Football, WVU Sports

HOW THEY SCORED: Texas 42, West Virginia 31

First quarter

WVU TOUCHDOWN: Sam James 44-yard pass from Austin Kendall (13:31), West Virginia leads 7-0.

The Mountaineers took their opening drive and went right at a Texas secondary that is last in the Big 12 in passing yards allowed per game.

WVU went 76 yards in four plays and James made a nice adjustment to get under Kendall’s bomb and then kept his hands under the ball while going to the ground.

TEXAS TOUCHDOWN: Malcom Epps 22-yard pass from Sam Ehlinger (5:52), game is tied 7-7.

Texas took advantage of a Kendall interception and needed just two plays and 34 seconds to cover 27 yards.

Second quarter

WVU TOUCHDOWN: Kendall 1-yard run (12:59), West Virginia leads 14-7.

Kendall scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a keeper and he went in untouched after faking a handoff to Kennedy McKoy and went off the left side of the line.

The highlight of the drive was Kendall’s 44-yard completion to T.J. Simmons, who raced down the left sideline before getting shoved out of bounds at the Texas 5-yard line.

TEXAS TOUCHDOWN: John Burt 13-yard pass from Ehlinger (7:56), game is tied at 14.

The Longhorns answered right back with a methodical 11-play 69-yard drive in which Burt’s TD catch was the longest play of the drive.

Roschon Johnson began to establish Texas’ running game with four carries for 20 yards on the drive.

TEXAS TOUCHDOWN: Ehlinger 13-yard run (3:28), Texas leads 21-14.

Following a missed 36-yard field goal attempt by West Virginia, Texas took the lead with a 6-play, 80-yard drive.

Ehlinger capped it off with a scramble right up the middle when he couldn’t find anyone open and wasn’t even hit until he got to the 2-yard line. He also completed a 25-yard pass to Cade Brewer earlier that was the biggest play of the drive.

Third quarter

WVU FIELD GOAL: Evan Staley 29-yard kick (1:59), Texas leads 21-17.

Staley made good on his third field goal try after missing earlier from 36 and 47 yards.

The drive was set up by Keith Washington’s interception, only the second of the season thrown by Ehlinger.

Washington returned the interception 34 yards and Texas was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but the Mountaineers only managed two yards on three plays to set up Staley’s kick.

Fourth quarter

TEXAS TOUCHDOWN: Devin Duvernay 13-yard run (12:42), Texas leads, 28-17.

Kendall threw his third interception of the game, which set up the Longhorns with a short field at the WVU 18.

Duvernay, usually the Longhorns top receiver, took the handoff out of the backfield and broke through the left side of the line and cut it up field for the score.

TEXAS TOUCHDOWN: Samuel Cosmi 12-yard run (10:31), Texas leads 35-17.

Following Kendall’s fourth interception — so much for that weak Texas secondary — the Longhorns went deep into their bag of tricks.

Ehlinger rolled to his right and then threw the ball backwards to the other side of the field to Cosmi, who is Texas’ left tackle. Cosmi rumbled into the end zone to seal the outcome.

WVU TOUCHDOWN: Simmons 19-yard pass from Kendall (3:57), Texas leads 35-24.

Kendall salvaged some good from a bad day with a quick 5-play 74-yard drive that ended with Simmons’ touchdown grab.

Kendall was 5-for-5 passing on the drive and hooked up on a deep post pass to Sean Ryan down the middle of the field that went for 39 yards.

TEXAS TOUCHDOWN: Ehlinger 23-yard run (3:03), Texas leads 42-24.

The Texas quarterback put the finishing touches on the day with his fourth touchdown — two rushing and two passing.

It was also the Longhorns’ fourth rushing touchdown of the game.

WVU TOUCHDOWN: Bryce Wheaton 12-yard pass from Kendall (0:48), Texas leads 42-31.

On a 4th-and-10 play, Wheaton made a nice adjustment on a jump ball to catch Kendall’s third scoring pass of the game.

The drive covered 81 yards in 11 plays and Wheaton added a 31-yard reception earlier in the drive.

TWEET @bigjax3211