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Follow along: West Virginia falls to No. 7 TCU, 41-31

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia head coach Neal Brown puts his unbeaten record against TCU on the line at noon Saturday. Brown, who is 20-22 overall at West Virginia, bas beaten the Horned Frogs in all three matchups since arriving in Morgantown.

This year’s version of TCU (7-0, 4-0) figures to be the best that Brown’s Mountaineer teams have met. The Horned Frogs have enjoyed a wealth of success offensively thanks in large part to quarterback Max Duggan, tailback Kendre Miller and wideout Quentin Johnston, and they’ll look to feast on a West Virginia defense that’s had little success through four Big 12 contests.

The Horned Frogs haven’t had as much success defensively and will be up against a unit coming off its worst showing of the season when West Virginia fell a week ago at Texas Tech, 48-10. Until then, the Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3) had scored at least 20 points in all six games and 31 or more in five.

TCU is playing for a sixth straight Saturday and will play 10 consecutive Saturdays from September 24-November 26.

3:40 p.m. — FINAL: TCU 41, West Virginia 31. The Horned Frogs remain unbeaten and improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in league play. West Virginia falls to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12.

3:36 p.m. — SCORE: TCU seals the outcome with Duggan’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Williams on fourth-and-1 from the WVU 29. Even if the pass had fallen incomplete, the win was wrapped up as linebacker Exree Loe was offside on the play. TCU 41, West Virginia 31, 0:20 4th qtr

3:25 p.m. — West Virginia elects to try an onside kick that doesn’t work, but Duggan throws his second interception this season on third-and-10 from the WVU 44. Malachi Ruffin comes up with the pick. West Virginia starts at its 16, but immediately goes three-and-out. Anderson was in at tailback due to injuries and dropped a first down pass, before being dropped behind the line of scrimmage. TCU takes over at midfield after Brown elects to punt on fourth-and-13 from the WVU 13. The Mountaineers have all three timeouts left and 2:53 remains in the fourth quarter.

3:20 p.m. — SCORE: West Virginia marches 78 yards in 12 plays and gets to within a field goal courtesy of Daniels’ 23-yard pass to Reese Smith, who made a highlight-worthy grab. Donaldson was shaken up again on the drive, which featured Justin Johnson’s 2-yard run that allowed the Mountaineers to convert on fourth-and-1 just shy of midfield. TCU 34, West Virginia 31, 4:12 4th qtr

3:02 p.m. —ย SCORE: Kell’s 46-yard field goal makes it a two-score game for the first time today. West Virginia’s defense has held up well in the second half, but the Mountaineers are now in must score mode. TCU 34, West Virginia 24, 9:11 4th qtr

2:56 p.m. — Jamoni Hodge’s sack of Daniels helps force a three-and-out and the Horned Frogs will have good starting field position at their 46. West Virginia’s offense has produced three points on four second-half series, and those came on a 2-yard drive following a fumble recovery on a punt.

2:48 p.m. — The Mountaineer defense delivers with an impressive stand on the goal line, including Raleigh Collins bringing Quentin Johnston down for an 11-yard loss on a curious call on third-and-goal from the 1 for the Horned Frogs. Griffin Kell’s 30-yard field goal allows the Horned Frogs to again lead by seven. TCU 31, West Virginia 24, 13:03 4th qtr

2:42 p.m. — The third quarter ends with the Horned Frogs 1 yard from making it a two-score game. Duggan’s 57-yard pass to Savion Williams allowed the Horned Frogs to enter WVU territory, before Duggan found Quentin Johnston for 11 yards on fourth-and-3 from the Mountaineers’ 20. Johnson worked against Woods in single coverage on the pivotal play.

2:32 p.m. — West Virginia goes for it on fourth-and-goal from the 4, but Daniels’ pass to Kaden Prather falls incomplete. TCU has it back with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.

2:25 p.m. — The Mountaineers force a three-and-out for the first time today and TCU punts for a second time. Jordy Sandy’s punt goes only 30 yards and WVU will start at its 42.

2:20 p.m. — SCORE: The Mountaineers fail to produce a first down and have to settle for Casey Legg’s 33-yard field goal. Two runs netted 4 yards, before Daniels was sacked for a 2-yard loss on third-and-6 from the Horned Frogs’ 13. TCU 28, West Virginia 24, 11:05 3rd qtr

2:15 p.m. — West Virginia is forced to punt early into the first possession of the second half, but the Mountaineers get a big break when the punt hits off of Noah Daniels and is recovered by Malachi Ruffin. West Virginia has it at the TCU 17 to start. Attendance is 50,426.

1:44 p.m. — HALFTIME: TCU 28, West Virginia 21. The Horned Frogs score touchdowns on each of their final four possessions of the opening half.

