West Virginia
West Virginia wears down Central Florida for 41-28 road win – WV MetroNews
(Neal Brown postgame press conference)
After failing to finish strong each of its last two games, West Virginia did just that Saturday at Central Florida.
The Mountaineers rattled off 17 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter, allowing them to pull away from the Knights for a 41-28 victory at FBC Mortgage Stadium.
“It’s really who scores points off turnovers and what’s the differential? We worked a lot of it in the spring into fall camp and that was the reason we won the game,” fifty-year WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “We had 21 points off turnovers and that was the story of the game.”
West Virginia (5-3, 3-2) ended a two-game skid to prevent a winless October and handed UCF (3-5, 0-5) a fifth consecutive loss in the process.
Both teams moved the ball well, though the Knights had no answer for West Virginia’s run game, which churned out 286 yards — 60 more than the Mountaineers had rushed for in a game against Power 5 competition.
Quarterback Garrett Greene rushed for three touchdowns, the last of which came from 1 yard on the second play of the fourth quarter to give the Mountaineers a 31-21 lead.
UCF followed with a three-and-out and its only punt, and the Mountaineers followed with an ill-important seven play, 68-yard drive that tailback CJ Donaldson capped off with his team’s fifth rushing TD from 6 yards. Two plays before WVU gained the first three-score lead of the game, Greene connected with wideout EJ Horton for a 13-yard gain on fourth-and-2 out of a timeout.
The Mountaineers then put to rest rest any thought of a UCF rally by forcing a turnover on downs as cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. continued his stellar game and season by breaking up a fourth-and-3 pass. That directly led to Michael Hayes’ 41-yard field goal with 5:15 remaining, before the Knights got a 16-yard touchdown pass from John Rhys Plumlee to Kobe Hudson with 1:46 left.
While UCF gained 463 yards, the Knights had four turnovers to the Mountaineers’ one.
“During our two games that we dropped, we haven’t been able to create takeaways and we have to be able to take the ball away,” Bishop said. “We kind of harped on that so we could get the ball back to the offense and score more points.”
A pair of third-quarter turnovers proved pivotal in the outcome, the first of which came on Bishop’s second interception of the game and fourth this season on the opening drive of the third quarter.
At that time, WVU led 17-14, and the Mountaineers went on to drive 68 yards and scored their third touchdown on Greene’s 7-yard run. Four plays before Greene reached the end zone, he threw a 28-yard pass to Preston Fox on a receiver screen.
Still, the Knights answered and pulled to within a field goal when Plumlee threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Javon Baker, who made a high-level catch and managed to narrowly get one in foot in bounds to cut his team’s deficit to 24-21 at the 5:25 mark of the third.
After the Mountaineers were forced to punt, linebacker Lee Kpogba Plumlee and forced a fumble that defensive lineman Jalen Thornton recovered, setting West Virginia up at the UCF 27 with 1:10 left in the third.
Four plays later, the Mountaineers were back on top by two possessions and in control.
“We were going to need some takeaways,” Brown said. “They’re good on offense and some of the areas where they’re good, we have some issues. I felt like the key was getting first downs on offense. This is a game we had to control the clock and get first downs.“
(Game Highlights)
West Virginia also got off to a strong start in its earliest game this season. The Mountaineers scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the first time this season, that coming on Greene’s 6-yard run to finish off a nine play, 75-yard series. Three plays earlier, Donaldson ripped off a 21-yard run on fourth-and-1 from the WVU 45.
“I told our guys shooters were going to shoot tomorrow and that was the mentality. We were in attack mode,” Brown said.
UCF countered and pulled even at 7 when Plumlee found Hudson for a 34-yard touchdown on third-and-6.
West Virginia moved into the red zone, but stalled on its second series and settled for Hayes’ 24-yard field goal.
The Knights crossed midfield on their second possession, but Bishop came up with his first interception to end that series on a bizarre play that saw Plumlee throw toward Javon Baker, whose cleat hit the football and sent it high into the air, allowing Bishop to snag it.
