West Virginia

West Virginia 31-26 Arizona (Oct 26, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

1 year ago

October 27, 2024

West Virginia 31-26 Arizona (Oct 26, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

TUCSON, Ariz. — — West Virginia travelled across the country facing a crossroads.

Lose at Arizona, the Mountaineers would have to fight just to become bowl eligible. Win and they still have a shot at being in the mix for the Big 12 title.

No reason to be passive with so much on the line so far away from home.

Aggressive from the start, West Virginia scored three times on fourth downs — one on a fake field goal — and held off a late Arizona rally to win on Saturday night.

“We felt like this was a critical game for us and we needed to win,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. “As I told the guys: we were going to empty the tank.”

Coming off two double-digit losses to ranked opponents, West Virginia arrived in the desert missing three captains, including quarterback Garrett Greene, hurt last week against Kansas State.

Nicco Marchiol was sharp in his place, throwing for 198 yards on 18-of-22 passing. The Mountaineers (4-4, 3-2 Big 12) complemented his performance with a pounding run game, rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns.

The key plays came on drive-extending plays.

West Virginia converted all four of its fourth-down chances, including its first three touchdowns, and was 7 for 16 on third downs to end a two-game losing streak.

“That’s the best we’ve played in a long time,” Brown said.

Arizona All-American Tetairoa McMillan bounced back from a quiet game against Colorado last week with 10 catches for 202 yards and a touchdown. He caught a 34-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and quarterback Noah Fifita added a 3-yard TD run to pull the Wildcats within 31-26 after trailing by 18.

The Mountaineers never gave Arizona (3-5, 1-4) a chance to complete the rally, converting two key third downs to grind out the clock and send the Wildcats to their fourth straight loss.

“There were moments tonight and I thought we were going to get this done, but they made the plays on that last drive when they had to,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said.

West Virginia had no trouble moving the ball against Arizona’s defense early, particularly on the ground.

The Mountaineers opened with a field goal and scored the next drive on a fake when holder Leighton Bechdel went 14 yards around the left end for a touchdown.

West Virginia opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 3 in the second quarter and converted when Marchiol found Hudson Clement in the back of the end zone. The Mountaineers did it again on the opening drive of the third quarter, scoring on a fourth-and-3 when CJ Donaldson Jr. burst through the left side for a 20-yard TD run that put West Virginia up 24-7.

West Virginia pushed its lead to 31-13 early in the fourth quarter when Marchiol found Traylon Ray on a 54-yard touchdown pass — this time on second down.

“We just didn’t get off the field,” Arizona safety Owen Goss said. “Coach always preaches get off the field and didn’t feel like we did that tonight.”

Arizona’s offense was hit or miss.

The Wildcats put together one scoring drive in the first half, eating up nearly eight minutes of the clock before Quali Conley scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter.

Arizona spent the rest of the time sputtering until finding a rhythm late in the third quarter, pulling within 24-13 when broken coverage left Sam Olson wide open for a 23-yard touchdown catch.

The Wildcats managed to rally late before West Virginia ground out the game.

Loop’s miss

Arizona kicker Tyler Loop had been perfect on extra points during his career, hitting 119 straight.

The streak came to an end after Olson’s touchdown when he missed wide left.

The takeaway

West Virginia used its balance to pick up a solid road win with its backup quarterback. Arizona struggled against West Virginia’s run game and its offense came to life too late, putting the Wildcats in a difficult spot to become bowl eligible in a season where they were once ranked No. 20.

Up next

West Virginia: plays at Cincinnati on Nov. 9.

Arizona: plays at UCF next Saturday.

——

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West Virginia

West Virginia data center boom draws criticism over costs, resources

Published

6 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

West Virginia data center boom draws criticism over costs, resources

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (Gray DC) – — Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced $4 billion in private investment to build data centers across West Virginia, but the plan faces pushback from residents concerned about rising electricity costs and resource consumption.

The West Virginia State Legislature opened the door for data center development in 2023, with a plan promising 30% of funds would stay in host counties.

“We have a framework that will help make West Virginia not only the best state to open a data center… but best for consumers as well,” Morrisey said.

Resource and cost concerns

Critics say each data center will consume between 1 and 5 million gallons of water daily, employ fewer than a dozen people and strain the power grid.

Morrisey said the law bars passing costs to consumers.

However, a Carnegie Mellon report shows electricity costs in communities around data centers are expected to spike nearly 25% by 2030. The explosion of data centers nationwide will drive up electricity bills by an average of 8% even for those not near a facility.

Limited lifespan

The lifespan of a data center averages 15 years. By year 25, they are considered obsolete.

There are currently plans for eight data centers across West Virginia. Morrisey said he is listening to those communities.

West Virginia’s welcome signs were changed from “Wild and Wonderful” to “Open for Business” in 2006.

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West Virginia

E-News | Join Core Arboretum spring wildflower walks

Published

19 hours ago

April 8, 2026

Press Room

E-News | Join Core Arboretum spring wildflower walks

The Department of Biology invites the community to join its spring ephemeral wildflower walk Sunday (April 12) at the Core Arboretum.

The free guided walks will begin at noon, 12:30 p.m., 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

The walks will take place each Sunday in April.

Find more information and register to attend.

Last year, more than 45 species of plants were seen in bloom over the course of the wildflower walks.

Individuals are also welcome to visit and see the flowers on their own. Information on how to find and identify the flowers are available at the kiosk.

Those who wish to schedule a group tour outside of the regular schedule or would like to become a volunteer guide, should contact Zach Fowler, WVU Core Arboretum director, at zfowler@mail.wvu.edu.

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West Virginia

WVU welcomes return of ‘Research Week’ across campuses

Published

1 day ago

April 7, 2026

Press Room

WVU welcomes return of ‘Research Week’ across campuses

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia University has welcomed back its beloved Research Week for its eighth year.

Research Week at WVU was created to highlight the research efforts of students, faculty and staff across the school’s three campuses and to thank them for helping create the R1 institution’s household name.

Core facilities showcase (WBOY image).

Monday kicked off the week with award-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author and historian John M. Barry as a keynote speaker in a conversation “on the power of storytelling to shape public understanding, inform policy, and influence how science is understood in public life,” according to WVU.

One of the events that took place on Tuesday was the Core Facilities showcase held in the Health Science Center, which featured 30 different displays of research.

12 News spoke with WVU Core Resources Director Karen Martin on why it was important to feature the university’s research projects in this way.

“This is going to be professional development for them so that they can learn the skills that they can then take, not only to do their research now, but that they can take with them for jobs in the future. And we’ve got the cutting-edge, greatest technologies out there, so they’re really competitive, they’ve got good skills when they leave here. And we study everything from diabetes, cancer, neuroscience, just a whole range of everything that we study, and so students really get a lot of opportunities to learn, to understand how the technology works, and they’ve got that to take with them,” Martin said.