that quarterback runs through there and just hits air.”
Holgorsen docked 15
Learning the hard way that officials really are turning territorial about coaches roaming off the sideline, Holgorsen received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the third quarter.
The 15-yard walkoff, combined with a Yodney Cajuste holding penalty that apparently had Holgorsen peeved, backed up WVU’s offense from the Hokies’ 23 to the 48.
“That’s 100-percent on me. I got too far out,” Holgorsen said. “I didn’t say anything, just looked at them in an inappropriate manner.”
Officials similarly penalized a Virginia Tech offensive assistant during the fourth quarter.
McDougle emerges early
Yet more proof that two-deeps are not the gospel, true freshman Lamonte McDougle — and not Jaleel Fields — rotated in as the No. 2 nose tackle for the Mountaineers.
“We knew that about three weeks ago that he was going to help us and be in the rotation,” defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. “He strains, he’s never off his feet and plays with great pad level.”
Quotable
“I thought that was one hell of a football game. The biggest thing is I’m disappointed for my guys and incredibly disappointed for our fan base, and that’s not going to go away anytime soon.” — Holgorsen after Virginia Tech won the first meeting with WVU since 2005