WVU Football Top Ten Plays of 2016: Number 4

I am going to switch it up a bit with the final four plays. There are a few plays that I really want to highlight and I can’t decide. So I will leave it up to the fans. Here we are deciding between two very exciting defensive plays.

Play 1 - Rasul Douglas BYU Pick-6

West Virginia knew it was going to be in for a dog fight with BYU. They are a strong, tough, hard-nosed team that always pushes their opponent. They have won no fewer than 7 games since 2006 and since 2011 no fewer than 8 games.

The game played out as many figured, with both teams trading blows and it remaining a tight contest throughout. West Virginia got on the board first with a touchdown but the Cougars responded with a 12-play touchdown drive of their own. A Howard interception led to a BYU field goal before the Mountaineers retook the lead with a long touchdown drive.

With the first half winding down, the West Virginia defense was beginning to assert itself. The defense was keeping everything in front of them and limiting the BYU run game to small yardage. This forced quarterback Taysum Hill to check down and throw over the middle instead of down the field. BYU faced a second-and-10 just past midfield, when defensive coordinator Tony Gibson rushed Justin Ardnt around the frontside of the play forcing Hill to step up in the pocket. As Hill looks for his safety valve, Rasul Douglas who is floating towards the sidelines, watches Hill the whole way before stepping in front of the pass and taking it to the house!

Play 2 - Kyzir White Sack, Forced Fumble, Fumble Recovery

The trifecta of pass rushers. In a single play you get credited for a sack, forcing a fumble AND recovering the fumble. That is like turning an unassisted triple play in baseball, except this one is so much more fun to watch.

The Charlie Strong-led Longhorns seemed long on talent and short on everything else. They could never quite get out of their own way. In the beginning of this game, West Virginia seized control early, trading field goals and fumbles with Texas before staking themselves to a 17-3 lead. Unfortunately that lead evaporated into a 17-13 lead at halftime, thanks in part to a 21-play drive by the Longhorns.

As the second half started, the Mountaineers never seemed able to put the Longhorns away, but the Longhorns never seemed to be able to cash in on any momentum. The Mountaineers drives in the second half ended like this: interception, touchdown, interception, interception, punt, punt, punt. Thankfully the Longhorns drives ended like this: missed FG, interception, touchdown, fumble, punt, downs, end of game.

The fumble is the holy grail. Following Skyler Howard’s third interception of the half, Texas started on their own 46 before being pushed back 10 yards by a false start. The Mountaineers contained D’Onta Freeman during the drive but quarterback Shane Buechele scrambled for 23 yards to get the ball to the West Virginia 20. On 3rd and 5 from the 15, Kyzir White came flying in from the front side and demolished Buechele. White hit Buechele so hard, Shane’s future kids will feel that hit. As they were falling to the ground, the ball was jarred loose. When White got up, he had possession of the ball, giving WVU the ball back.

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