“Beanie’s played at a high level and been around the ball a lot,” Brown said. “That was huge, especially the first one, because they were driving and we went and turned it into a touchdown.”
West Virginia then marched 68 yards in 10 plays and took a 17-7 lead on true freshman Jahiem White’s 4-yard TD run.
Plumlee’s 8-yard touchdown run 5:50 before halftime brought the Knights back to within three.
Greene left for one play of WVU’s ensuing series, and it resulted in a turnover when Nicco Marchiol passed to Fox, who pitched the ball behind him to Jaylen Anderson on a designed hook-and-lateral, only for Anderson to lose the ball and the Knights’ Demari Henderson to recover on the UCF 28.
However, on the very next play, Edward Vesterinen pressured and hit Plumlee and it prevented him from stepping into a pass that allowed Marcis Floyd to come down with an uncontested interception.
Greene returned directly after Floyd’s interception.
“Everybody in that locker room puts in so much. They put in too much for me to let a little ankle take me out,” Greene said.
Neither team scored again for the remainder of the half.
“We haven’t really played a complete game top to bottom on offense, defense and special teams,” Greene said, “and we kind of played a complete game. Other than the 2-minute drive before half where I have to hit [Devin Carter] on the mesher, but for the most part, the offense did enough to win.”
Oddly enough, Plumlee’s first incomplete pass didn’t come until after his third interception on the Knights’ first play of the fourth quarter and the signal-caller’s 20th attempt of the contest.
The Mountaineers had only four penalties and were without one over the first three quarters.
WVU played for much of the game without starting right tackle Doug Nester and right guard Brandon Yates, who exited with injuries. Nick Malone and Ja’Quay Hubbard filled in for the duo.
Donaldson rushed for a season-high 121 yards on 17 carries and White added 85 yards on nine carries. Greene contributed 55 rushing yards on 11 attempts and completed 14-of-23 passes for 156 yards.
“We’ve ran the ball really well and CJ had a different mentality this week so I had a lot of confidence in him,” Brown said. “They’ve had some issues stopping the run. The date analytics, which I go heavy into on Thursday afternoon and by Friday afternoon I pretty much know how we’re going to play the game on fourth down. We probably would’ve gone for fourth-and-1 back to our minus 30, but felt good running the ball.”
Plumlee threw for 274 yards and completed 25-of-36 passes. RJ Harvey rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries, though he gained 16 yards on six second-half carries.
West Virginia, one win away from bowl eligibility, is back in action Saturday when it plays host to BYU.
(Postgame “Round of Sound”)
West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez is far from being done in the transfer portal, but with nearly two dozen pickups thus far, I figured we could start taking a closer look at the stars of the group.
We will revisit this before spring practice and then prior to the start of fall camp, as more players will be added, so we’ll adjust the list. For now, here are the five transfers who I believe will make the biggest impact.
Jahiem White is clearly RB1, but in this day and age, you need two or three capable running backs, especially in a Rich Rodriguez offense. Edwards brings a different dynamic to the table with his 6-foot-4, 240-pound frame. He can hammer it in between the tackles to give WVU a nice lightning-and-thunder combo, similar to what they had with White and CJ Donaldson. He rushed for over 1,000 yards and six scores this season.
Perry brings a level of physicality that has been pretty much non-existent in the Mountaineer secondary over the last handful of years. He does have some versatility to him as well, being able to play deep safety, up in the box, and even in the slot if needed. Assuming he makes the transition to the Power Four level smoothly, he’ll have a chance to play on Sundays.
West Virginia’s wide receiver room underwent a near-complete makeover, but with the addition of Cam Vaughn, they have a dynamic playmaker they can build with for the next three seasons. In his redshirt freshman season at Jax State, Vaughn caught 48 passes for 803 yards and five touchdowns. Not too shabby for someone who just made the switch from quarterback a year ago.
