MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia tries to get back above the .500 mark and is in search of its first win in Big 12 Conference play with Texas Tech at Milan Puskar Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.
The Red Raiders (3-1, 0-1) have beaten West Virginia (2-2, 0-1) each of the last two seasons after the Mountaineers won five straight from 2014-2018. Texas Tech is one of five Big 12 teams Neal Brown has yet to beat at West Virginia. The others are Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Iowa State.
6:41 p.m. — FINAL – TEXAS TECH 23, West Virginia 20. WVU started its final series from its own 9 and Doege found Esdale for 29 yards, before throwing an incompletion on the game’s final play. The Mountaineers fall to 2-3 and their seven-game home win streak is no longer. Texas Tech improves to 4-1 with its third straight win in the series.
6:38 p.m. — Garibay drills a 32-yard field goal with 18 seconds left. Having one timeout hurt WVU in a big way and leaves them with likely no more than three offensive plays to try and get in field goal range. Colombi’s 42-yard pass to Geiger on the second play of the series was key. TEXAS TECH 23, West Virginia 20, 0:18 4th qtr
6:25 p.m. — Legg ties it on a 28-yard field goal, but the Mountaineers couldn’t convert on Doege’s third down pass to a wide open Brown in the end zone. Red Raiders have all three timeouts remaining. Mountaineers have just one after using another in the red zone. TEXAS TECH 20, WEST VIRGINIA 20, 4:34 4th qtr
6:06 p.m. — Garibay makes a 29-yard field goal and the Red Raiders regain the lead. Colombi’s 46-yard completion to Loic Fouonji put Texas Tech in position go back in front. Fouonji got by Nicktroy Fortune on the long gain. TEXAS TECH 20, West Virginia 17, 11:46 4th qtr
5:52 p.m. — After Doege throws a near-perfect pass to Esdale for a gain of 55, the duo connect again on a 14-yard TD pass in which the receiver took a big hit, but hung on. There was originally a targeting penalty called on the hit, but it was waved off after review. Either way, Esdale brings in the scoring grab, and finishes the drive with three receptions for 77 yards. TEXAS TECH 17, WEST VIRGINIA 17, 1:15 3rd qtr
Isaiah Esdale had 7️⃣7️⃣ yards on 3️⃣ receptions that last drive, culminating in this touchdown! #HailWV pic.twitter.com/BI9mvcrIBs
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) October 2, 2021
5:42 p.m. — Casey Legg converts a 36-yard field goal after a false start moves the Mountaineers back once they reached the red zone. Legg is now 7-for-7 on field goal attempts this season. Doege’s 21-yard pass to Winston Wright Jr. on third-and-10, combined with a face mask penalty on the play, put WVU in position to cut into its deficit. TEXAS TECH 17, West Virginia 10, 5:47 3rd qtr
5:40 p.m. — Official attendance is 54,090 for the Big 12 home opener.
5:32 p.m. — Alston and Akheem Mesidor combine to sack Colombi on third down after the Red Raiders commit a costly false start that turned third-and-2 into a third-and-passing down. Trailing by 10, West Virginia takes over at its 35 with 9:30 to play in the third quarter.
5:25 p.m. — Leddie Brown’s 4-yard run provides West Virginia’s first points of the afternoon and gives the Mountaineers their first second-half touchdown this season excluding the Week 2 win over Long Island. TEXAS TECH 17, West Virginia 7, 11:59 3rd qtr
Leddie Brown puts the Mountaineers on the board with his sixth touchdown of the season. #HailWV pic.twitter.com/eG0SQ4Kzpz
— WVU Football (@WVUfootball) October 2, 2021
5:22 p.m. — West Virginia spends its first timeout of the second half before a first-and-goal at the Red Raiders’ 4-yard line. Doege’s 40-yard pass to Sam James went for 24 more yards than any of WVU’s 27 first-half plays. Milum remains on the WVU sideline, but has not played since suffering his first-half injury.
5:10 p.m. — Texas Tech is winning every way imaginable. The Red Raiders are 7-for-9 on third downs, have 44 plays to the Mountaineers’ 27 and a 207-109 advantage in total yards. After allowing 70 points in last week’s loss at Texas, the TTU defense held the Mountaineers scoreless on their four series.