HALFTIME STATS: TCU leads in total yardage, 332-305. The Horned Frogs have 234 passing yards and 98 yards rushing on only eight attempts. The Mountaineers have 163 yards passing and 142 rushing. TCU is 3-for-4 on third downs and West Virginia is 6-for-8 in that department.

1:41 p.m. — SCORE:ย Emani Bailey’s 30-yard run allows TCU to regain the lead. It came two plays after Duggan’s 28-yard pass to Derius Davis on third-and-10 after a West Virginia timeout. TCU 28, West Virginia 21, 0:24 2nd qtr

1:32 p.m. — SCORE: The Mountaineers elect to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the TCU 5 and the move pays off when Daniels finds Justin Johnson for a 5-yard touchdown pass. The Horned Frogs have one timeout remaining. WEST VIRGINIA 21, TCU 21, 1:35 2nd qtr

1:25 p.m. — Donaldson is shaken up on a 4-yard run that sets up third-and-6 from the TCU 29 with inside 3 minutes to play in the half. If Donaldson can’t return, WVU is down to an already-hobbled Justin Johnson and Jaylen Anderson as scholarship tailbacks.

1:12 p.m. — SCORE: Miller races untouched to the end zone on a 51-yard run and TCU has its first lead. TCU 21, West Virginia 14, 7:00 2nd qtr

1:10 p.m. — Daniels loses a fumble on third-and-11 from midfield and the Horned Frogs’ Lwal Uguak recovers and returns it 19 yards to the TCU 49. Tre’Vius Tomlinson forced the fumble as Daniels was getting set to throw.

12:57 p.m. — SCORE: Duggan finds Quentin Johnston for a 55-yard touchdown pass two plays after the Horned Frogs converted on third-and-10. McLaurin fell down in coverage just before Johnston hauled the pass in. A shootout appears to be in store if early results are any indication. WEST VIRGINIA 14, TCU 14, 11:42 2nd qtr

12:50 p.m. — SCORE: Donaldson plunges into the end zone from 1 yard for the second time in as many West Virginia drives. WEST VIRGINIA 14, TCU 7, 14:47 2nd qtr

12:43 p.m.. — The first quarter ends with the teams tied at 7. WVU is knocking on the door and will face third-and-goal from the TCU 1 to start the second quarter. Daniels hit on all six passes for 81 yards in the opening frame, while the Mountaineers rushed 11 times for 78 yards.

12:34 p.m. — SCORE: The Horned Frogs answer immediately with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Duggan to Taye Barber, who got behind linebacker Lee Kpogba and ran in stride to the end zone. WEST VIRGINIA 7, TCU 7, 4:27 1st qtr

12:25 p.m. — SCORE: West Virginia moves 80 yards on its opening drive and produces the game’s first points on Donaldson’s 1-yard rushing touchdown. JT Daniels’ 36-yard pass to Sam James was the long play of the drive, which also featured a 16-yard pass to Treylan Davis on a well-designed play. The Mountaineers began with this offensive front from left to right: Wyatt Milum, Tomas Rimac, Zach Frazier, Jordan White and Ja’Quay Hubbard. WEST VIRGINIA 7, TCU 0, 6:02 1st qtr

12:15 p.m. — The Horned Frogs move into WVU territory on the opening series, but a Jared Bartlett sack of Duggan results in a loss of 12 yards and ultimately leads to a punt. After a touchback and a net of only 15 on that punt, West Virginia starts from its own 20-yard line at the 10:40 mark of the first quarter. Safety Hershey McLaurin started in place of Marcis Floyd.

12:05 p.m. — TCU will start with the ball. Fifty-seven degrees and sunny skies at kickoff before a crowd that looks to be less than 50,000 at this point.

11:15 a.m. — An abundance of pregame injury notes for West Virginia:

Tomas Rimac starts at left guard in place of James Gmiter. Right guard Doug Nester is also out and Jordan White will start in his place. Other contributors not dressed for West Virginia as a result of injuries: Running back Tony Mathis, cornerbacks Rashad Ajayi and Jacolby Spells, defensive back Mumu Bin-Wahad and spear Lance Dixon.

Left tackle Wyatt Milum is available. So, too, is tailback Justin Johnson, who is listed behind CJ Donaldson on the depth chart. Cornerback Wesley McCormick is available and will start at that position along with Charles Woods. Defensive end Sean Martin is also available and listed as a starter.

Your essential pregame links:

Setting the scene

Game preview

Press coverage a pressing issue for Mountaineer wideouts

True freshman punter Oliver Straw adjusting well to new style of football

Three Guys Before the Game – TCU preview

Poor tackling, lack of aggressiveness hurting WVU defense

Mountaineers trying to move forward with abundance of injuries

 





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