Soak It In — West Virginia Reaches Bowl Eligibility, Dominates BYU In Morgantown

West Virginia improved to 6-3 (4-2 Big 12) on the season with an explosive offensive performance in their 37-7 win over the BYU Cougars on Saturday night in Morgantown.

The Mountaineers finished the night with 567 total yards, with 336 of those coming on the ground, in the largest margin of victory in Neal Brown’s tenure at WVU.

WVU jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead with their opening drive on a CJ Donaldson touchdown from two yards out. BYU attempted to respond, but came up short after rolling the dice on a 4th & 2 from West Virginia’s 46 yard line. The Mountaineers capitalized with a five-play, 52 yard drive capped off by Donaldson’s second touchdown of the game to extend it to 14-0 midway through the first quarter.

BYU threatened with an extended drive to start the second quarter, but the drive sputtered out deep in West Virginia territory as Beanie Bishop knocked down a pass on 4th & 2 for the Cougars’ second turnover on downs in three drives. The Mountaineers would go on to extended the lead to 17-0 with a 46-yard field goal from Michael Hayes.

After another unsuccessful BYU drive, the Mountaineers added to the lead once again as Preston Fox hauled in an incredible catch to put WVU up 24-0 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. West Virginia would go into the locker room with a 27-0 lead as Michael Hayes knocked in a 22-yard field goal as time expired.

The domination continued in the second half as the Mountaineer defense forced a three-and-out on BYU’s opening possession. West Virginia’s ensuing drive fizzled out at the Cougars’ five yard line, bringing Hayes on for his third field goal attempt of the evening.

Greene extended the Mountaineers’ lead to 37-0 half way through the third when he found tight end Kole Taylor in the middle of the field for a 43 yard catch-and-run touchdown.

BYU would go on to avoid the shutout with an eight play, 62 yard drive capped off by an Aidan Robbins rushing touchdown.

The win secures bowl eligibility for the third time under Brown.

Garrett Greene finished his night early with 205 yards and two touchdowns through three quarters. Nicco Marchiol was a perfect 4-of-4 for 26 yards in clean up duty.

Jaheim White had an impressive outing, putting up 146 yards on 16 carries, while CJ Donaldson looked more like his 2022 self with 102 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Devin Carter finished with 56 yards on three receptions to lead the Mountaineers receivers, with Preston Fox also finishing with three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.

The Mountaineers will travel to Norman next Saturday to take on the Oklahoma Sooners, who are fresh off a 27-24 loss to Oklahoma State in the last Bedlam for the foreseeable future. Kickoff is set for 7:00PM, with the game once again being broadcast to a national television audience on FOX.