Texas Christian 41, West Virginia 31
(AP Photo/Kathleen Batten)
By JOHN RABY
AP Sports Writer
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Max Duggan threw three touchdown passes, Kendre Miller ran for 120 yards and a score and No. 7 TCU used big plays on offense to beat West Virginia 41-31 to remain unbeaten.
The Horned Frogs (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) didn't need a comeback from a double-digit deficit like they did in their two previous games. Duggan staked TCU to a 28-21 halftime lead and that held up.
But West Virginia (3-5, 1-4), which was coming off a season-low 282 yards of offense in a lopsided loss at last week at Texas Tech, gave the Horned Frogs a fight.
JT Daniels threw a 23-yard TD pass to Reese Smith with 4:12 left to cut the Mountaineers' deficit to 34-31. TCU recovered the ensuing onside kick, but Duggan was intercepted by Malachi Ruffin at the West Virginia 16, giving the Mountaineers another chance. West Virginia was forced to punt, and Duggan found Savion Williams with a 29-yard scoring toss on fourth down with 20 seconds left.
Duggan finished 16 of 28 for 341 yards.
TCU had four plays of at least 50 yards, with three going for touchdowns. After combining for 637 yards of offense before halftime, both teams squandered several second-half touchdown chances from inside the opponent's 20.
The Mountaineers recovered a muffed punt at the TCU 17 early in the third quarter, but settled for a field goal. On its next possession, West Virginia drove to the TCU 4, but Daniels threw incomplete into the end zone on fourth down. TCU then drove 95 yards to the West Virginia 1. Quentin Johnston was tackled for an 11-yard loss on third down, resulting in a short field goal for a 31-24 lead.
West Virginia mistakes contributed to TCU's first three touchdowns.
Duggan took advantage of blown coverage in the secondary, throwing TD tosses of 71 yards to Taye Barber and 55 yards to Johnston. Midway through the second quarter, Daniels was hit going back to pass and fumbled. TCU recovered at its 49 and Miller scored untouched on the next play for a 21-14 lead.
Miller now has a rushing TD in nine straight games.
Daniels finished 23 of 39 for 275 yards.
THE TAKEAWAY
TCU: The Horned Frogs weren't dominant, but they did enough to stay atop the Big 12 standings.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers put up a fight on offense despite being without two injured linemen and leading rusher Tony Mathis. Freshman running back CJ Donaldson, who finished with 104 yards, twice left the game with injuries. West Virginia kept the game close after starting slowly in its three previous games.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
TCU | WVU |
| WVU |
TD |
6:02 |
CJ Donaldson 1 yard TD run (Casey Legg Extra Point) |
0 |
7 |
| TCU |
TD |
4:27 |
Taye Barber 71 yard TD pass from Max Duggan (Griffin Kell Extra Point) |
7 |
7 |
| Second Quarter |
TCU | WVU |
| WVU |
TD |
14:47 |
CJ Donaldson 1 yard TD run (Casey Legg Extra Point) |
7 |
14 |
| TCU |
TD |
11:42 |
Quentin Johnston 55 yard TD pass from Max Duggan (Griffin Kell Extra Point) |
14 |
14 |
| TCU |
TD |
7:00 |
Kendre Miller 51 yard TD run (Griffin Kell Extra Point) |
21 |
14 |
| WVU |
TD |
1:35 |
Justin Johnson Jr. 5 yard TD pass from JT Daniels (Casey Legg Extra Point) |
21 |
21 |
| TCU |
TD |
0:24 |
Emani Bailey 30 yard TD run (Griffin Kell Extra Point) |
28 |
21 |
| Third Quarter |
TCU | WVU |
| WVU |
FG |
11:05 |
Casey Legg 33 yard field goal |
28 |
24 |
| Fourth Quarter |
TCU | WVU |
| TCU |
FG |
13:03 |
Griffin Kell 30 yard field goal |
31 |
24 |
| TCU |
FG |
9:11 |
Griffin Kell 46 yard field goal |
34 |
24 |
| WVU |
TD |
4:12 |
Reese Smith 23 yard TD pass from JT Daniels (Casey Legg Extra Point) |
34 |
31 |
| TCU |
TD |
0:20 |
Savion Williams 29 yard TD pass from Max Duggan (Griffin Kell Extra Point) |
41 |
31 |
| Team Stats |
| |
TCU |
West Virginia |
| First downs |
17 |
25 |
| Rushing |
6 |
9 |
| Passing |
10 |
14 |
| Penalty |
1 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
5-12, 42% |
10-17, 59% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-2, 100% |
2-3, 67% |
| Rushes-Yards |
27-152 |
41-156 |
| Passing Yards |
341 |
274 |
| Return Yards |
105 |
85 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
16-28-1 |
22-38-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
1-12 |
3-21 |
| Punts |
2 |
3 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-1 |
1-1 |
| Penalties - Yards |
6-67 |
7-51 |
| TCU Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| M. Duggan |
16 |
28 |
341 |
3 |
1 |
| West Virginia Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Daniels |
22 |
38 |
274 |
2 |
1 |
| TCU Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| K. Miller |
12 |
119 |
9.9 |
1 |
| E. Bailey |
1 |
30 |
30.0 |
1 |
| E. Demercado |
6 |
10 |
1.7 |
0 |
| M. Duggan |
6 |
2 |
0.3 |
0 |
| Q. Johnston |
2 |
-9 |
-4.5 |
0 |
| West Virginia Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| C. Donaldson |
19 |
104 |
5.5 |
2 |
| J. Johnson Jr. |
10 |
36 |
3.6 |
0 |
| J. Anderson |
3 |
6 |
2.0 |
0 |
| J. Daniels |
6 |
5 |
0.8 |
0 |
| S. James |
2 |
4 |
2.0 |
0 |
| B. Ford-Wheaton |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
0 |
| TCU Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| T. Barber |
4 |
99 |
24.8 |
1 |
| S. Williams |
3 |
97 |
32.3 |
1 |
| Q. Johnston |
4 |
76 |
19.0 |
1 |
| D. Davis |
3 |
60 |
20.0 |
0 |
| E. Demercado |
1 |
10 |
10.0 |
0 |
| K. Miller |
1 |
-1 |
-1.0 |
0 |
| West Virginia Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| S. James |
6 |
95 |
15.8 |
0 |
| B. Ford-Wheaton |
2 |
50 |
25.0 |
0 |
| R. Smith |
3 |
36 |
12.0 |
1 |
| K. Prather |
4 |
29 |
7.3 |
0 |
| T. Davis |
1 |
16 |
16.0 |
0 |
| C. Braham |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
0 |
| J. Anderson |
1 |
15 |
15.0 |
0 |
| G. Greene |
2 |
13 |
6.5 |
0 |
| J. Johnson Jr. |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
1 |
| C. Donaldson |
1 |
0 |
0.0
|
0 |
| TCU Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| B. Clark |
1 |
37 |
| West Virginia Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| M. Ruffin |
1 |
0 |
| TCU Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| J. Sandy |
2 |
66 |
33.0 |
| West Virginia Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| O. Straw |
3 |
123 |
41.0 |
| TCU Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| D. Davis |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| West Virginia Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| TCU Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| D. Davis |
3 |
68 |
22.7 |
| G. Spivey |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| West Virginia Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Aaron |
5 |
85 |
17.0 |
| TCU Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| West Virginia Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
