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WVU stays perfect at home with 24-6 win over TCU

(Neal Brown postgame Zoom conference)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — ‘The Climb’ has taken another significant step forward with West Virginia’s 24-6 win over TCU Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers (5-3, 4-3 Big 12) have already equaled their 2019 win total and exceeded their conference win mark with two games to play.

“What we put on tape today was West Virginia football,” said WVU head coach Neal Brown. “I thought individually and collectively, I thought our guys laid it on the line.”

West Virginia opened the scoring with a clinical 15-play, 99-yard drive which was capped by a Jarret Doege 1-yard TD tote. The drive chewed up over half of the first quarter clock (7:33), giving WVU a 7-0 lead.

“To go 99 yards right out of the gate, we took control of the game right there. We converted several third downs.”

After a Griffin Kell field goal in the opening minute of the second quarter, the Mountaineers covered 75 yards in just 2:29 on their next possession. Doege hit T.J. Simmons in the corner of the end zone with a 26-yard touchdown pass. West Virginia led 14-3 at halftime.

“He was practicing better,” Neal Brown said of Simmons. “We have played a couple games in a row here where inside receivers could be featured at a little bit higher rate. Doege trusts him to make contested catches.”

West Virginia Mountaineers wide receiver T.J. Simmons (1) catches a touchdown pass during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs (Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports)

“When the run game is clicking, they do a lot of loading the box,” Simmons said. “They do a lot of man coverage so that gives us a chance to get one-on-one matchups and make big plays in the passing game.”

The teams traded field goals in the third quarter. WVU sophomore Casey Legg connected from 42 yards out kicking straight into the laces and sneaking it just inside the left upright. The Mountaineers took a 17-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth, the Mountaineers put the game out of reach when Doege connected with Simmons on a 38-yard scoring strike, giving West Virginia a 24-6 cushion with 12:01 left. Simmons caught 4 passes for 90 yards. The final scoring drive was set up when Sean Mahone recovered a muffed punt at the TCU 42-yard line.

West Virginia Mountaineers running back Leddie Brown (4) runs the ball during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs (Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports)

Tykee Smith put an exclamation point on the win with a red zone interception of Max Duggan with 3:30 left.

Leddie Brown posted his fifth 100-yard game of the season. He toted the ball 24 times for 156 yards. Doege completed 19-of-26 passes for 212 yards and 2 touchdown tosses. Brown was questionable to play after nursing an injury in last week’s game at Texas.

“I was uncertain all week if I was going to play or not,” said Leddie Brown. “It depended on how I was feeling the day of the game. Today I felt good.”

“As the week went on, by Wednesday he was able to run and make some football movements,” Neal Brown said. “He was running on the side so I felt good about it. He got mental reps on Thursday and Friday. He looked good in warmups so we felt he was ready to go.”

Tony Fields once again led the Mountaineers with 14 stops (8 solo). Exree Loe had a dozen tackles, playing in place of Josh Chandler-Semedo. TCU was held to 295 yards of total offense.

“We all push each other,” said Fields. “It is not like anybody is getting complacent. Everybody is trying to get better everyday. Tykee had nine tackles today, Exree Loe had twelve, Alonzo (Addae) had eight. Every one of their tackles, I was excited for them. I was excited trying to make the next play. All we do is feed off each other. That’s what makes our defense so good.”

West Virginia will enter their final bye week of the regular season before hosting Oklahoma (5-2, 4-2 Big 12) on Senior Day on November 28.

“This keeps us in the hunt,” Neal Brown said. “We are heading into this bye week and I think everybody involved in our program is ready too take a breath.”





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