TCU traveled to Morgantown on Saturday, November 1st to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. With a win, the Horned Frogs would keep their playoff dreams alive, going in with a 6-1 record, their only blemish being a 3-point loss in a shootout with Baylor. West Virginia was looking to improve to 7-2 and remain in the hunt for their first Big 12 championship game. Individuals were predicting a high scoring affair; especially with TCU coming off an 82-point point performance against Texas Tech. The game was an exciting game, but did not play out how all the experts predicted.
West Virginia began the game with a great opening drive. They took the ball down the field with a great 75-yard drive that was a beautiful mixture of pass and run. There were two tremendous plays on the drive. The first play was Clint Trickett to Kevin White. They hooked up with a 23-yard pass-and-catch, with White doing most of the work on his own. On the following play, Trickett hooked up with Mario Alford for a big touchdown over the middle.
WVU extended their lead on their second drive, which featured a Wendell Smallwood run early and converting an early 3rd down to White. WVU switched up their offensive play calling to use the run to set up the quick passes, using the fast-paced offense to keep the ball moving and to keep their average of 85+ plays a game going. The drive ended with them being stopped at the 5-yard line but nailing a FG to take a 10-0 lead.
TCU let a high kickoff drop and WVU recovered on the 25-yard line. On a short field, however, WVU were unable to move the ball, actually losing 2 yards. They would then get fired up though with Trickett’s helmet being ripped hard and having no call. However, Josh Lambert hit a 44-yard FG and WVU took a quick 13-0 lead.
After another miscue on a kick-off, TCU remained in control of the ball and they moved to turbo speed. They did a great job on mixing up the run and pass and scored a TD on a Trevone Boykin to Deante’ Gray 47-yard TD. The speed that TCU has is definitely a concern for the teams that line up and play against them. WVU’s defense has a weakness in this area and will always be vulnerable.
The first 5 minutes of the 2nd quarter were a stalemate, even though there was a momentum change with a Trickett interception as he tried to throw a jump-ball to White. With 7 minutes left in the second quarter, WVU attempted to turn the field with a 55-yard punt. With TCU gaining 30 yards on the drive, the punt definitely helped WVU. However, with the yardage that TCU picked up and a good punt, the field was reversed again. WVU-TCU after the quick start decided to play a game of “Let’s gain a few first downs and then punt”. The defenses were outshining the offenses, which was not expected.
TCU went into halftime with a 13-7 deficit, and both teams hoping that their offensives would show up in the second half, with both units held to 236 yards (WVU) and 129 yards (TCU) respectively.
After trading possessions to start the second half, TCU finally scored a touchdown on a QB-run option by Boykin. WVU responded with a 75-yard touchdown drive on the legs of Dreamius Smith to regain the lead at 20-14. On the next drive, WVU forced a HUGE turnover when Terrell Chestnut ripped the ball out of Josh Doctsons’ hand and recovered it and returned it for a touchdown. WVU took a 27-14 lead. That made it two WVU touchdowns within 11 seconds.
TCU forced a WVU turnover (their fifth) on the next possession, and on 3rd and 5, B.J. Catalon ran the ball in for a 25-yard touchdown.
After a short kick-off. Trickett capitalized with a 45 yard pass to Alford. After the big play, the WVU offense struggled with their red zone offense and was stopped a few yards short of the first down on the 5-yard line. WVU opened the 4th quarter by finishing off the drive with a Josh Lambert field goal to push it to a 2-score game.
The first drive of the 4th quarter for TCU began well. Aaron Green came in the game to give Catalon a rest and gained a quick 20 yards. However, Catalon came back in and the offense stalled and were forced to punt. After the punt, WVU slowed the tempo down and even with a three and out, they chewed up two minutes of time. The crowd booed and was a little restless, but with WVU inside their own 15-yard line, coach decided conservative play-calling was what the doctor ordered. The defense has been playing well when they are not on the short field; no need to give any more gifts. TCU though were not too concerned about having to drive a little further. They methodically marched down the field and Catalon scored his second touchdown of the afternoon and pulled the game within two.
With six minutes remaining in the game, the boos rained down heavily from the stands, as West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen, who had been fantastic in managing the play-calling for the first three quarters shifted his strategy in the 4th quarter. After a WVU punt, TCU faced a 4th down and Patterson decided to go for it on WVU 43-yard line. They drew up a great play and Catalon was held on a no-call and they turned the ball over on what could have been a touchdown. TCU was frustrated with the no call and WVU fans were going, “Yes, the refs have been bad all day.”
The game ended up coming down to a final possession. TCU only needed a field goal and had the wind at their back. They started the drive on their own 25-yard line with 2 minutes left in the game. In a quick manner (i.e., one play), they moved into field goal range. With 4 seconds remaining, TCU lined up for a 37-yard field goal.
The kick was right down the middle and TCU won 31-30.
Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller
The Mountaineer nation thought that the victor was going to be theirs. They were blowing up the twitter feed. However, the 4th quarter was the demise for the Mountaineer nation. The play calling went from balanced with calculated risk to extreme conservatism with a “let us not lose this game” mentality. TCU is looking ahead for the possibility of a BIG 12 Championship and a bid to the Play-Off’s. they have a tough match up next week again Kansas State and then they finish the year off with what should be three easy games: Kansas, Texas and Iowa State who currently holds a combined record of 8 wins and 17 loses. On the other hand, WVU tries to regroup as they have away games at Texas and Iowa State and have Kansas State at home. They still have a realistic chance of a 9-3 record or 8-4 in the worst case scenario.
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