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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/ID2TX2010 on 2023-10-01 17:00:04.

By Tori Couch

West Virginia defensive lineman Mike Lockhart arrived at the press conference following a 24-21 road win over TCU with the game ball and a big smile.

Lockhart had blocked a 46-yard field goal attempt on TCU’s second-to-last drive. Not only that, he was a bit prophetic about the moment, too.

“I told [my teammates], we get this third down stop, I’m going to block the field goal,” Lockhart said. “Ball came up and I blocked it.”

While that held TCU (3-2 overall, 1-1 Big 12) at bay for a moment, West Virginia (4-1, 2-0) needed another stop on the next drive. Teammate Sean Martin followed Lockhart’s example, blocking a 55-yard attempt with 32 seconds left.

Those blocked field goals gave West Virginia a fourth consecutive win and the program’s best start under head coach Neal Brown. Kicker Michael Hayes’ 49-yard field goal with 9:31 left proved to be the game-winning score.

“This was a fight,” Brown said. “We’re a team that’s kind of built for ugly football. A really tough team that’s really close, and it’s a group that’s grown together.”

The Mountaineers’ defense shined in the second half, allowing zero points and 121 yards, including one yard in the third quarter. West Virginia also sacked TCU quarterback Chandler Morris five times. TCU tallied 433 total yards as Morris threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-41 passing. He also ran for 51 yards and a score while running back Emani Bailey had 55 yards on 19 carries.

West Virginia put on the strong second half performance without star safety Aubrey Burks. Burks was carted off midway through the second quarter with a neck injury. Linebacker Trey Lathan also left in the fourth quarter with a leg injury. Following the game, Brown noted that both players would remain in Fort Worth overnight. Burks was moving his extremities and Lathan would likely need surgery, Brown said.

The injuries became a rallying point, especially for the defense.

“Difference in the second half is that we were playing for our brothers,” Lockhart said. “We knew our brothers got hurt. We had to win this for them.”

When asked about how those kinds of injuries impact a team, Brown noted that a very physical season has already started taking a toll.

“I told the team I’ve never been prouder of a team, but I’m drained,” he said. I’m emotionally and physically drained.”

West Virginia racked up 343 total yards of offense, with 202 yards coming on the ground. Running back CJ Donaldson proved a workhorse with 61 yards and a score on 22 carries. Quarterback Garrett Greene played through an ankle injury and completed 10-of-21 passes for 142 yards and ran the ball 12 times for 80 yards and two touchdowns.

The bulk of Greene’s passing yards came in the third quarter when he was 6-of-9 for 79 yards. Greene had 60 yards at halftime on 3-of-10 passing.

“I think I was pressing too much in the first half,” Greene said. “That’s something I have to continue to get better at. I was pressing too much. Second half I kind of just let it fly and let my guys make plays for me.”

Greene’s status was in doubt throughout the week and Brown said he had planned to play back up Nico Marchiol. When Marchiol got hurt in practice, Greene was pressed into service.

“He’s worked extremely hard over the past 72 hours to get himself ready to play,” Brown said. “I didn’t think he’d be able to run as well he did. But he’s tough. He’s a winner and he just found a way.”

Greene’s one-yard touchdown with 4:29 left in the third quarter tied the game at 21-21. The score capped off an 8-play, 44-yard drive that as aided by TCU miscues. The field position came courtesy of a late hit out-of-bounds penalty on the punt return. A defensive holding call, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against TCU head coach Sonny Dykes put the ball at the one-yard line.

The Mountaineers had a costly penalty of their own at the end of the first half. Hayes missed a 58-yard field goal after a false start penalty moved the attempt back five yards.

A few other miscues, like a failed fourth-and-1 conversion at the goal line, gave TCU opportunities in the second half to take the lead back, but the West Virginia defense stepped up every time.

“We bent a little bit, we never broke,” Brown said.

TCU seemingly had the momentum going into halftime after taking a 21-14 lead on a 36-yard touchdown from Morris to wide receiver Dylan Wright.

The Horned Frogs took an initial 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when Morris hit wide receiver JP Richardson over the middle of the field. Richardson converted the short catch into a 59-yard score. Morris capped off another scoring drive with a 31-yard run for a 14-7 lead.

West Virginia tied the game at 7 when a Greene took off on a 35-yard run. Donaldson scored from one yard out to make it a 14-14 game with 1:50 left until halftime.

A couple key first-half stops prevented the Horned Frogs from ever building a double-digit lead. TCU missed a 53-yard field goal and turned the ball over on downs at the West Virginia 16-yard line.

“Going on the road especially against a great team like this is always going to be tough,” Greene said. “Offensively, defensively, [TCU’s] a heck of a ball club. It’s a testament to how gritty and how hard our guys work all year to come in their house and get a win.”