Morgantown, WV – WVU proved their Big 12 legitimacy today, scoring 23 unanswered points on the #16 Texas Tech Raiders after going down 13-0 early in their matchup at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Mountaineers defense, however, didn’t respond to the adjustments made in the second half by Texas Tech in time to stop the Raider’s own 21-0 point run, and finished the day on the shallow end of a 37-27 final score.
Clint Trickett settled in midway through the first quarter after a pair of fruitless drives, finishing the day 27/43 for 254 yards and a TD, but couldn’t move the ball versus a staunch Texas Tech defense in the second half.
Davis Webb rallied the Raiders in the second half, going 36/50 with 2 six point strikes, tallying 462 yards against a WVU defense that was visibly worn out by the end of 60 minutes.
The game appeared to be in hand for the Mountaineers late in the second quarter, as the Mounties offense maintained possession for over 36 minutes in the first half, while simultaneously shutting down the Raiders offense. But the adjustments made by Texas Tech at the half proved too much for WVU.
Texas Tech’s Kenny Williams took the lead with 9:20 left in the game on the second of his 2 one-yard TD runs, and the Raiders never looked back, forcing the Mountaineers to punt on 4 of their last 5 possessions, the fifth of which WVU turned over the ball on downs on their final possession.
WVU’s Dreamius Smith finished as the rushing leader on the day for the home Mountaineers, going 89 yards on 16 attempts with 2 TD’s. Charles Sims finished the day with 109 all purpose yards, 77 on the ground with 1 receiving TD.
The Raiders remain undefeated. West Virginia travels to Kansas State next Saturday in the hopes of improving on their 3-4 (1-3 conference) record.
