WVU Football: Four Players Who Led Mountaineers Victory Over Maryland

The West Virginia Mountaineers were the first on the scoreboard Saturday, racking up 14 points in the first quarter against the Terrapins in Maryland, and they were the last to score on a field goal with a mere four seconds left on the clock to capture a hard-fought 40-37 victory.

In spite of the Mountaineers turning the ball over four times in the contest, both teams are 2-1 after the first three weeks of the college football season. Here is a look back at four players that helped WVU to get to its second win while on the road at College Park.

1) Starting quarterback Clint Trickett overcame three sacks and one interception to complete 37 of 49 for 511 yards and four touchdowns at Byrd Stadium. It was the second most passing yards in team history behind the 656-yard performance by Geno Smith in 2012.

The Mountaineers closed out the game with an impressive 694 total yards in offense compared to 447 for Maryland. WVU racked up 382 yards in offense in the first half alone, including 307 thru the air.

2) Some may overlook that junior placekicker Josh Lambert made all five of his extra points on the afternoon. What will be remembered was his coming thru on his second field goal attempt, a 47-yarder with time about to expire that gave West Virginia the victory.

3) It was redshirt sophomore safety Jarrod Harper, who also got the job done on special teams as he blocked the punt that led to a 2-point team safety for WVU at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter.

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4) In West Virginia’s aerial assault on the scoreboard, senior wide receiver Mario Alford hauled in 11 receptions for 131 yards and two of Trickett’s touchdowns.

Offense Honorable Mentions: Senior wide receiver Kevin White had 13 catches for 216 yards and one touchdown while redshirt sophomore running back Rushel Shell contributed 109 rushing yards on 27 carries against the Terrapins.

Defense Honorable Mentions:

Redshirt junior linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski led the way with 10 solo tackles and assists on two more for a total of 12 stops against Maryland. Sophomore cornerback Daryl Worley contributed an interception in addition to his four solo tackles.

After the game, Mountaineer head coach Dana Holgorsen told wvusports.com, “I just couldn’t be happier for the team, the coaching staff and fanbase. Everybody needed this one.”

For Maryland, it was sixth-year senior quarterback C.J. Brown who kept the Terrapins in the game and almost pulled off the comeback. He ran the ball 18 times for 182 yards and a touchdown while completing 19 of 35 passes for 241 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The journey to a winning season does not get any easier when West Virginia opens the Big 12 Conference part of their schedule as they host the Oklahoma Sooners (3-0) at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on FOX.