By Bill Nestor
The best place in the world to get defensive is on the football field and that is what West Virginia’s defensive unit did in the 20-13 win over Texas Tech last Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Sure, the Red Raiders lost their starting quarterback, tyler Shough just before halftime, but they had only put three points on the board while he was on the field, The Mountaineer defense allowed three points with 8:40 left in the first quarter. The remainder of the period and the entire second and third quarter were fruitless for Texas Tech. If you throw out the opener at Penn State, West Virginia has allowed just 12 points per game.
Trey Lathan led the Mountaineers with eight tackles, a forced fumble, and a pass breakup. . Lee Kpogba, Audrey Borks, Anthony Wilson, and Edward Vesterinen all chipped in with seven tackles. There were several other contributors in the cause, making it a collaborative effort..
Last week’s win over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl was huge for Mountaineer head coach Neal Brown. A rivalry win carries a great deal of weight – case in point was the attendance, as over 61,000 fans showed for the victory over the Panthers. There were only 50,071 fans on hand for the Big 12 opener. The lack of fans didn’t take away from this win for Brown. It snapped a four game losing streak to the Red Raiders while providing Brown’s longest winning streak during his tenure in Morgantown. The victory also took some weight off of Brown’s shoulders. Brown mentioned in the post game press conference that his team wasn’t 14th anymore. It was in reference to his squad being picked to finish 14th in the Big 12 media poll.
Nicco Marchiol had his first career start in a West Virginia uniform, and for the second consecutive outing, he was a difference maker. Brown was careful not to put too much on Marichol’s plate for this battle with Tech. The concept worked as Brown didn’t ask too much from his first time starter. A prime example is the passing attempts for each team. Marichol threw itr 21 times while the Red raiders attempted 43 passes.
Marichol has shown the ability to make the big play when it is needed most. His nine yard scoring toss to Kole Taylor with 7:33 left in the game extended the Mountaineer lead to double digits and it put the heat on the Red Raiders. Marichol’s decision-making improved as the lock-up went on. He was mot afraid to run when needed, and his 78 rushing yards were tops on the team.
All three games involved in the win streak have come in Morgantown. The next test is this Saturday night in a prime time battle with Texas Christian University. The Horned Frogs are 3-1 and just doubled up Southern Methodist University 34-17 this past weekend.
If Garrett Greene is able to play, Brown has a huge decision to make. The makings for a true quarterback controversy are in place. This is a good thing for Brown, because it means both Greene and Marichol are playing well. It might be a tough decision for Brown, but it’s an even bigger problem for TCU because they will have to prepare for both. The element of surprise is in West Virginia’s favor. Let’s see if they can surprise the Big 12 media and claim another conference win.