4:55 p.m. — Jonathan Garibay makes a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the second quarter and a half Texas Tech dominated from start to finish ends with the Red Raiders leading 17-0. The Mountaineers have been held without a touchdown over their last five quarters and 12 series. WVU has nine points and no touchdowns in the second halves against the three Power 5 Conference opponents it has faced this season. That’ll have to change if the Mountaineers are to rally. HALFTIME — TEXAS TECH 17, West Virginia 0
4:37 p.m. — The Red Raiders cross midfield, but the drive stalls when Henry Colombi is sacked by Dante Stills on third down. Mountaineers start at their own 15 trailing by two touchdowns 6:13 before halftime.
4:30 p.m. — A false start out of the timeout makes it third-and-6. Leddie Brown then gains 4 yards, before Tech sniffs out WVU on the fourth-and-2 play, leading to Greene’s incompletion. Leading 14-0, the Red Raiders start at their 34 with 9:27 left in the half.
4:25 p.m. — WVU calls its first timeout facing third-and-1 from the Red Raiders’ 33. Right tackle Wyatt Milum just left the game with an injury and is being examined on the bench.
4:14 p.m. — Garrett Greene is WVU’s quarterback to start the third series. Talley has his No. 90 jersey retired during a ceremony between the first and second quarters. Mountaineers have it second-and-9 from their own 13 after a penalty on the kickoff return backed them up.
4:10 p.m. — Thompson scores his second touchdown on a 1-yard run. Tech has dominated the first quarter to the tune of a 126-20 advantage in total yards. TEXAS TECH 14, West Virginia 0, :08 1st qtr
4:00 p.m. — Doege is stripped by Colin Schooler and the fumble is recovered by Tech’s Devin Drew at the WVU 34. The Red Raiders, leading 7-0, start there looking to go ahead by two scores in the opening quarter.
Teamwork makes the dream work.@SchoolerColin forces the fumble and @_Dev90 is right there for the recovery!
? ESPN2 (https://t.co/CN4mKa5vrY) pic.twitter.com/JUi9ZVf6nb
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) October 2, 2021
3:54 p.m. — SaRodorick Thompson scores the game’s first points on a 1-yard run and Texas Tech takes the early lead. Red Raiders have moved the ball well on each of their first two drives. WVU went three-and-out on its opening series. TEXAS TECH 7, West Virginia 0, 4:51 1st qtr
.@Sarodorick caps off a 10-play drive with the score and we have the early 7-0 lead!
? ESPN2 (https://t.co/CN4mKa5vrY) pic.twitter.com/mgP1SoEeE2
— Texas Tech Football (@TexasTechFB) October 2, 2021
3:42 p.m. — Texas Tech gets just beyond midfield and tries a trick play, but Kaylon Geiger has a downfield pass intercepted by Mountaineer safety Sean Mahone. WVU starts at its 9-yard line for its first series.
3:30 p.m. — West Virginia wins the toss and defers to the second half. Texas Tech will get the ball first. West Virginia’s captains today are: Jarret Doege, Isaiah Esdale, Taijh Alston and Alonzo Addae.
3:10 p.m. — WVU defensive linemen Darel Middleton is not on the dress list. This would mark the second game Middleton has missed this season after transferring from Tennessee in July. Wideout Erik Ezukanma is out for the Red Raiders. He’s the team’s top receiver with 23 catches for 406 yards. Scouts from two professional organizations are on hand — the Detroit Lions and Calgary Stampeders.
2:50 p.m. — Darryl Talley met with the media inside of the Puskar Center for approximately 20 minutes. Talley will have his No. 90 jersey retired today at the end of the first quarter.
1:45 p.m. — The Mountaineer Mantrip is complete and we are within two hours of kickoff between the Red Raiders and West Virginia. WVU safety K.J. Martin is listed on the official dress list. Martin did not travel to Oklahoma last weekend.
Mountaineer Mantrip: WVU arrives to host Texas Tech. pic.twitter.com/fNYQ2gmvSA
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) October 2, 2021
Football. Soon. pic.twitter.com/tvRgm7EkVk
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) October 2, 2021
Your essential pregame links:
Setting the scene from Morgantown
WVU head coach Neal Brown pursues first victory over Red Raiders
Mountaineers plenty familiar with Texas Tech QB Henry Colombi
Three Guys Before the Game – Texas Tech edition
Cornerback Daryl Porter coming into his own over first month of season
Offensive line progressing, but looking to avoid critical mistakes