West Virginia outmatched by No. 5 Texas Tech 49-0
West Virginia was outmatched falling 49-0 Saturday afternoon to No. 5 Texas Tech inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers struggled generating just 180 yards and 9 first downs while the defense gave up 49 points and 571 yards as the Red Raiders got up early and never looked back.
True freshman Scotty Fox started the game for the Mountaineers but head coach Rich Rodriguez played three different signal callers with Max Brown and Khalil Wilkins seeing time. All three combined to go just 16-32 for 143 yards and 2 interceptions.
The Mountaineers started with the football but quickly went three and out. Texas Tech would quickly capitalize after converting a fourth down attempt and punched the ball into the end zone for a quick 7-0 lead on a touchdown run by linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.
The second offensive drive for West Virginia would end just like the first with a three and out but the punt pinned the Red Raiders back on their own 17-yard line. The Mountaineers would force Texas Tech into a third and 15, but they’d convert with a 26-yard draw and from there would quickly move down the field. From there, Texas Tech would move the ball down the field and score again on a short touchdown toss to take a 14-0 lead with 3:03 remaining in the first quarter.
The Mountaineers would then elect to roll the dice deep in their own end but were stuffed on fourth and one. It would take Texas Tech only four plays to add to the lead and take a 21-0 lead with 13 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
At the time the Red Raiders had more points (21) than West Virginia did yards (14).
West Virginia would have another three and out, their fourth consecutive, on the next possession and the Red Raiders would take over at their own 29 yard line. And this time the defense would record a stop to give the football back to the offense. But again, the possession would be short lived with a three and out.
Texas Tech would move the ball quickly into West Virginia territory and the Mountaineers had multiple chances to get off the field but couldn’t as the Red Raiders would score another touchdown to move ahead 28-0 with 6:49 left in the half.
The Mountaineers would move the football to record their first first downs of the game but the drive would end on a failed fourth down attempt at the Texas Tech 34-yard line to keep the score at 28-0. The Red Raiders would again move the football to the doorstep of the end zone but the ball would be intercepted by Ben Cutter in the end zone to keep the score at 28-0.
The Mountaineers would again move the football this time deep into Texas Tech territory but Fox’s throw to Vaughn appeared to have some miscommunication and it led to an interception.
The Red Raiders stuck with a 50-yard play to move inside the 20-yard line and would cap off the drive from there with a rushing touchdown from J’Koby Williams to move ahead 35-0.
And after another short 15-yard drive, Texas Tech would remove their starting quarterback ahead by five touchdowns with still over nine minutes left in the third quarter. But the Mountaineers would force a fumble and get the football back at midfield. West Virginia would then move to Brown under center replacing Fox and he would throw his own interception that was returned to the Mountaineers 20.
Then Texas Tech would cash in with another touchdown to push the lead to 42-0 with 4:20 left in the third. The Red Raiders would add another touchdown with 13:33 remaining in the game to move ahead 49-0.
From there, the Red Raiders would be able to salt away the game in complete control.
This concludes the regular season for the Mountaineers at 4-8 with the focus now shifting to the off-season and readying for the 2026 campaign.
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