10-30-2010, 09:17 AM
EAST HARTFORD, Conn.-West Virginia turned the ball over four times Friday night and lost to Connecticut 16-13 in overtime for its second straight Big East defeat of the season. For the second consecutive game, it watched as a first-quarter lead dissolved.
It marked the first consecutive losses in league play for a Mountaineer team since Rich Rodriguez's 2004 bunch lost to Boston College 36-17 and Pitt 16-13 on Nov. 13 and Nov. 25, respectively, of the 8-4 campaign. BC was in its last year in the old Big East.
"It's a new and different territory for us, this never happened to us," said stunned Chris Neild. "You gotta expect the unexpected; we were hoping to come out with a win as we always do today."
It also was the second time in as many games a Big East member had snapped a losing streak to WVU. Syracuse won for the first time in 13 tries on Oct. 23. The Mountaineers had been 6-0 against the Huskies in a series that started in '04.
"Tough loss," said WVU head coach Bill Stewart. "I hate it dearly, the Mountaineers played hard, but it was very disappointing. All the stats look good, 414 yards on offense, 81 plays; (we) won the time of possession, and we converted on third down for a higher percentage, but we could not hold onto the ball."
Connecticut totaled 278 total yards on 70 plays. WVU owned the ball about 90 seconds more than their hosts.
Ryan Clarke fumbled on WVU's possession in the overtime. The Mountaineers (5-3 overall, 1-2 Big East) moved from the UConn 25 to the 2, where the 6-foot, 247-pound sophomore tried to run over left tackle. Husky Lawrence Wilson recovered. According to NCAA rules, all UConn (1-2, 4-4) had to do was score when it got the ball for its 25-yard stab. That's exactly what winning coach Randy Edsall's team did. After leading rusher Jordan Todman (33 carries, 113 yards, 1 TD) carried four times, placekicker Dave Teggart entered and booted a 27 yarder, his third three pointer of the night.
Clarke's fumble was his second.
The first Mountaineer miscue was made by Noel Devine (16 carries, 67 yards, 4.2) on a draw play on second down in the second quarter. He was stripped by Connecticut's Sio Moore, who recovered the ball at the WVU 45. That led to Connecticut's first down of the contest with 11:38 left in the half.
Clarke fumbled his first time on a fourth-and-short deep in Connecticut territory in the second quarter. Quarterback Geno Smith recovered the ball on the WVU 29 with 11:28 to go in the half. But UConn took over on downs.
Fumble three came on a first down play when WVU had maneuvered to the UConn 44. Smith lost the ball a second time when Cio Smith stripped him. Again, Wilson recovered. This led to Teggart's second field goal of the game. It tied the score at 13 with 10:48 left in the game.
In all, the Mountaineers fumbled seven times for the night, losing four. The Huskies fumbled twice, losing none. Neither was UConn quarterback Zach Frazer intercepted.
Bradley Starks, who scored three touchdowns in the Oct. 14 USF game, broke the scoring ice with a 53-yard sprint to the end zone with 10:15 left in the first quarter. The 6-3 junior wide receiver took an inside hand-off from Smith, found a wide open seam, and ran untouched to the end zone. Tyler Bitancurt made it 7-0.
West Virginia put up another score after its defense got the ball on a third straight three-out-out. True freshman Travis Bell muffed the ensuing punt return, but teammate Lawrence Smith fell on it to save the possession. WVU originally drove to the Connecticut nine, but a couple of penalties moved the ball back to the 19 where Bitancurt was true for his eighth field goal in 11 tries. This one was from 26 yards out.
After a first quarter when UConn registered no first downs and picked up 25 yards total, the Mountaineer defense allowed its first down to the Huskies when quarterback Frazer skittered 11 yards to the WVU 34 with 11:38 showing in the first quarter. But UConn punter Cole Wagner still had to boot the ball away for the sixth time of the half.
Wagner punted nine times on the night for a 42.4-yard average.WVU's Gregg Pugnetti hit six balls for a 42.8 gait.
The home team did finally find a second first down. In fact, on the final drive of the half, the Huskies racked up five conversions in seven plays to move the ball to the 14. Bruce Irvin picked up his second sack of the half, so kicker Teggart contributed a 38-yard field goal.
The halftime score was 10-3.
WVU rushed 18 times for 149 yards (8.3 yards per rush) in the first half after picking up 106 total in the 19-14 defeat to Syracuse. They totaled 231 yards overall. Connecticut rushed 18 times for 33 yards (1.8) and put up 117 yards on 34 plays (3.4).
Often the first series tells the tale in a close game. On this subject, Connecticut made an A-plus. They took advantage of the Clarke fumble and then the Huskies took their time scoring. Clarke's ball came loose at the UConn 29 where Smith recovered on a fourth-down play.
