Drive-by-Drive Recap of the West Virginia win over Cincinnati

First Half

It certainly wasn’t the first quarter of football that the Mountaineers desired. An opening drive that stalled out with WVU unable to convert a 4th & 4 from the Cincinnati 32-yard line was followed by a 13-play Bearcats drive that resulted in a touchdown. West Virginia’s second possession was a 3-and-out. Things were looking bleak early for the Mountaineers on the road as Cincinnati engineered another drive that appeared destined to put more points on the board. But with a 4th & 1 from the WVU 20-yard line, QB Brendan Sorsby looked for room to run and just before being sacked he threw up an inexcusable pass that was intercepted by Anthony Wilson Jr. and returned for a 79-yard touchdown. Just like that, it was 7-7.

On the third play of the following Bearcats drive, Sorsby helped the Mountaineers again coughing up a fumble recovered by Kekoura Tarnue at the Cincinnati 37-yard line. West Virginia’s ensuing drive resulted in a field goal, giving them a 10-7 lead. Sure, it was only 7-0 early, but things were not going well for the Mountaineers before consecutive turnovers by Sorsby allowed the Mountaineers to take command of the game. 

After the interception and fumble recovery, West Virginia benefitted from a 3rd down pass interference penalty that was picked up, forcing the Bearcats to punt.

Late in the second half, a Preston Fox 29-yard punt return set the Mountaineers up for a quick score led by gains of 15 and 16 yards on the ground for Jahiem White and a Nicco Marchiol connection with Justin Robinson for a 10-yard touchdown pass. This gave the Mountaineers a 17-7 lead, one they would take into the half.

Second Half

After WVU forced a Cincinnati 3-and-out, Marchiol engineered a 6-play touchdown drive featuring a beautifully placed 38-yard pass to Traylon Ray, leading to Marchiol picking up a touchdown with his legs from 8 yards out on 3rd & 4. West Virginia took a 24-7 lead midway through the third quarter. 

This was followed by another Cincinnati punt giving the Mountaineers an opportunity to extend their lead even more. Marchiol threw another beautiful ball to Justin Robinson on the sideline for a 50-yard gain.But on his next lob towards the end zone, he was intercepted on a 22-yard pass intended for Rodney Gallagher III, giving the Bearcats the ball and momentum.

The very next play Brendan Sorsby completed a short pass to Evan Pryor who ran down the sideline and found the end zone without much resistance, good for an 80-yard touchdown, making it a 24-14 game late in the third quarter. 

Another WVU 3-and-out on the next drive made fans start to worry as Cincinnati took the ball back. Then that was followed up by an 11-play Cincinnati touchdown drive capped off by a Brendan Sorsby touchdown run with 9:42 to play in the fourth quarter. West Virginia had allowed the Bearcats back into the game with poor execution on both sides of the ball. The score was 24-21 in favor of Mountaineers. 

Preston Fox had another big return this time on the ensuing kickoff, setting up the Mountaineer offense at the 48-yard line of Cincinnati. However, they could not capitalize as the drive resulted in another 3-and-out, giving the ball back to Cincinnati down by 3 with 7:16 to play and the ball on their own 6-yard line. 

After picking up two first downs, Brendan Sorsby once again proved to be the MVP for the Mountaineers. In an eerily similar play to the one in the first half, Sosby was once again under pressure and attempted to get rid of the ball but did so in a backward pass as he was about to be sacked. Tyrin Bradley got the scoop and score to give the Mountaineers some breathing room and a 31-21 lead with 3:30 to play. 

Cincinnati’s ensuing drive led to a methodical movement down the field, taking 2:54 off the clock and ending with a 29-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7 points with 36 seconds. The ensuing onside kick attempt was unsuccessful and West Virginia escaped Cincinnati with their second-consecutive win and their third straight on the road.