[ September10, 2011 · MORGANTOWN, W.Va . ]
I
n a tale of two halves, West Virginia scored 45 second-half points to defeat Norfolk State, 55-12, at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Spartans took a 12-10 lead into the locker room at halftime,
but could not handle the WVU passing attack in the second half as quarterback Geno Smith passed for a career-best 371 yards and tied his previous high mark of four touchdowns. Smith’s passing yards were the seventh-highest in school history.
However, the Spartans hit some big plays early to propel them into
the lead. The Spartans went up 3-0 on a 50-yard field goal by Everett Goldberg and followed that up with a 39-yard Ryan Estep field goal for a 6-0 lead with 14:41 to play in the second quarter.
West Virginia answered with two scores of its own. The first was a
17-yard Tyler Bitancurt field goal to end a 10-play drive, and the second was an 18-yard pass from Smith to receiver Devon Brown, giving the Mountaineers a 10-6 lead.
DEVON
But Norfolk State would not go away in the first half. The Spartans
BROWN
bounced back with Estep field goals of 39 and 40 yards, the second
on seven straight possessions in the second half, and ran the clock out on its eighth.
Early in the third, tailback Vernard Roberts scored on a three-yard
run on the half’s opening possession. Receiver Tavon Austin pulled in a three-yard touchdown reception, followed by a three-yard scoring run by true freshman Dustin Garrison.
Tyler Urban closed out the scoring in the third stanza with a 12-yard
touchdown reception, and after trailing 12-10 after two quarters, the Mountaineers took a commanding 38-12 lead after three periods of play.
Three more scores followed in the fourth quarter for West Virginia.
Ivan McCartney’s 39-yard touchdown catch was the longest scoring play in the game at the 14:10 mark of the fourth.
Bitancurt added his second field goal (21 yards) at the 9:39 mark
to finish off a 10-play, 57-yard scoring drive.
Three of West Virginia’s nine scoring drives consisted of 10 plays or
1st 2nd 3rd 4th
NSU NSU WVU WVU NSU NSU WVU WVU WVU WVU WVU WVU WVU
1 3 0
2 9 10
3 0 28
4 0 17
F 12 55
Everett Goldberg 50 FG Ryan Estep 39 FG Tyler Bitancurt 17 FG Devon Brown 18 pass from Geno Smith (Bitancurt kick) Estep 39 FG Estep 40 FG Vernard Roberts 3 rush (Bitancurt kick) Tavon Austin 3 pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick) Dustin Garrison 1 rush (Bitancurt kick) Tyler Urban 12 pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick) Ivan McCartney 39 pass from Smith (Bitancurt kick) Bitancurt 21 FG Brad Starks 30 pass from Paul Millard (Bitancurt kick)
55
the scoring, when he hit receiver Brad Starks with 3:18 left in the game
Norfolk State West Virginia
12
before a 30-yard pass from backup quarterback Paul Millard closed out
Scoring and Statistical Summary
West Virginia
The Mountaineers were a different team in the second half and
unleashed a 28-point third quarter to put the rout in motion. WVU scored
#19/24
intermission.
Norfolk State
one coming as the half ended, giving the visitors a 12-10 lead at the
more as the Mountaineers racked up 102 yards rushing and 431 passing for an impressive 533 yards of total offense.
Besides Smith’s impressive numbers, Brown turned in a 109-yard
receiving day on four catches. Austin added 82 yards receiving and McCartney 79 as the passing game clicked. Roberts led the WVU ground game with 64 yards rushing.
The Mountaineer defense did not allow a touchdown for the second
straight game and received 11 tackles from Darwin Cook and eight from Terence Garvin.
Spartan quarterback Chris Walley finished with 136 yards passing.
His main target was Xavier Boyce, who caught eight passes for 100 yards. Takeem Hedgeman led the running game with 62 yards, and
First Downs Rushes/Yards Passing Yardage Passes Punts Fumbles/Lost Return Yardage Penalties/Yards Time of Possession
NSU WVU 13 28 32/88 33/102 197 431 18/31/0 25/40/0 10/447/44.7 2/75/37.5 3/0 0/0 0 98 19/177 7/85 34:07 25:53
combined 17 tackles.
Norfolk State finished with 88 yards rushing and 197 passing for 285
yards of offense.
With the win, West Virginia upped its record to 12-0 all-time against
FCS schools and is now riding an 18-game non-conference winning streak at home. WVU’s 431 yards passing is the first Mountaineer 400-
WVU RUSHING: Roberts 17-64; WVU PASSING: Smith 20-34-0-371; WVU RECEIVING: Austin 6-82 5-76, Brown 4-109, McCartney 4-79; WVU TACKLES (TFL/QS): Cook 11, Garvin 8; WVU INTERCEPTIONS: None. NSU RUSHING: Hedgeman 13-62; NSU PASSING: Walley 16-27-0-136; NSU RECEIVING: Boyce 8-100; NSU TACKLES (TFL/QS): Hammond 9 (1/0), Anyaugo 8 (1/0); NSU INTERCEPTIONS: None.
yard passing effort since 1998, while the 533 yards of total offense was the first 500-yard output since 2009.
Attendance - 51,911
TWO
Corwin Hammond and Onyemechi Anyaugo paced the defense with a
131