After losing Josiah Trotter (Missouri) and Trey Lathan (Kansas) to the transfer portal, the Mountaineers desperately needed to add a veteran linebacker who could come right in and make a difference. Over his last two seasons at Colorado State, Wilson tallied 205 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, seven passes defended, 3.5 sacks, and two picks. A tough, hard-nosed kid who fits this defense like a glove.
West Virginia beat out Ole Miss to land one of the best cover corners in the transfer portal in Michael Coats Jr. This past season with the Wolfpack, he notched 41 tackles, 14 passes defended, and four interceptions, finishing in the top five nationally in the last two categories. Barring some crazy get in the portal, I expect Coats to be the top acquisition out of the portal this offseason for the Mountaineers.
QB Jaylen Henderson (Texas A&M), RB Tye Edwards (Northern Iowa), RB LJ Turner (Catawba College), WR Cyrus Traugh (Youngstown State), WR Cam Vaughn (Jacksonville State), WR Daveon Walker (Butler C.C.), WR Jarod Bowie (Jacksonville State), WR Oran Singleton Jr. (Eastern Michigan), TE Jacob Barrick (Jacksonville State), TE Johnny Pascuzzi (Iowa), OL Walter Young Bear (Tulsa), OL Robby Martin (NC State), OL Wyatt Minor (Youngstown State), OL Kimo Makane’ole (LSU), DE Braden Siders (Wyoming), LB Chase Wilson (Colorado State), LB Ashton Woods (North Carolina), CB Derek Carter (Jacksonville State), CB Jordan Scruggs (South Alabama), CB Devonte Golden-Nelson (Akron), CB Michael Coats Jr. (Nevada), S Justin Harrington (Washington), S Will Davis (Virginia Union), S Fred Perry (Jacksonville State), S Jordan Walker (Chattanooga), and K Ethan Head (Tulane).
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Initial Thoughts on West Virginia’s Win Over Colorado
No. 21 West Virginia continues to rightfully battle fatigue throughout the second half of games as it regularly plays with what is in essence a seven-man rotation.
That was again the case Sunday at Colorado.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers, reserve guard Joseph Yesufu played a major part in ensuring the visitors didn’t squander a 14-point second-half lead.
Yesufu scored 13 of his 18 points after halftime, including eight over the final 4:44 to help West Virginia overcome the Buffaloes’ second-half comeback attempt in a 78-70 victory at CU Events Center.
“Joe Yesufu really gave us a good spark when we needed it the most,” first-year WVU head coach Darian DeVries said. “Our offense had gotten a little stagnant and we were settling for jumpers off of some of their switching and things. Joe was able to give us that spark we needed.”
By claiming a win in the first meeting between the two teams, WVU improved to 12-3 overall, 3-1 in Big 12 play and won a second conference road game this season to match the program’s Big 12 road win total of the previous three seasons combined. Colorado (9-6, 0-4) remains one of two winless teams in league play.
The Mountaineers never trailed outside of the game’s opening basket, and they put together a strong opening half to lead 40-29 through 20 minutes — West Virginia’s third double-figure halftime advantage in four Big 12 contests.
Center Eduardo Andre made all four of his field-goal attempts and scored 10 points in the opening half, while freshman wing Jonathan Powell added 10 on 4-of-7 shooting with a pair of three-pointers. Add in nine points from point guard Javon Small, and the Mountaineers’ top scoring trio combined to equal Colorado’s point total at halftime.
WVU went to halftime with five turnovers to Colorado’s 11, and the Mountaineers had all 12 points off turnovers in the game to that point.
“Creating some of those turnovers was huge for us to get a little separation in the first half,” DeVries said.
When Small hit three threes over a stretch of 1:15 early into the second half, it gave the visitors their largest lead of the contest at 49-35.
Yesufu added a triple moments later for a 52-39 advantage, but CU increased its aggressiveness offensively and was to within seven at 54-47 when Dangot Bak made two free throws with 13:22 remaining.
That was a theme throughout the second half as the Buffaloes made 24-of-28 foul shots after not producing a point from the free-throw line on two attempts in the first half.
