(Neal Brown postgame press conference)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia head coach Neal Brown has often discussed the need for his team to finish strong in Big 12 Conference games because of the parity displayed in the league on a weekly basis.
Thanks to one of the Mountaineers’ better first halves of the Brown era, that wasn’t necessary Saturday in BYU’s first trip to Morgantown.
West Virginia did much of what it wanted to through the opening two quarters, dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball to build a 27-point halftime lead en route to a 37-7 victory.
With the result, WVU (6-3, 4-2) is bowl eligible, while BYU (5-4, 2-4) suffered its second straight lopsided defeat away from home one week after a 35-6 loss at Texas.
“We didn’t talk about it,” head coach Neal Brown said of becoming bowl eligible. “I didn’t say anything about it in the locker room. It’s about the best teams play their best games in November and that was the best game we’ve played this year.”
For the second time in as many weeks, West Virginia converted a fourth down on its opening series, and it led to a touchdown on the game’s first drive. This time around, the Mountaineers got a powerful 2-yard run from CJ Donaldson on fourth-and-1 from the Cougars’ 35, and five plays later Donaldson scored on a 2-yard run.
“CJ had a man’s run on fourth-and-1 and that really set the tone,” Brown said. “They kind of stuffed us and he had a second effort.”
BYU elected to try and match WVU with a fourth down conversion on its first series, but the move backfired when Aidan Robbins was stopped by Marcis Floyd for a 2-yard loss.
The Mountaineers capitalized on the field position as wideout Traylon Ray hauled in three passes for 42 yards on three straight plays to setup Donaldson’s 1-yard TD run at the 6:17 mark of the opening quarter.
“If we can come out every game fired up like that, we’re going to have a lot of success,” true freshman linebacker Ben Cutter said.
That score stood until the second quarter when Michael Hayes made it 17-0 with a 46-yard field goal. On the previous possession, WVU cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. helped force an incompletion on a fourth-and-2 pass thrown by BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who got his first career start in place of the injured Kedon Slovis.
The Mountaineers drove 93 yards for their third touchdown on their second series of the second quarter, utilizing a 12-yard touchdown pass from Garrett Greene to Preston Fox on third-and-9 to take a 24-0 lead 2:18 before halftime.
“That’s a play we always work in that area. He’s a great guy with the ball in the air,” Greene said. “I let it fly and he made a hell of a play on it.”
The third touchdown series began with runs of 14, 6 and 12 yards by true freshman tailback Jahiem White, before the Cougars committed two personal foul penalties.
(Game highlights)
Aubrey Burks forced and recovered a fumble on a 23-yard reception by Parker Kingston with 1:05 left in the opening half, and Brown’s choice to be aggressive paid off after Greene found Devin Carter for a 38-yard pass play on third-and-14. The Mountaineers ultimately entered the red zone before settling for Hayes’ 22-yard field goal on the final play of the opening half.
“That was the best our safeties have played in a long time,” Brown said. “Aubrey Burks is back looking like he did pre TCU.”
The Mountaineers entered halftime with 352 yards on 43 plays and 204 rushing yards on 26 attempts.
“That offensive is really good and they put a lot of work into what they do,” White said.
A 23-yard Hayes field goal marked the first points of the second half, and as WVU’s defense continued to excel, the Mountaineers capitalized in the form of a second passing touchdown — this one from Greene to tight end Kole Taylor, who covered 27 of the 43 yards after the catch on the scoring play with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter.
Greene gave way to backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol for the entirety of the fourth quarter, which the Mountaineers did not score in.
BYU avoided the shutout when Robbins scored on a 10-yard run with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter.
WVU accumulated 567 total yards and rushed for 336 yards — its highest total against Power 5 competition under Brown. That’s the second time in as many weeks the Mountaineers have accomplished that feat as they surpassed 140 yards on the ground for a Power 5 best 12th straight game.
“The stats pretty much tell the story,” Brown said.
White was the game’s leading rusher with 146 yards on 16 carries.
(Greg Carey & Joe Brocato break down the game)
“If he continues to do the things he has to do to be great, then he is going to be a great one,” Brown said.
Donaldson added 102 yards on 14 attempts.
“When he’s running like that, he’s a problem to tackle,” Greene said of Donaldson. “Those defensive backs are anywhere from 180 to 210 pounds and he’s running downhill fast at 240. He’s really a load. That all goes back to how our offensive line played today.”
Greene completed 12-of-24 passes for 205 yards. Carter’s 56 receiving yards were a team best and his three receptions tied Ray, EJ Horton and Fox for the team lead.
Retzlaff threw for 210 yards and completed 24-of-42 passes.
BYU was limited to 67 rushing yards on 21 carries.
Both teams committed 10 penalties, while the Mountaineers finished with an average of 7.5 yards per play to the Cougars’ 4.4.
BYU began the second half with a holding penalty that negated Keelan Marion’s 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
West Virginia is back in action Saturday with yet another night game as the Mountaineers’ matchup at Oklahoma is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
“We’re alive and well in the conference race and that’s what we’re talking about,” Brown said. “Obviously a big game next week, but we’re on a quest to be at our best.”
(Postgame “Round of Sound”)