West Virginia Football: Top Ten Plays Of 2015 Season - Number Ten

The play:

1st and 10 at TEX 47 (3:39 - 1st) D'Onta Foreman run for a loss of 5 yards D'Onta Foreman fumbled, recovered by WVU's Jared Barber, return for 42 yds, (Josh Lambert KICK)

The setup:

The Mountaineers, having just defeated Texas Tech the previous week, were looking to continue their momentum against the Texas Longhorns. The Mountaineers, however, came out sluggish. Quarterback Skyler Howard was intercepted on the first series. The Longhorns scored a field goal on their first series. The Mountaineers responded by going three-and-out.

The Longhorns took over and immediately gained 6 yards on the first play. Jerrod Heard then lost 3 yards before completing a 37-yard pass to wide receiver John Burt. Burt raced downfield before being knocked out of bounds at the 47 yard line. It looked like Texas was moving in for a killshot.

Texas got cute and tried to catch the Mountaineers in desperation mode. Texas ran a reverse to running back D'Onta Foreman but he could not handle the ball. The ball fell out of his hands and hit the ground. Linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski knocked the ball backwards with his left hand and middle linebacker Jared Barber picked the ball up and began running towards the endzone. Longhorns receiver Daje Johnson gave chase for Texas but Barber had enough of a headstart that he was able to score.

Why it's a top ten play:

Jared Barber injured his knee against Texas in 2013 in the overtime and was lost for the 2014 season. Jared came back for his senior season and started all but the Maryland game. The Texas game represented a healing point for Barber as he played his final season and helped guide West Virginia to a bowl win.

WVU had endured an extremely tough October schedule and needed nearly ever game remaining to make bowl eligibility. A loss to Texas means West Virginia is playing Iowa State for a bowl berth. The offense was sputtering and needed as much help as it could get.

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