The West Virginia Mountaineers put a serious dent in the Texas Longhorns' bowl game chances by handing the Longhorns a 38-20 loss Saturday afternoon. Texas out-gained WVU, but committed five turnovers. Texas fell to 4-6 with the loss and the Mountaineers improved to 5-4.
Notes:
RB D'Onta Foreman had another strong game for Texas, racking up 147 yards and a TD on 18 carries. As a team, Texas picked up 277 yards on the ground.
West Virginia did a great job of bottling up dual-threat Texas QB Jerrod Heard. He was able to pick up just 17 yards on 12 carries. He was also picked off twice and threw for just 162 yards.
Wendell Smallwood was the leading rusher for West Virginia, picking up 165 yards on 24 carries.
WVU's stats aren't that impressive, but they did force 24 points off turnovers. That was the difference in the game and the biggest reason West Virginia came out on top.
Quotes:
"I just wanted to keep it going. Dana said he was going to keep running the ball and keep giving it to us, and I think we took advantage of it. I thought I got the ball just enough. I was getting a little winded. When I was winded, we passed the ball and it was touchdowns both times." - WVU RB Wendell Smallwood.
"We were over-pursuing the ball. They have really good running backs and the ball was getting behind us." - Texas head coach Charlie Strong.
"We got together a couple of weeks ago and we set a goal. We're on track for accomplishing that goal." - West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen.
"We still have a chance." - Strong.
Observations:
Texas' bowl game chances took a major hit with the loss. Texas needs to win out to make a bowl. The Longhorns play Texas Tech next week, but close the season with Baylor. That means it's unlikely Texas makes a bowl game. With that being the case, perhaps it's time to hit the reset button on the Charlie Strong Era at Texas.
West Virginia has three games left and should reach their goal and make a bowl game this year. WVU plays Kansas next week, which should be an easy win since Kansas hasn't won a game this season. Just how good a bowl the Mountaineers get depends on how they play against Iowa State and Kansas State to close the season.
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