Motivated Mountaineers hang on to top No. 22 Iowa State, 38-31

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Third-year West Virginia head coach Neal Brown didn’t want the Mountaineers to forget about their 42-6 loss at Iowa State last season.

Brown based his team’s offseason strength and conditioning program around the problems in the setback from that December 5, 2020, contest, and used them as a reference for the Mountaineers’ need to improve up front on both sides of the ball.

In Saturday’s rematch with the 22nd-ranked Cyclones, West Virginia made the most of its opportunity, totaling nearly 500 yards of offense and coming up with two critical fourth-quarter stops that allowed the Mountaineers to hang on for a 38-31 victory in front of 45,613 at Milan Puskar Stadium.

“We changed our offseason program after they dominated us in that game last year,” Brown said. “We had the 42-6 score up from the time we came back in late January all the way through fall camp. We talked about how we had to get bigger, stronger and more physical. A year ago, it was domination on the front.”

WVU improved to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Big 12 with its second straight conference win. Iowa State (5-3, 3-2) lost to the Mountaineers for the first time since 2017 and had outscored them 110-34 from in the three most recent matchups leading up to Saturday.

“A lot of credit to coach Brown and his kids,” ISU coach Matt Campbell said. “Situationally, they did an incredible job that allowed them to win the football game. We have respect for who they are and what they are. A lot of credit to them and their team.”

Trailing 31-24 to start the fourth quarter West Virginia got even 11 seconds into the frame when Jarret Doege found Winston Wright Jr. for a 22-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-3.

It was Wright’s first TD reception this season and a continuation of perhaps Doege’s best performance as a Mountaineer.

“He played extremely well,” Brown said of Doege. “He knew that he had to play well coming into the game and sometimes that makes it even harder.”

The Cyclones punted on their ensuing series and the Mountaineers took over at their 15 with 11:42 remaining.

A 45-yard pass from Doege to Bryce Ford-Wheaton put WVU in position to go ahead, and the Mountaineers did just that with 9:25 to play when Leddie Brown reached the end zone on a 2-yard run for his 11th rushing score of the season.

Trailing 38-31, the Cyclones moved to the West Virginia 2-yard line after quarterback Brock Purdy’s 23-yard run. But tailback Breece Hall fumbled on the next play as he tried to reach pay dirt, and safety Alonzo Addae recovered for a touchback.

The play was reviewed and looked as though it could’ve been ruled any of three ways — a fumble, a touchdown or marking Hall just short of the goal line with the Cyclones keeping possession. But the officials stood with the call on the field, allowing WVU to take over at its 20 with 5:57 remaining.

“The fumble was big and I’m sure it’s going to get talked about a bunch,” Brown said. “The ball came out. When did it come out? I don’t know. Some breaks haven’t gone our way, but we got the ball out and we were able to take advantage of that.”

From there, the Mountaineers picked up one first down and punted, giving ISU the ball back at its 16 with 3:42 left.

The Cyclones got to the WVU 30, before Dante Stills sacked Purdy and forced the Cyclones to use their final timeout with 48 seconds.

Purdy followed with a 14-yard run, but was 1 yard short of a first down, which kept the clock running. A false start penalty then cost ISU 5 yards and a 10-second runoff, before Purdy’s pass into the end zone was incomplete on the final play.

“We finished on defense,” Brown said. “So much credit needs to go to our older guys.“

Along with having to come up big down the stretch, the Mountaineers were forced to overcome early adversity.

Hall’s 70-yard TD run on ISU’s third play from scrimmage was answered with a 12 play, 75-yard drive that Brown capped with a 2-yard run to tie the game at 7.

Purdy connected with an uncovered Tarique Milton for a 68-yard touchdown pass to give ISU a 14-7 lead, but the Mountaineers responded with their second 75-yard drive and tied it on Doege’s well-placed 20-yard pass to Bryce Ford-Wheaton.

“Something we really tried to invest in during the bye week was responding,” Brown said. “There’s a difference between reacting and responding. As a football team, we’ve done a better job of responding.”

Casey Legg’s 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter gave WVU its first lead at 17-14, and that stood until the Cyclones got even just before halftime on Andrew Mevis’ 34-yard field goal.

After WVU forced a three-and-out on the opening series of the second half, Doege’s 46-yard pass to Ford-Wheaton was negated by an offensive pass interference that caused Neal Brown to lose his cool.

On the very next play, following a delay of game, Doege was intercepted by Jake Hummel, who returned it 24 yards for a TD to give ISU a 24-17 lead 3:53 into the third quarter.

But the Mountaineers again had an answer and one play after Doege’s 35-yard pass to Wright, the senior quarterback found Ford-Wheaton for a 23-yard touchdown. Ford-Wheaton, who dropped a pass that led to a Doege interception in the opening half, made one of the better catches in recent memory for WVU on his second scoring play of the game.

“Once he started making plays, then we wanted to feature him without a doubt,” Brown said. “It’s easier to attack them on the perimeter than it is in the middle.”

Hall ripped off a 53-yard gain to set up Purdy’s 1-yard TD run that gave the Cyclones a 31-24 advantage with 6:06 remaining in the third, but that proved to be their final scoring play.

The Mountaineers finished with 492 yards on 76 plays, led by Doege’s 370 yards on 30 completions.

“We had a huge chip on our shoulder coming into this game,” Doege said. “We wanted to make a statement how good of a football team we actually are.”

Ford-Wheaon had six receptions for 106 yards and Wright totaled 100 receiving yards on six grabs.

Brown rushed for 109 yards on 22 carries, giving him consecutive 100-yard efforts for the first time this season.

The Mountaineers converted 9-of-15 third downs as well as their only fourth down attempt, while ISU was 2-of-12 on third downs.

Hall gained 167 yards on 24 carries and Purdy rushed for 64 yards on nine attempts to go with his 185 passing yards.

Linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo was again West Virginia’s leading tackler with 12 stops.

“That same exact team embarrassed us last year,” Chandler-Semedo said. “We had some ongoing things with covid, but they motivated us as a program more than anything.”





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