Jarret Doege passed for 290 yards and three touchdowns and Leddie Brown rushed for 158 yards and a score as West Virginia snapped a two-game skid with a 31-23 win over Texas on Saturday in Big 12 action in Morgantown, W.Va.
The wire-to-wire win kept bowl hopes alive for the Mountaineers (5-6, 3-6 Big 12) and extended the losing streak to six games for the Longhorns (4-7, 2-6), their longest since 1956.
Doege threw TD passes of 20 yards to Sam James, 14 yards to Winston Wright and 7 yards to Sean Ryan, the latter giving the Mountaineers a 28-17 lead late in the third quarter.
The Longhorns, playing without star running back Bijan Robinson, struggled in the first half offensively but rallied under backup quarterback Hudson Card to pull within 28-23 early in the fourth quarter.
A late 45-yard field goal by the Mountaineers’ Casey Legg and an interception on Texas’ ensuing drive clinched the win for West Virginia.
Card passed for 123 yards and a touchdown before being forced from the game late in the fourth quarter. Keilan Robinson had 111 yards and a 49-yard TD on nine carries for Texas.
The Mountaineers drove 75 yards on the game’s opening possession, with Doege finding James to establish the early lead. West Virginia added to its advantage with an 11-play, 80-yard march that was capped by Doege’s toss to Wright in the back corner of the end zone with 13:44 to play in the second quarter.
Texas didn’t have a first down until its fifth possession but that’s when it found its footing and the scoreboard on Robinson’s long TD run that closed its deficit to 14-7 with 8:34 to play until halftime.
Brown answered for the Mountaineers with a 2-yard TD run at the 2:34 mark of the second quarter.
Cameron Dicker’s 50-yard field goal pulled Texas to within 21-10 at the half.
Card hit Xavier Worthy for a 52-yard TD connection to cut the West Virginia advantage to 21-17 in the third quarter. But the Mountaineers responded with another long drive that ended with a touchdown pass from Doege to Ryan.
Texas got a 6-yard scoring run from Roschon Johnson with 12:25 to play but the Longhorns failed on a two-point conversion pass.
–Field Level Media