Quarterback Frazer took turns giving the ball to Todman for multiple carries, but also finding sliding wide receivers and tight ends across the middle. UConn moved smartly with the ball for 71 yards on 14 plays. The touchdown was a Todman bolt of 24 yards followed by Teggart's extra point.
It was 10-10 with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
Not to be outdone, Smith made liberal use of his own legs, Tavon Austin, Jock Sanders and Devine for a time-consuming drive (4 minutes, 31 seconds) that led to three points. Starting from the 25, the team moved the ball to the opposite 25. Bitancurt converted from 42 yards with 4:31 left in the third quarter. The key play on the movement was a fourth-and-inches hurdle by Clarke to convert a first down. WVU led for the final time 13-10.
On the next series Smith had the Mountaineers moving in the right direction only to fumble at his own 44. The ball went into the possession of UConn's Wilson's hands and the Huskies had the ball on Connecticut's 45. Linebacker Sio Moore forced the ball out of Geno's hand. For the night, the sophomore linebacker had 17 total tackles, 3 TFLs, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
On first down, Frazer found Kashif Moore behind the WVU second for a 40-yard gain. Sands wrestled him down at the Mountaineer 15. A couple of stabs by Todman put the ball on the eight. Taggert nailed his second field goal-this from 26-for the 13-all tie with 10:48 showing in the fourth quarter clock.
Regulation ended 13-13 when UConn ran out the play-clock on the first 60 minutes' final possession.
Each team had had the ball on three possessions after the game was tied in regulation
WVU scored 10 points in the first quarter which gives it 79 total scores in the first frame this year. It led Syracuse 14-10 after Quarter I last Saturday. It is allowing opponents just 24 points in Frame I in eight games.
"I thought we played very hard, very physical, and very tough, but I am not proud of how we took care of the football," said Stew.
"They had zero turnovers;we can't strip the ball, can't pick the ball, can't knock the ball loose on defense and our offense gave the ball away. You cannot win any games if you can't take care of the ball. We gave a valiant effort, but I am not proud of how we handled the ball.
"Maybe the UConn Huskies fans rushing the field all around us will linger in their mind and hopefully they do not have that feeling too many times during their career at West Virginia."
WVU has only trailed twice in the first quarter this season-7-0 to Marshall in a 24-21 overtime victory and 7-0 to LSU in a 20-14 loss.
For the fifth consecutive game, Jeff Casteel's defense allowed only one offensive touchdown to an opponent.
"You gotta help them out as much as they help us out," said Starks.
It marked the first consecutive losses in league play for a Mountaineer team since Rich Rodriguez's 2004 bunch lost to Boston College 36-17 and Pitt 16-13 on Nov. 13 and Nov. 25, respectively, of the 8-4 campaign. BC was in its last year in the old Big East.
"It's a new and different territory for us, this never happened to us," said stunned Chris Neild. "You gotta expect the unexpected; we were hoping to come out with a win as we always do today."
It also was the second time in as many games a Big East member had snapped a losing streak to WVU. Syracuse won for the first time in 13 tries on Oct. 23. The Mountaineers had been 6-0 against the Huskies in a series that started in '04.
"Tough loss," said WVU head coach Bill Stewart. "I hate it dearly, the Mountaineers played hard, but it was very disappointing. All the stats look good, 414 yards on offense, 81 plays; (we) won the time of possession, and we converted on third down for a higher percentage, but we could not hold onto the ball."
Connecticut totaled 278 total yards on 70 plays. WVU owned the ball about 90 seconds more than their hosts.
Ryan Clarke fumbled on WVU's possession in the overtime. The Mountaineers (5-3 overall, 1-2 Big East) moved from the UConn 25 to the 2, where the 6-foot, 247-pound sophomore tried to run over left tackle. Husky Lawrence Wilson recovered. According to NCAA rules, all UConn (1-2, 4-4) had to do was score when it got the ball for its 25-yard stab. That's exactly what winning coach Randy Edsall's team did. After leading rusher Jordan Todman (33 carries, 113 yards, 1 TD) carried four times, placekicker Dave Teggart entered and booted a 27 yarder, his third three pointer of the night.
Clarke's fumble was his second.
The first Mountaineer miscue was made by Noel Devine (16 carries, 67 yards, 4.2) on a draw play on second down in the second quarter. He was stripped by Connecticut's Sio Moore, who recovered the ball at the WVU 45. That led to Connecticut's first down of the contest with 11:38 left in the half.
Clarke fumbled his first time on a fourth-and-short deep in Connecticut territory in the second quarter. Quarterback Geno Smith recovered the ball on the WVU 29 with 11:28 to go in the half. But UConn took over on downs.
