Connect with us

West Virginia

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

Published

on

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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

“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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

Arizona: plays at UCF next Saturday.

——

Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll



Source link

Advertisement

West Virginia

West Virginia man accused of threatening Trump, ICE agents indicted

Published

on

West Virginia man accused of threatening Trump, ICE agents indicted


A West Virginia man accused of threatening to attack President Donald Trump and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement workers was federally indicted this week.

Cody Lee Smith, 20, of Clarksburg was indicted on two counts of threats to murder the president, one count of influencing and retaliating against federal officials by threat of murder and one count of influencing a federal official by threat of murder, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of West Virginia.

Smith is accused of making a series of public posts on Instagram encouraging and threatening the murder of Trump, those who support him, Israelis and “all government officials,” the news release said.

The indictment also alleges that Smith sent a direct message via Instagram to Donald J. Trump, Jr., stating he would kill his father by cutting his “jugular.”

Advertisement

In a phone call with the ICE tip line, Smith also threatened to kill ICE agents in Clarksburg and employees staffing the tip line.

Comment with Bubbles

BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT

Smith faces up to 5 years for each of the presidential threat charges and faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each of the remaining counts.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

West Virginia

West Virginia falls flat in 65-63 loss to Kansas State – WV MetroNews

Published

on

West Virginia falls flat in 65-63 loss to Kansas State – WV MetroNews


West Virginia has said the right things about the need to capitalize on opportunities.

The Mountaineers aren’t following through when they come about.

The latest example came Tuesday night at Kansas State, which scored 21 unanswered points in the second half before holding off a furious West Virginia charge for a 65-53 victory at Bramlage Coliseum.

“The level of urgency and desire to win a game with so much on it wasn’t where it needed to be,” West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge said on postgame radio.

Advertisement

The Wildcats (12-18, 3-14) played without leading scorer PJ Haggerty, a surprise scratch with an undisclosed injury.

Although WVU (17-13, 8-9) defeated Kansas State 59-54 with Haggerty in the lineup during a January matchup in Morgantown, the Mountaineers were unable to capitalize on his absence in the rematch and fell to 1-4 in their last five games.

Both teams were dismal offensively in the opening half, which ended with West Virginia leading, 26-23.

The Mountaineers got 10 points apiece from reserve forwards Chance Moore and DJ Thomas, helping the visitors to at least somewhat overcome a starting lineup that scored six points on 3-for-15 shooting over the first 20 minutes.

“When you’re playing a team that is a little down and out, you can’t give them life and can’t give them hope,” Hodge said. “We had so many opportunities in the first half and at the beginning of the game to make some plays and entice a team that’s been struggling to maybe keep struggling.”

Advertisement

After a scoreless first half, WVU guard Honor Huff made his 100th three-pointer this season with 18:33 to play, allowing the Mountaineers to lead 31-27.

West Virginia went the next 8-plus minutes without a point, and Wildcats took control during that stretch.

Khamari McGriff scored the Wildcats’ first four points of the extended 21-0 spurt and accounted for four buckets and eight of the first 15 points during that time.

A jumper from CJ Jones with 10:53 remaining left the home team with a 48-31 advantage, before Thomas scored from close range to end his team’s extended drought at the 10:27 mark.

“I’m aware of our shortcomings and I understand when you’re deficient in some areas, your margin for error to win is razor thin,” Hodge said. “I’m disappointed with what was at stake, we got beat to loose balls. Would it have been nice to make more layups and threes? Of course. But when those things aren’t happening, you better do those other things.”

Advertisement

KSU had separate 19-point leads, the latter of which came at 57-38 when McGriff made two free throws with 7:29 to play.

WVU then increased its aggressiveness offensively and reeled off the next 11 points, while the Wildcats began to play tentative while in possession.

A three-pointer from K-State’s Nate Johnson left the Wildcats with a 60-49 lead with 3:48 left, but the Mountaineers continued to battle and trailed by six when Chance Moore scored in the paint at the 1:24 mark.

Moore’s next basket made it a five-point game, and after a Johnson turnover, Huff made two free throws to bring WVU to within 61-58 with 48 seconds left.

Another KSU turnover gave the visitors the ball back, but after Moore missed a shot that the Mountaineers rebounded, Huff committed a costly turnover. 

Advertisement

Johnson made two free throws with 17 seconds left, and McGriff added two more with 7 seconds remaining before Huff made a trey at the buzzer.

Moore led WVU with 18 points and made 6-of-7 shots, but again struggled on free throws, finishing 5 for 9. WVU hurts its cause at the charity stripe and made only 9-of-16 attempts.

Brenen Lorient was the Mountaineers’ second-leading scorer with 14 second-half points, while Thomas followed with 12 and Huff added 11 on 3-for-11 shooting.

Treysen Eaglestaff led all players with 11 rebounds in defeat, but made only 3-of-12 shots in a six-point showing.

McGriff led KSU with 18 points and added seven rebounds.

Advertisement

Johnson finished with 16 points and nine boards.

WVU had nine of its 13 turnovers in the second half. 

“Nine turnovers in the second half creates more busted floors, more cross match opportunities and through that, it makes you vulnerable for paint touch opportunities,” Hodge said. 

K-State played under the guidance of interim head coach Matthew Driscoll. Driscoll replaced Jerome Tang, who was fired in between the team’s first and second matchups with West Virginia this season.

“Sometimes in life you get what you deserve,” Hodge said, “and we deserved to lose tonight.”

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

West Virginia

Nitro completes utility deal with West Virginia American Water – WV MetroNews

Published

on

Nitro completes utility deal with West Virginia American Water – WV MetroNews


NITRO, W.Va. — It’s a done deal.

Nitro Mayor Dave Casebolt signed an agreement Tuesday with West Virginia American Water Company President Scott Wyman completing the sale of the Nitro Regional Wastewater Utility including the sewer plant for $20 million.

Advertisement

The water utility will now own and operate the city’s water and wastewater systems. The state Public Service Commission recently approved the deal.

Casebolt said it’s good to get the long-talked-about agreement signed. He said the city can’t afford to make the improvements required at the sewer plant.

“We’re looking at needing between 40 and 50 million dollars of upgrades to our system and expecting our four-thousand customer base to try to offset those costs is not even practical,” Casebolt said.

Casebolt said sewer bills are going to go up but he said they were going to go up regardless. He said the city was facing increasing rates by as much as 50 percent.

West Virgina American is planning $42 million in upgrades to the sewer system over the next five years, Casebolt said.

Advertisement

“It’s a much-need investment and actually allow the system to handle rainwater much better where it’s not backing up into people’s homes,” Casebolt said.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending