Game 3 of our “Big 12 in 11 Sim Series” features the Red Raiders of Texas Tech University coming to Morgantown. The Red Raiders are coached by Tommy Tuberville, who has pretty much destroyed any success TTU once enjoyed until Craig James brought down Mike Leach, and is no fan of WVU’s. Probably has something to do with WVU beating Auburn in Morgantown… and something about the Pittsburgh airport?
"When asked about West Virginia, Tuberville immediately brought up another school from the Big East Conference, “I thought it would be Louisville (added to the Big 12). I thought they would be a better fit for the situation of the Big 12. West Virginia’s going to be great, it’s just that the distance to travel is going to be a little different for everybody and for fans getting in-and-out (of Morgantown).”"
So, there’s that. Anyway, WVU is coming off the heels of a victory against Big12 political kingpin Texas 37-17 at Homecoming, the Mountaineers look to extend their Big12 win streak to 2 games.
In the first quarter of action, Tech QB Seth Doege connected with Aaron Crawford at the 13:37 mark (nerds rejoice) to put the Red Raiders up 7-0. WVU fails to get anything going on their 1st possession of the game and punt it… at the 8:04 mark, TTU again got on the board when Jace Amaro caught a 3 yd pass from Doege… 14-0 Red Raiders. Tuberville seems to believe he’ll get the last laugh leaving Morgantown (well, the Pittsburgh airport) today. But, as a former Louisville football coach always says, “Not so fast, my friend.” With 4:41 to go in the 1st, Devon Brown receives a 16-yd lob from Geno Smith to cut Tech’s lead by 7… and TTU couldn’t increase their lead in the 1st quarter.
1st Quarter |
TxTch
13:37
TD
Aaron Crawford 33 yd. pass from Doege (Carona kick)
7-0
TxTch
8:04
TD
Jace Amaro 3 yd. pass from Doege (Carona kick)
14-0
WVU
4:41
TD
Devon Brown 16 yd. pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick)
14-7
Going into the 2nd quarter, the highlight for most of the 2nd quarter was Tyler Bitancurt’s missed FG from 47 yds out with 12:43 to go, which drew the ire of the Mountaineer Faithful in attendance, but the pain was eased a bit at the 7:02 mark when Tech’s kicker, Donnie Carona shanked a 45 yd FG. Finally, some offense took place in the 2nd quarter at the 4:26 mark when Ivan McCartney caught a 4 yd pass from Geno, tying the game at 14-all. Texas Tech managed to get a drive going to wind down the quarter, but decided to settle for 3 points at the 0:03 mark with a Carona 31 yd FG, putting TTU up by 3 (17-14) going into halftime.
2nd Quarter |
WVU
4:26
TD
Ivan McCartney 4 yd. pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick)
14-14
TxTch
0:03
FG
Donnie Carona 31 yds.
17-14
Second half/3rd quarter is now underway, and not much happened at first, but WVU decided now was the time to run away with the game at the 8:55 mark as Geno Smith once against connected with Devon Brown for a 3 yd pass in the Red Zone, putting WVU up 21-17. Texas Tech could not get anything going, and another missed FG by Carona at the 43 mark (today just wasn’t Carona’s day from long range) just killed any momentum Texas Tech scraped together. With 1:26 to go, Ivan McCartney caught his 2nd reception of the day from Geno Smith, this one a 15 yd pass, putting WVU up 28-17, with Texas Tech unable to string together a run to end the 3rd quarter.
3rd Quarter |
WVU
8:55
TD
Devon Brown 3 yd. pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick)
17-21
WVU
1:26
TD
Ivan McCartney 15 yd. pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick)
17-28
The fourth quarter started out with Tyler Bitancurt nailing a long one from 46 yards, putting WVU up 31-17 at the 11:46 mark. In a bout of redemption for Tech kicker Carona, he nailed one from 27 yds to cut their deficit to 11 (31-20) with 7:57 to go. WVU did put another TD on the board when Geno Smith connected with
Tight End
, er, Inside Receiver Tyler Urban for 21 yards, putting WVU up 38-20. The last score of the game had some jackass in Section 134 laughing his ass off and yelling, “FIRE CRAIG JAMES” a million times after Tech QB Doege connected with none other than Shed Boy himself, Adam James for a 19 yd touchdown, cutting down WVU’s lead to 11 (38-27.) The musket finally went off in Morgantown, and that did it. WVU wins another one in the Big 12.
4th Quarter |
WVU
11:46
FG
Tyler Bitancurt 23 yds.
17-31
TxTch
7:57
FG
Donnie Carona 27 yds.
20-31
WVU
7:02
TD
Tyler Urban 21 yd. pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick)
20-38
TxTch
4:37
TD
Adam James 19 yd. pass from Doege (Carona kick)
27-38
Final scoreboard…
| Final | 1st |
2nd
3rd
4th
Total
Texas Tech Red Raiders
14
3
0
10
27
West Virginia Mountaineers
7
7
14
10
38
Now some team statistics…
|
Texas Tech Red Raiders
West Virginia Mountaineers
First Downs
25
28
– Rushing
2
7
– Passing
23
21
– Penalty
0
0
3rd Down Eff
11/20
5/12
4th Down Eff
1/1
0/1
Rushes-Yards
31-30
37-135
Avg Rush
1.0
3.6
Comp-Att-Int
34-53-1
25-32-0
Passing Yards
461
296
Sacks-Yards
3-18
3-17
Fumbles-Lost
0-0
0-0
Punts-Avg
4-41.8
4-39.3
KR-Avg
7-22.0
6-28.7
PR-Avg
4-4.0
4-22.0
Penalties-Yard
3-20
4-20
Time of Possession
30:07
29:53
Some individual stats for Texas Tech:
|
Rushing
Att
Yds
20+
L
TD
Eric Stephens
15
16
0
5
0
Seth Doege
12
11
0
19
0
Aaron Crawford
3
3
0
2
0
DeAndre Washington
1
0
0
0
0
Receiving |
Rec
Yds
20+
40+
L
TD
Eric Ward
8
103
0
0
18
0
Darrin Moore
6
86
1
0
24
0
Alex Torres
5
81
1
0
30
0
Adam James
3
60
1
0
36
1
Aaron Crawford
3
43
1
0
33
1
Jacoby Franks
2
31
1
0
22
0
Ronnie Daniels
2
25
0
0
17
0
Jace Amaro
3
18
0
0
14
1
Eric Stephens
2
14
0
0
8
0
Passing |
Comp.
Att.
Yards
TD
INT
Seth Doege
34
53
461
3
1
Defensive |
Sacks
INT
Scott Smith
2
0
Aundrey Barr
1
0
Field Goals |
Made
Missed
Donnie Carona
31,27
45,43
Now for WVU individual stats…
|
Rushing
Att
Yds
20+
L
TD
Dustin Garrison
14
99
1
61
0
Shawne Alston
11
39
0
12
0
Andrew Buie
1
4
0
4
0
Vernard Roberts
1
2
0
2
0
Geno Smith
10
-9
0
4
0
Receiving |
Rec
Yds
20+
40+
L
TD
Stedman Bailey
5
91
2
0
30
0
Tavon Austin
6
52
0
0
15
0
Tyler Urban
3
42
1
0
21
1
Devon Brown
3
34
0
0
16
2
Dustin Garrison
3
30
0
0
12
0
Ivan McCartney
3
26
0
0
15
2
Brad Starks
1
12
0
0
12
0
Shawne Alston
1
9
0
0
9
0
Passing |
Comp.
Att.
Yards
TD
INT
Geno Smith
25
32
296
5
0
Defensive |
Sacks
INT
Tyler Anderson
1
0
Keith Tandy
0
1
Doug Rigg
1
0
J.B. Lageman
1
0
Field Goals |
Made
Missed
Tyler Bitancurt
23
47
With today’s win, WVU is 2-1 in the Big12 Conference and 4-2 overall. WVU hits the road next week, going to Manhattan, KS to take on the Bill Snyder-coached Kansas State Wildcats.