Texas @ WVU – How the Eers did Saturday

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The short answer? Marginally well.

West Virginia faced reeling TCU this week at sparsely populated Amon Carter Stadium, as two late touchdown passes by Clint Trickett and an opportunistic defense helped force overtime, where the Mountaineers won it 30-27. The player Texas fans should worry about the most this week, running back Charles Sims, carried 24 times for 154 yards and a touchdown.

The Horned Frogs did go to the air far more than they have in the recent past, as Casey Pachall threw 58 passes, completing 40 for 394 yards and three touchdowns. Former starter Trevone Boykin caught 11 passes for 100 yards as he moved back to wide receiver.

West Virginia has been all over the place this season, and the TCU game was a microcosm of the year thus far. Dog fight, then we see the WV team who gave Oklahoma all it could handle take a 10 point lead with 7:11 left in the game. Then we see the one which got pistol whipped by Maryland give up that lead. Then the overtime drama.

If you tell anyone their team will hold the opponent to 60 yards rushing on 29 carries and force four turnovers, they’d be pretty confident they win by 17+.  The Mountaineers had the Horned Frogs on the ropes with little time left and gave up two scoring drives by allowing an anemic TCU offense 6.2 yards per play.

Texas fans should remember how hard Isaiah Bruce played last year. He forced a fumble and had an interception against TCU. The secondary of the Mountaineers is not world class, but they will not be intimidated by Case McCoy. The rush defense has been able to stand up and stop the opponent at times, and Clint Trickett will be the best quarterback Texas has seen since Bo Wallace.  This is not a “gimme” game for the Longhorns by any stretch.

Expect to see a pretty fired up bunch in Morgantown hot on defending their home field and confident they can beat a Texas team they won against last year in Austin. Rumors have been rampant regarding WVU Athletic Director Oliver Luck interviewing for the vacant Texas Athletic Director job before the TCU game. This will be interesting both on and off the field this week.

The game is set for a 6pm kick on FOX. The Longhorns are currently a seven point favorite.