West Virginia grinds out first road win since 2019, tops TCU in Fort Worth

The West Virginia Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) avoided matching their worst start in Big 12 play since joining the league, with a 29-17 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) on Saturday night in Fort Worth.

The Horned Frogs opened the game with a 100-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff by Darius Davis, but the Mountaineers were undeterred.

West Virginia marched into the red zone on their first drive of the game, but had to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Casey Legg. The Mountaineer defense forced TCU to punt on the next drive, and Leddie Brown capped off a 15 play, 94 yard drive with a touchdown to WVU up 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Legg tacked on a 38-yarder to extend the lead to 13-7 one drive later. TCU reclaimed the lead in the second quarter, albeit briefly, as Max Dugan capped off a nine play, 74 yard drive with a strike to Taye Barber to go up 14-13. The score would be the Horned Frogs’ last time seeing the end zone.

Two minutes later, Brown scored his second touchdown of the night from one yard out to put West Virginia back on top 20-14. TCU tacked on a field goal win the final seconds of the half to close the score to 20-17.

The Mountaineer defense pitched a shutout and forced three turnovers in the second half. WVU added nine more points in the half with a third field goal from Legg, followed by another rushing touchdown by Brown. West Virginia attempted a two point conversion, but failed.

West Virginia sealed the win late in the fourth, when Sean Mahone stripped the ball from Quentin Johnson after a 29-yard completion. Charles Woods recovered the fumble, closing the door on the Frogs’ comeback attempt.

Leddie Brown finished the night with 111 yards and three touchdowns on 24 rushing attempts, marking the first time in his career in which he ran for three or more scores. Tony Mathis Jr. added 48 yards on 12 attempts, and Garrett Greene ended up as the team’s No. 2 rusher with 69 yards on two carries.

Doege finished the night 21-of-28 passing for 257 yards. Bryce Ford-Wheaton led the team with six receptions for 65 yards. Sean Ryan tacked on 81 yards on four receptions, and Winston Wright finished with four grabs for 59 yards.

West Virginia is back at home next Saturday, where they’ll take on the Iowa State Cyclones, who will be hot off a win over No. 8 ranked Oklahoma State. That game will kickoff at 2:00PM ET, and will be broadcast exclusively on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.