By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Two years without a bowl game is an eternity for a team like Texas with the proud legacy of success.
Thanks to the Longhorns’ ferocious defense that keyed a 28-14 win Saturday at West Virginia on a cold, rainy and generally dreary afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium, the Texas football team will not endure a third season sitting home during bowl season.
The Longhorns (6-5 overall, 5-3 in Big 12 play) got 227 total yards (136 passing, 68 rushing and 23 receiving) and two passing touchdowns [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]off the bench from quarterback Sam Ehlinger and 85 yards rushing on 12 carries from Daniel Young in their best offensive performance in months. Texas outgained the Mountaineers, 420-295, in total offense, outrushed West Virginia, 233-56, and kept the Mountaineers’ offense to just one touchdown. Ehlinger and Shane Buechele combined to connect with 10 different receivers.
“Our defense kept us in the game and the offense was opportunistic,” Texas coach Tom Herman said. “We didn’t carry very much of a package into this game, but we didn’t have to because we had a great idea about what we wanted to do and how to do it.”
West Virginia (7-4 overall, 5-3 in Big 12) has been perhaps the most balanced offensive team in the league but could do little after quarterback Will Grier was forced from the game in the first quarter with what could be a season-ending finger injury. Grier was 6-of-8 for 50 yards before his injury; his backup, Chris Chugunov, passed for 189 yards and a touchdown but also fumbled while being sacked and never truly found a rhythm against the UT defense.
The Texas defense changed the path of the game midway through the first quarter when it bowed its back on the goal line. Brandon Jones beat Grier to the front pylon of the end zone and knocked him toward the sideline. As the West Virginia quarterback tried to reach out the ball, it slipped from his right hand and rolled off a Longhorn defender who was out of bounds.
After a long review, game officials ruled that the play resulted in a touchback, giving Texas the ball at the 20 rather that allowing the Mountaineers another chance to score, providing the Longhorns a huge momentum swing.
Grier slammed his throwing hand into the artificial turf on the play and dislocated his middle finger, forcing him from the game and directly into the locker room for examination.
“When Grier went down, we knew West Virginia was going to try to run,” said Texas linebacker Malik Jefferson, who tied for the team lead with seven tackles. “We didn’t do anything different. We were well prepared and we just stayed to our assignments.”
On the first play of the second quarter and with the rain coming down in buckets, Ehlinger hit Reggie Hemphill-Mapps on a 50-yard catch-and-run to the West Virginia 20-yard-line. Ehlinger ran for eight yards on fourth down-and-2 from the WVU 12 and three plays later hit graduate transfer Kendall Moore for a 2-yard touchdown that handed the Longhorns a 7-0 lead with 10:55 to play in the second quarter.
Ehlinger did a little bit of everything in the Longhorns’ next scoring drive. First he scrambled for 17 yards to convert a third-down-and-nine situation and then he caught a throwback pass from Jerrod Heard for 23 more. They capped the march with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chris Warren III to push Texas’ lead to 14-0 with 2:29 to play until halftime.
“Sam’s tough, a competitor, and he gives us a different dimension in the running game,” Herman said. “We knew we had to make some things happen.”
Texas almost doubled the Mountaineers’ offensive output in the first half (250-127) and averaged 6.8 yards per snap, compared to 4.4 for West Virginia. Take away one 34-yard WVU pass to David Sills, and the numbers are even more lopsided, as the Longhorns totally dominated the first 30 minutes of play.
Then the game’s tenor changed again. With the Longhorns driving for a decisive score midway through the third quarter, Ehlinger tried to pass while being dragged down by the Mountaineers’ Dylan Tonkery. Ehlinger’s wounded-duck throw landed in the hands of West Virginia freshman cornerback Kenny Robinson, who returned it 94 yards for a touchdown that cut the Texas lead to 14-7 with 5:29 to play in the quarter.
Texas countered late in the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown by Kyle Porter that came one snap after a 36-yard jaunt from Young. The Longhorns went to the fourth quarter 15 minutes from bowl eligibility and with mostly everything going their way.
West Virginia tried to answer on the ensuing possession, moving to the Texas 24 before DeShon Elliott batted away a fourth-and-9 pass in the end zone to quell the threat.
UT’s Breckyn Hager was flagged and ejected from the game after an under-the-chin hit on Chugunov three minutes into the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers used the momentum from that call to drive to the 12-yard touchdown pass to Ka’Ruan White that brought them to within 21-14 with 9:01 to play.
Texas put away the game with 5:07 to play on a 1-yard touchdown flip into the end zone by Young. The score came two snaps after defensive end Malcolm Roach and linebacker Gary Johnson combined for a sack and a strip of Chugunov, with Chris Nelson falling on the loose ball at the West Virginia 6-yard-line.
Herman said he and his players are excited to be able to accomplish their goal of earning a 13th game and the additional 15 practices that come with the postseason berth.
“It’s fantastic,” Herman said. “This was a big one — to get another road conference win and to beat a good West Virginia team was great. The players are very excited to do so and get a chance to play in a bowl game. These players are kids, and they’ve been beat up a lot the past few years, so it means a lot to them, and it does to us.”
Texas will close the regular season Friday at home against Texas Tech, which would become bowl-eligible — and, some have speculated, save head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s job — with a victory.
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