Bak’s two free throws came early into a stretch of 12 straight Colorado points scored from the charity stripe. It ended with Trevor Baskin making the second of two attempts with 8:20 to play, at which point the Mountaineer lead was 57-55.
“Defensively, we put ourselves in some tough positions with some reaching fouls and not staying disciplined and allowed Colorado to get to the line and deservedly so,” DeVries said. “We have to learn how to still be able to be physical, but also be discipline in the way we’re doing that. That game shifted pretty quickly in the second half and Colorado did a nice job with some adjustments.”
Andre and Sencire Harris accounted for dunks on consecutive WVU possessions, and Harris scored from close range again with 5:41 left for a 63-59 advantage.
After Baskin scored on a second-chance opportunity with 2:28 left to bring the Buffaloes to within 66-63, Yesufu scored on a drive to the basket.
With WVU’s lead again back to three on its next possession, Yesufu produced the game’s most important basket, scoring with his left hand on a drive that amounted to a conventional three-point play and a 71-65 advantage with 1:23 remaining.
That was the end of eight straight WVU points produced by Yesufu, who entered averaging 4.1 and had scored more than seven once over his first appearances in a Mountaineer uniform.
“They were doing a nice job on Javon in the second half, so we wanted to put the ball in Joe’s hands a little bit more,” DeVries said. “He has great speed and at that point in the game, that’s what we needed was somebody that could get downhill and be able to get to the rim a little bit more.”
Small made 3-of-4 free throws to help the visitors up their lead to nine, and the Buffaloes never got the deficit inside of six over the final minute.
Yesufu made 6-of-9 shots in his season-high scoring output.
Small led all players with 26 points and seven assists.
Andre added 12 points and shot 5 for 5 before fouling out, while Powell finished with 10 after a scoreless second half.
WVU was without Tucker DeVries for a seventh straight game and freshman KJ Tenner for a second straight contest.
“We’re a little shorthanded, so we do get fatigued sometimes in the second half,” DeVries said. “[Colorado head coach Tad Boyle] did a really good job. He played a lot of guys and they had fresh bodies that kept coming at us. We just don’t have the amount of bodies we need to sub and we got in a little foul trouble on top of it. We got worn out a little bit, but we had just enough. Joe, being a little more fresh than the other guys, was able to kind of will us to the last finish line.”
Julian Hammond III led Colorado with 23 points and was 8 for 8 on free throws.
Assane Diop added 13 points and was 6 for 6 from the free-throw line.
Colorado out-rebounded the Mountaineers 35-30, but scored only two points off seven WVU turnovers. The Mountaineers also had a 32-26 edge in paint points.
The Buffaloes made only 8-of-23 field-goal attempts after halftime and finished 20 of 48 for the game.
“It was critical that we didn’t let them get a lot of space,” DeVries said. “They have multiple guys that when they get some room have the ability to get it off and they shoot it at a high percentage. We wanted to try to get into some of those ball screens and actions as much as we could to try to make it difficult. The counter to it is that’s where a lot of our fouls started coming. We have to figure out a way to be able to do both.”
No. 21 West Virginia and Colorado face off in Boulder on Sunday at 3:0 p.m. EST. The Mountaineers are 2-1 in Big 12 play, while the Buffaloes are 0-3 in league play.
Computer models such as BartTorvik, BPI, and KenPom predict the matchup between both teams.
BPI — ESPN BPI gives West Virginia a 59.3 percent chance to win on Sunday. The Mountaineers are expected to win by 2.4 points. The Mountaineers are No. 44 in the BPI rankings while Colorado is No. 86.
BartTorvik — BartTorvik gives the Mountaineers a 65 percent chance to win the game. The projected final score is 67-63 in favor of West Virginia. WVU is No. 25 in the T-Rankings, and Colorado is No. 84.
KenPom — KenPom gives West Virginia a slight edge at a 51 percent chance to win the game. The projected final score is 67-66 in favor of the Mountaineers. WVU is ranked No. 47 by KenPom, while Colorado is ranked No. 81.
Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday and the game will be televised on ESPN+.
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