Mountaineers Shutdown TCUs Kenny Hill and the Horned Frogs to Remain Undefeated
TCU went to Morgantown yesterday knowing they were going to need to be firing on all cylinders and win the turnover margin to get past the WVU defense and wreck their undefeated season, keeping them from knocking on the CFP door. WVU had other plans though and shutdown the 5th ranked QB in the FBS, holding their second opponent with a top five QB well under their season average for points per game. West Virginia needed to stop Kenny Hill and disrupt the flow of the game and they did just that, starting with the opening kick-off. WVU won the opening toss and elected to defer, unfortunately the Horned Frogs did not handle the kickoff, resulting in a fumble recovered by the Mountaineers on the TCU 17-yard line. It took Skyler Howard three plays to put the first points of the game on the board via Shorts TD reception. The very first TCU drive ended in an interception with a 37-yard return. Unfortunately for Dana’s crew, they were unable to capitalize on the second turnover of the game when they missed a field goal. Skyler Howard needed just 3 more plays after a TCU punt to put the Mountaineers up 14-0. TCU’s defense would keep the Mountaineers off the board for the rest of the first quarter while the Horned Frogs were only able to get 3 on the board. TCU was able to find the end zone early in the second quarter, making it 14-10, but the WVU defense would not allow Kenny Hill within scoring distance for the rest of the afternoon. The Mountaineers were able to drive down the field once more after the TCU TD and scored making it 21-10, where it would stay for the remainder of the first half.
WVU received the kickoff to start the second half and drove 80 yards eating up half a quarter of football, making it to the TCU 21 before having to settle for a FG. The WVU defense only spent 5 plays on defense throughout the 3rd quarter as TCU had to punt it away with Howard and the offense eating up another 5 minutes of football on a scoring drive that saw Kevin Whites little brother run in from 16 yards out. TCU’s D. Gray was not having a good day yesterday, fumbling it for the second time on a kick return, turning the ball back over to WVU but the TCU defense forced the Mountaineers into a 3 and out situation. TCU would only give up 3 more points to the Mountaineers, with a final of 34-10.
Although WVU came up with 3 turnovers, winning the margin handedly as the Mountaineers finished turnover free, they were only able to turn one of them into points. Based on the play of the Mountaineers, it did not turn out that they needed those extra points however, there are some big games down the road where those missed opportunities could end the Mountaineer bid for an undefeated season.
Team Breakdown: TCU was able to make some gains against the WVU defense on the ground, putting up 152 rushing yards but were held to 148 passing yards. The WVU defense was the most exciting part of this game with their 3 takeaways. Hill was not able to garner much in the first half and was shut down completely in the second half of play, going 2-11 on third down conversion, 0-1 on fourth down tries, and only being able to find Taj Williams for 35 yards. Howard and his offense were able to match TCU on the ground with Shell rushing for 117 yards on the day, but the breakout was through the air with Howard finishing with 231 passing yards with Daikiel Shorts getting a TD and 74 yards receiving. The WVU offense edged TCU’s in total yards with 389 compared to the 300.
Takeway: TCU has a solid team with holes in their game play. Kenny Hill is a top rated QB that was out played by a West Virginia defense that is hitting on all cylinders. Howard got extremely lucky on a few passes with his wide receivers making huge plays on the ball in extreme coverage, the most exciting part of the offense all game. Otherwise, this game was a very well executed game by the West Virginia Mountaineers and they are beginning to stir the pot now that they have bumped into the top 10 in the nation. They have a lot of football left to play and there are teams along the way that have in their minds to upset the Mountaineers but if WVU can keep playing ball like they have the last two weeks, I believe the Baylor Bears will have a tough time when they face-off with them in Morgantown come December.
Game Ball: This will be another split game ball between the WVU receivers and the defense. If not for a couple of key plays by the wide-outs, Howard would have walked away with at least 2 interceptions which could have changed the pace of the game. The defense is more than deserving as they held the number 5 QB to 300 yards of total offense, allowing only 10 points all game with all 10 coming in the first half, and forcing 3 turnovers. This defense may not be the best rated in all of college football, but they are here to play and they will force you to make big plays in order to beat them.
Next games: WVU @ Ok St on 10/29 at 11 am; TTU will visit TCU on 10/29 at 2:30 pm.
