MORGANTOWN – The scenarios weren’t adding up to a favorable night for the West Virginia University football team’s defense.
The Mountaineers were at home, where they had struggled all season. They were hosting UCF, which featured one of the most prolific offenses in college football. WVU’s defense was on the other end of the spectrum, one of the nation’s lowest ranked.
Yet the West Virginia defense concluded its home slate with one of its best performances, holding the Knights well below their season averages in a 31-21 WVU win that made the Mountaineers bowl eligible the fourth time in five seasons.
“There have been some tough times throughout the season,” safety Anthony Wilson said. “But at the end of the day, what’s most important is that we stick together. Just block out outside noise and negativity.”
For the first time in 18 games, WVU’s defense was able to set the tone to open the game. It has been that long since the Mountaineers hadn’t started the game on offense. The defense took advantage of the opportunity, forcing a three-and-out, putting UCF on its heels from the outset.
“Just to be able to go out there and set the tone and get that three-and-out, I wish we did that a little more,” Wilson said. “But it was good to set the tone and get the ball back for the offense.”
UCF entered Saturday’s game ranked seventh in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense (464.6 yards per game) and second in rushing offense (262.8 yards per game). The Knights’ 32 points per game was good enough for 32nd nationally. They hit none of those averages against the Mountaineers. None of them were even close.
West Virginia held UCF to 348 yards of total offense, its second-worst output of the season behind 273 yards gained against Florida. The Knights rushed for 176 yards, also the second-lowest total behind 108 yards gained against the Gators. They scored fewer than 21 points just twice this season, back-to-back 13-point finishes in losses to Florida and Cincinnati.
WVU head coach Neal Brown said the Mountaineers, employed four linebackers for a good chunk of the game, and that added heft helped keep UCF’s offense in check.
“There’s a couple of reasons behind that,” Brown said. “They’re a really good rushing team, and we just wanted to get bigger. (Linebackers) Reid (Carrico) and Trey (Lathan) are both quality players. At spear, we’ve been up and down since Aubrey (Burks) got hurt. I thought KK (Tarnue) played too many snaps last week. I thought, with him playing fewer snaps, he played better.
“It’s hard to throw those perimeter screens when you’ve got a 235-pound guy out there. It’s a little harder to move.”
The Mountaineers also came up with a big turnover at a crucial time. After WVU scored to go up 7-0, the Knights had a good chance to answer, driving to WVU’s 21-yard line. But on second and 6 from the 21, UCF quarterback Dylan Rizk fumbled, Dontez Fagan recovered for WVU and the Mountaineers were able to score on the ensuing drive to go ahead 14-0.
That, Brown said, was a major confidence boost for his team.
“At 14-0, and the game really wasn’t in jeopardy,” Brown said. “Don’t get me wrong. They continued to keep it close, but there was never a time when you were like, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to win this.’”
UCF offensive lineman Marcellus Marshall said the Knights couldn’t do enough to take advantage of what opportunities they could muster.
“The biggest thing overall is that we beat ourselves,” Marshall said. “We had some issues where we stumbled. … When we’re playing from behind, we just have to capitalize on some different situations.”
In a season where highlights were few for WVU’s defense, the group finally rallied in its home finale. Wilson said it was nice to show the home crowd what the defense is capable of when it plays its best.
“It’s just showing the potential of this defense,” he said, “if everybody does their jobs, how good we can be. Our coaches tell us every day, just make the routine plays. You don’t have to do anything special or out of the ordinary. You’ve just got to do your job and everything else will take care of itself.”
TV time
WVU’s regular-season finale at Texas Tech will kick off at noon Saturday and be broadcast on FS1.
— Story by Derek Redd
