AUSTIN, Texas — Last year it was a scramble for the pylon that ended West Virginia University quarterback Will Grier’s season. On Saturday, a scramble for the pylon kept the Mountaineers’ hopes of a Big 12 championship alive.
Grier beat the Texas defense around the edge and got into the end zone with 16 seconds to play, converting a 2-point conversion and lifting No. 12 WVU to a wild 42-41 win on the road against the Longhorns.
West Virginia (7-1, 5-1 Big 12) scored with 19 seconds to play on a 33-yard pass from Grier to receiver Gary Jennings. When it came time to decide if the Mountaineers would kick the extra point or go for 2, it was an easy call to make for WVU coach Dana Holgorsen.
“If you put the fate of the game in No. 7’s hands, I feel pretty good about it,†Holgorsen said. “We had that decision made before we even took the field.â€
Holgorsen might have had his mind made up before the play that he would go for 2, but if he didn’t he got some encouragement from the quarterback.
“I told him we were going for 2,†Grier said laughing after Saturday’s game. “We had discussed on the sideline after they scored that if we go get this, let’s go for 2. We had that play kind of dialed up where I have a couple of options and we wanted to win the game. When we scored, we didn’t think twice.â€
The Mountaineers actually had to go for 2 twice. Grier hit receiver David Sills in the end zone for what appeared to be the winning score, but a referee signaled a Texas timeout just before the snap. They ran the play again, with a slight twist, and it sent the Mountaineers home with a win in front of the announced crowd of 100,703 at Darrell K Royal/Texas Memorial Stadium.
“It was a good call on their part,†Grier said of the timeout. “I had to go back out there and they made a couple of adjustments. I took it upon myself to go get in.
“I have four different options on that play. I went with the fourth one, which is me running the ball.â€
Texas (6-3, 4-2 Big 12) had been the better team for most of the second half Saturday before the final five minutes of the game. WVU junior running back Martell Pettaway scored on a 13-yard run with 5:40 to play to tie the game at 34-34, but Texas followed with a six-play, 78-yard drive capped off by a 48-yard strike from sophomore quarterback Sam Ehlinger to receiver Devin Duvernay to give UT a 41-34 lead with 2:34 to play.
That’s when the Mountaineers went to work in an attempt to save their hopes of a trip to the Big 12 title game. A loss Saturday would have put WVU in a tough spot, needing some help to play for the league’s crown.
West Virginia went to the run early in the drive, with Kennedy McKoy opening the drive, which started at the WVU 25-yard line, with a 7-yard run. Grier went to Jennings next for a 7-yard gain, followed by an 8-yard run from Pettaway.
Sills caught a pass for 6 yards, then receiver Dominique Maiden got one for 9 yards. Pettaway carried for 5 yards up the middle to put the Mountaineers at the Texas 33-yard line.
Grier saw some pressure from the Longhorns defensive front on the following play, but with some fancy footwork and a somewhat awkward hop as he threw, the West Virginia quarterback uncorked a beautiful pass that hit Jennings in stride in the back of the end zone.
Jennings didn’t practice much in the week leading up to Saturday’s game, but the Mountaineer coach and quarterback had faith in him as a playmaker. It paid off Saturday with a win at Texas.
“It was an unbelievable throw,†Holgorsen said. “[Grier] gave David [Sills] a chance the previous series, too. That was a beautiful throw. I mean, he’s as good as I’ve seen at throwing the football. I don’t know what else you want me to say. He sits back there, banged up, old — all of that, but experienced. He’s as accurate as I’ve seen.â€
Grier finished the game completing 28 of 42 pass attempts for 346 yards with three touchdowns. For Texas, Ehlinger wasn’t bad either. He completed 25 of 36 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns to go with 52 rushing yards on 11 carries.
“I thought it was great,†Texas coach Tom Herman said of Ehlinger’s performance. “I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I feel like he played pretty well. I would think he has the numbers to show for it. But we’ve got a really good one there.â€
Pettaway led WVU with 121 rushing yards to go with two touchdowns while McKoy led the Mountaineers with 17 carries, accounting for 94 yards.
“The running backs ran hard, man,†Grier said. “Kennedy McKoy ran with an edge today that I hadn’t seen in some time. He’s got that in him and he played really hard. Pettaway had some incredible runs. Running backs, they all played hard, man.
“That’s how we’ve got to play if we want to win in November, so we’ve got to keep it up.â€
