Final: West Virginia bounces back to beat N.C. State 44-27

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia (2-1) bounced back in a big way, beating N.C. State (2-1) 44-27 on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. FOURTH QUARTER WVU TOUCHDOWN, 3:04 4th quarter, 44-27 West Virginia: Leddie Brown powers his way into the end zone to put the Mountaineers up thee possessions late in the final quarter. WVU TOUCHDOWN, 12:24 4th quarter, 38-27 West Virginia: Austin Kendall hits true freshman Ali Jennings on a slant in the end zone to put the Mountaineers back up double-digits. THIRD QUARTER N.C. STATE FIELD GOAL, 0:10 3rd quarter, 31-27 West Virginia: After Drake Thomas gets an interception for N.C. State, the Wolfpack go 3-and-out but get a field to pull within four of West Virginia. N.C. STATE FIELD GOAL, 2:14 third quarter, 31-24 West Virginia: Wolfpack kicker Christopher Dunn hits a 41-yard kick to pull N.C. State with a touchdown. WVU TOUCHDOWN, 6:24 3rd quarter, 31-21 West Virginia: After a blocked punt by Logan Thimons, Kennedy McKoy scores his second touchdown of the day to give the Mountaineers a 10-point lead at 31-21. WVU FIELD GOAL, 10:42 3rd quarter, 24-21 West Virginia: Evan Staley boots a 23-yard kick to give the Mountaineers the lead again. The drive started from WVU’s own 5-yard line. SECOND QUARTER WVU TOUCHDOWN, 0:34 2nd quarter, 21-21: The Mountaineers score a critical touchdown on a 75-yard drive, topped off with a 13-yard touchdown catch to George Campbell from Austin Kendall. N.C. STATE TOUCHDOWN, 3:13 2nd quarter, 21-14 N.C. State: On a trick play, Thayer Thomas throws an 18-yard touchdown pass to Cary Angeline to take a late first half lead. N.C. STATE TOUCHDOWN, 12:11 2nd quarter, 14-14: The Wolfpack capped off an 80-yard with a 1-yard Jordan Houston touchdown run. FIRST QUARTER WVU TOUCHDOWN, 3:54 1st quarter, 14-7 West Virginia: Kennedy McKoy easily had his longest run of the year with 23-yard scamper to put the Mountaineers back on top. N.C. STATE TOUCHDOWN, 4:49 1st quarter, 7-7: In a drive that saw WVU safety Josh Norwood get ejected for targeting, the Wolfpack answered with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Matthew McKay to Thayer Thomas. WVU TOUCHDOWN, 9:06 1st quarter, 7-0 West Virginia: After WVU forced a missed field goal, the Mountaineers drove down the field and capped a 56-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Austin Kendall to Sam James. West Virginia is looking to bounce back from a blowout loss to Missouri last week when it takes on N.C. State (2-0) at noon Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers (1-1) face the Wolfpack in a final out of conference game before Big 12 play starts next week.

PREGAME

There are major changes throughout the starting lineup, starting on the offensive line. Starting guards Mike Brown (illness) and Josh Sills (shoulder) are both out for today’s game. James Gmiter will start at left guard and John Hughes will start at right guard. Sophomore Briason Mays will also make his first career start at center. Slot receiver Tevin Bush has been suspended for the game, per a WVU spokesman. True freshman Winston Wright will make his first collegiate appearance in Bush’s place.