Fumble three came on a first down play when WVU had maneuvered to the UConn 44. Smith lost the ball a second time when Cio Smith stripped him. Again, Wilson recovered. This led to Teggart's second field goal of the game. It tied the score at 13 with 10:48 left in the game.
In all, the Mountaineers fumbled seven times for the night, losing four. The Huskies fumbled twice, losing none. Neither was UConn quarterback Zach Frazer intercepted.
Bradley Starks, who scored three touchdowns in the Oct. 14 USF game, broke the scoring ice with a 53-yard sprint to the end zone with 10:15 left in the first quarter. The 6-3 junior wide receiver took an inside hand-off from Smith, found a wide open seam, and ran untouched to the end zone. Tyler Bitancurt made it 7-0.
West Virginia put up another score after its defense got the ball on a third straight three-out-out. True freshman Travis Bell muffed the ensuing punt return, but teammate Lawrence Smith fell on it to save the possession. WVU originally drove to the Connecticut nine, but a couple of penalties moved the ball back to the 19 where Bitancurt was true for his eighth field goal in 11 tries. This one was from 26 yards out.
After a first quarter when UConn registered no first downs and picked up 25 yards total, the Mountaineer defense allowed its first down to the Huskies when quarterback Frazer skittered 11 yards to the WVU 34 with 11:38 showing in the first quarter. But UConn punter Cole Wagner still had to boot the ball away for the sixth time of the half.
Wagner punted nine times on the night for a 42.4-yard average.WVU's Gregg Pugnetti hit six balls for a 42.8 gait.
The home team did finally find a second first down. In fact, on the final drive of the half, the Huskies racked up five conversions in seven plays to move the ball to the 14. Bruce Irvin picked up his second sack of the half, so kicker Teggart contributed a 38-yard field goal.
The halftime score was 10-3.
WVU rushed 18 times for 149 yards (8.3 yards per rush) in the first half after picking up 106 total in the 19-14 defeat to Syracuse. They totaled 231 yards overall. Connecticut rushed 18 times for 33 yards (1.8) and put up 117 yards on 34 plays (3.4).
Often the first series tells the tale in a close game. On this subject, Connecticut made an A-plus. They took advantage of the Clarke fumble and then the Huskies took their time scoring. Clarke's ball came loose at the UConn 29 where Smith recovered on a fourth-down play.
Quarterback Frazer took turns giving the ball to Todman for multiple carries, but also finding sliding wide receivers and tight ends across the middle. UConn moved smartly with the ball for 71 yards on 14 plays. The touchdown was a Todman bolt of 24 yards followed by Teggart's extra point.
It was 10-10 with 6:17 left in the third quarter.
Not to be outdone, Smith made liberal use of his own legs, Tavon Austin, Jock Sanders and Devine for a time-consuming drive (4 minutes, 31 seconds) that led to three points. Starting from the 25, the team moved the ball to the opposite 25. Bitancurt converted from 42 yards with 4:31 left in the third quarter. The key play on the movement was a fourth-and-inches hurdle by Clarke to convert a first down. WVU led for the final time 13-10.
On the next series Smith had the Mountaineers moving in the right direction only to fumble at his own 44. The ball went into the possession of UConn's Wilson's hands and the Huskies had the ball on Connecticut's 45. Linebacker Sio Moore forced the ball out of Geno's hand. For the night, the sophomore linebacker had 17 total tackles, 3 TFLs, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
On first down, Frazer found Kashif Moore behind the WVU second for a 40-yard gain. Sands wrestled him down at the Mountaineer 15. A couple of stabs by Todman put the ball on the eight. Taggert nailed his second field goal-this from 26-for the 13-all tie with 10:48 showing in the fourth quarter clock.
Regulation ended 13-13 when UConn ran out the play-clock on the first 60 minutes' final possession.
Each team had had the ball on three possessions after the game was tied in regulation
WVU scored 10 points in the first quarter which gives it 79 total scores in the first frame this year. It led Syracuse 14-10 after Quarter I last Saturday. It is allowing opponents just 24 points in Frame I in eight games.
"I thought we played very hard, very physical, and very tough, but I am not proud of how we took care of the football," said Stew.
"They had zero turnovers;we can't strip the ball, can't pick the ball, can't knock the ball loose on defense and our offense gave the ball away. You cannot win any games if you can't take care of the ball. We gave a valiant effort, but I am not proud of how we handled the ball.
"Maybe the UConn Huskies fans rushing the field all around us will linger in their mind and hopefully they do not have that feeling too many times during their career at West Virginia."
WVU has only trailed twice in the first quarter this season-7-0 to Marshall in a 24-21 overtime victory and 7-0 to LSU in a 20-14 loss.
For the fifth consecutive game, Jeff Casteel's defense allowed only one offensive touchdown to an opponent.
"You gotta help them out as much as they help us out," said Starks.