MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia wasn’t trying to replicate Muhammad Ali’s old rope-a-dope strategy, but the effect was all the same Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium.
At the drop of a hat, a matchup that was even on the scoreboard turned into a decisive knockout. The Mountaineers delivered a quick flurry of blows to TCU, scoring three touchdowns in the final 5:09 of the first half before adding two more scores in the first two minutes of the second half to coast to a 47-10 win.
It was the widest margin of defeat of TCU coach Gary Patterson’s 18-year career.
“TCU don’t get beat like that,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. “This was their worst loss in like three decades. That tells you where our team and program is right now.”
The Mountaineers are in the driver’s seat in the Big 12, assured of an appearance in the conference championship game if they can close out the regular season with wins against Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.
In the first quarter, the West Virginia offense did not look capable of reaching the 40-point mark for the third consecutive week. Three of the Mountaineers’ first four possessions resulted in punts against the Big 12’s top pass defense.
Offensive coordinator Jake Spavital decided to pick up the pace between snaps to get West Virginia out of that rut.
“Those drive-starters were hitting, so at that point we got the momentum going and it’s just ‘Let’s continue with the pace,’” Spavital said. “It just kind of naturally happens once you tempo and something hits.”
West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen said picking the right time to run tempo is important.
“Up-tempo can be detrimental to your team if not done properly,” Holgorsen said. “I believe in mixing that. It’s a way of sparking us, so to speak. We need to be able to have that in our back pocket. Las year we probably did it too much. This year, we’re going about it right.
“I think it’s a good changeup. If you’re sputtering a little bit, changing things up is good.”
West Virginia’s first touchdown drive opened with four straight passes before Kennedy McKoy broke through for a 33-yard touchdown run. Prior to that play, the Mountaineers had been limited to eight rushing yards on nine carries.
McKoy’s touchdown run pushed the snowball down the mountain.
“I don’t know if there’s any rhyme or reason to that,” McKoy said. “But once we get going, it’s hard to stop a good team like us.”
TCU mishandled the ensuing kickoff, setting the Mountaineers up at the doorstep. Martell Pettaway closed the five-play, 17-yard drive with a touchdown from the 1.
Following a TCU three-and-out, Pettaway opened the next drive with a 15-yard reception and a 17-yard run. Eyes firmly planted in the backfield, the Frogs were exposed when Will Grier found Trevon Wesco for a 33-yard touchdown with no defender within 30 yards of the massive tight end.
That would have been more than enough against an offense that was limited to minus-7 yards on the ground — the worst rushing output for the Horned Frogs since going for minus-21 against Texas A&M the year after LaDanian Tomlinson graduated. But the Mountaineers continued the flurry early in the second half. TCU provided more generosity on a kickoff, muffing an attempted fair catch before jumping on the fumble at the 4-yard line.
Three plays later, West Virginia was credited with a safety after an intentional grounding flag was thrown on TCU quarterback Mike Collins in the end zone.
The ensuing possession resulted in another quick trip down the field – 60 yards in four plays and 56 seconds – before another McKoy touchdown provided the finishing touch on a 30-0 blitz in 6:57 of elapsed game time.
It was as complete a stretch in all three phases as West Virginia has seen this season.
“We’ve played together really well this year,” Holgorsen said. “There’s been spurts of that over the course of every game except one. This team feeds off of each other.”