The gunpowder is below, but it’s nothing without our West Virignia blog, The Smoking Musket.
Piscataway, NJ (Sports Network) – Noel Devine and Ryan Clarke each rushed for a touchdown and Sidney Glover returned an interception for a score, as 24th- ranked West Virginia snuck past the Scarlet Knights, 24-21, in sloppy conditions at Rutgers Stadium.
Devine and Clarke added 65 and 58 rushing yards, respectively, for the Mountaineers (9-3, 5-2 Big East), who were coming off a last-second win over rival Pittsburgh last week.
Neither quarterback was particularly effective throwing the ball, as WVU’s Jarrett Brown completed half of his 20 attempts for 116 yards, while his counterpart, Tom Savage, was 9-for-27 for 153 yards and two interceptions.
Savage also threw a 62-yard touchdown to Mohamed Sanu, who finished with 152 yards from scrimmage for Rutgers (8-4, 3-4).
The Scarlet Knights have now lost 15 straight to West Virginia.
There were just three successful third-down conversions throughout the game. West Virginia went 2-for-14, while Rutgers was 1-for-15.
Tyler Bitancurt’s 41-yard field goal at the 8:44 mark of the fourth quarter extended WVU’s lead to 24-14, but Savage found Sanu behind the West Virginia secondary on the first play of the next drive for a 62-yard scoring strike.
Rutgers’ last drive started at its own 47 with 2:57 remaining. A pair of incompletions around a four-yard rush brought on fourth down, and Savage’s high pass to Sanu went through the receiver’s hands and into the arms of J.T. Thomas for the interception.
On 3rd-and-6 after the change of possession, Brown used a stiff arm to break free for a 12-yard gain, eating up all of Rutgers’ timeouts to seal the season-ending victory.
Brown’s 36-yard run on the fourth play from scrimmage set up Devine’s six-yard run to paydirt just two minutes in.
San San Te answered with a 38-yard field goal, and Clarke’s one-yard plunge capped a nine-play, 80-yard West Virginia drive later in the quarter.
A mix of rain and snow through most of the game called for conservative play, and the 14-3 score held up until Glover stepped in front of a Savage pass and returned it 24 yards for a TD five minutes into the third quarter.
Joe Lefeged got the points back immediately, however, taking the ensuing kickoff 91 yards for a score. Savage called his own number for the two-point conversion, pulling Rutgers within 21-11.
After recovering a Brown fumble in their own territory, the Scarlet Knights used a run-heavy drive to move into the red zone. An incompletion on 3rd-and- goal from the 10 brought out Te, who missed a 45-yarder earlier in the quarter but was true for 27 yards out this time around to make it a one-score game with a quarter to play.
West Virginia leads the all-time series 31-4-2. The last time Rutgers won in the series was in 1994…Sanu rushed 13 times for 47 yards, adding six grabs for 105 yards as well…Jock Sanders led WVU in receiving with five catches for 62 yards…The Mountaineers outgained Rutgers, 282-218.
- Via Sports Network.