FORT WORTH, Texas — Leddie Brown knew there would be no secret to WVU’s success against TCU on Saturday night.
“We knew coming in that both teams would run the ball, and that the team that ran the ball better would win,” Brown said after the Mountaineers’ 29-17 victory at TCU.
Brown finished with 24 carries for 111 yards and a career-high three rushing touchdowns.
The Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) finished with a season-high 229 rushing yards — their first 200-plus yard game of the season and their highest rushing total since they rushed for 226 yards in a victory over Kansas last October.
It was just the third time this season that the Mountaineers rushed for more than 100 yards against an FBS opponent.
WVU third-year head coach Neal Brown credited the strong play of Leddie Brown and the offensive line for the successful running game, citing “footwork, vision and the use of tight ends” to the team’s rushing success.
“Our offensive line practiced well for two weeks, and they were more physical than the TCU defensive line,” Leddie Brown said.
Leddie Brown said he was encouraged by backfield teammate Tony Mathis’ 12 carries for 48 yards, saying that it helped “take a little bit off my shoulders.”
Meanwhile, the WVU defense held the Horned Frogs (3-4, 1-3) to a season-low 149 rushing yards and just one offensive touchdown.
“Against this team, we’ll take it,” Neal Brown said. “We bent, but didn’t break, and they didn’t have any explosive runs. Their running backs are special. They’re hard to tackle, but we had multiple players tackling on each play.”
Four over the Frogs
West Virginia’s victory was its fourth straight over TCU, which stretched the all-time series in the Mountaineers’ favor, 7-4 (including 3-2 in Fort Worth). All but one of those games took place since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012.
The first meeting was on New Year’s Eve 1984 when Don Nehlen’s Mountaineers defeated the Horned Frogs, 31-14 in the now-defunct Bluebonnet Bowl at the Houston Astrodome.
First Big 12 win of the season
The Mountaineers started their Big 12 slate 0-3 for the first time since 2015.
The 2015 team coached by Dana Holgersen started 0-4 in the Big 12, but won five of their last six to finish 8-5. That team defeated Arizona State, 43-42, in the Cactus Bowl in Phoenix.
Much too young to feel this old
At 41, Brown is one of the youngest Power 5 Conference head coaches and the second-youngest head coach in the Big 12.
At 49-31 overall as a head coach, Brown has a chance to earn his 50th career victory as a head coach if the Mountaineers take care of business against Iowa State this Saturday — nine years before he turns 50 in 2030.
“Every week is a grind,” said Brown, who is 14-14 at WVU. “Sometimes, I feel 50.”
The milestone victory is the farthest thing from Brown’s mind. He is laser-focused on preparing for Iowa State, which defeated the Mountaineers, 42-6, last game in a game that Brown called “embarrassing.”
The Mountaineers’ 29 points were the team’s most points against a FBS opponent since a 37-10 victory over Kansas State last Halloween.
The 29 points were also the most scored on the road during the Brown era at WVU.
Brown is 3-4 as a head coach in the State of Texas, with two victories at TCU and a victory at Texas State in 2016 when he was the head coach at Troy.
Homecoming for Doege
West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege graduated from Cooper High School in Lubbock, approximately 4.5 hours northwest of Fort Worth.
“I felt calmness in me,” Doege said.
Many of his family members and friends made the trip to Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Doege passed for 257 yards – his fifth game of 200 or more yards this season.
It was the first game this season in which Doege didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception. He’s scored a touchdown in five of the Mountaineers’ seven games this season.
A long drive for the Mountaineers
TCU’s Derius Davis opened the game with a 100-yard kickoff return.
After a Casey Legg field goal cut the Horned Frogs’ lead to 7-3, WVU sustained its longest drive of the game, a 15-minute, 94-yard drive that chewed up nearly half of the first half (seven minutes and 47 seconds). It was the second longest drive of the season, and the longest since the Mountaineers’ opening drive against Oklahoma last month.
It included a crucial fourth-down conversion and ended with Leddie’s brown’s first of three touchdown runs.
“We had worked on handling adversity, and we didn’t do that at Baylor,” Neal Brown said. “You are what you emphasize. There were a lot of questions about our offensive line, and they responded.”
Receiving success
Although the Mountaineers didn’t score a touchdown through the air, eight WVU receivers caught at least one pass, while half of that group caught four or more.
Bryce Ford-Wheaton’s six receptions (for 65 yards) proved to be his most since he had eight receptions last month against Oklahoma. Sean Ryan caught four passes for a career-high 81 yards.
Leading tackler’s take
WVU senior linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo’s team-high 11 tackles were his most since he registered 12 tackles against Oklahoma last month.
He had double the amount of tackles of any of his teammates.
The Canton, Ohio native said the TCU game wasn’t the Mountaineers’ best game this season, but rather WVU’s 27-21 win over Virginia Tech last month. The Hokies, liked the Horned Frogs, are 3-4 on the season.
“We put a lot of attention to detail during the bye week and focused on the little things,” Chandler-Semedo said. “We lost games we should have won. Virginia Tech was our best game so far, but our best game is ahead of us.”
— Story by Michael Sudhalter
