MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It was an all-around complete game for West Virginia. The Mountaineers totaled 567 yards on offense, while the defense held BYU to 267 total yards, in WVU’s 37-7 victory on Saturday.
It started early for West Virginia who started the game on offense. West Virginia went 75 yards for a score on their opening drive as CJ Donaldson powered through for a 2-yard touchdown rush.
Donaldson set up the scoring opportunity, muscling for a 2-yard gain on fourth down, while 33 yards of penalties aided WVU’s efforts.
BYU turned to Jake Retzlaff, a junior college transfer who saw his first action of 2023 on Saturday. Retzlaff would have a delay of game on the first play of the game but would get near midfield and face their own 4th and 2.
West Virginia stopped Aidan Robbins’ rushing attempt with Jared Bartlett and Marcis Floyd applying pressure to get the stop. West Virginia took over in favorable field position and wasted no time in adding to their lead.
Garrett Greene found Traylon Ray for a combined 42 yards on the drive, as WVU went 52 yards on five plays, ending with a 1-yard rush from Donaldson, extending WVU’s lead to 14-0.
Donaldson’s strong showings the past couple of weeks continued, rushing for 102 yards and two touchdowns on the evening.
Retzlaff would move the ball but would struggle on third and fourth down throughout the night. WVU held the Cougars to 3/11 on third down and 0/3 on fourth down.
One of those fourth downs came with just about 14 minutes to play in the second quarter. BYU needed two yards, but Beanie Bishop made a good play finding the receiver and making a hit to get WVU’s defense off the field.
The offense for West Virginia responded, struggling as they got into BYU territory. The settled for the first of three Michael Hayes field goals, with this one coming from 46 yards, before the others came from 22 and 23 yards respectively.
The Mountaineer defense continued to get after Retzlaff and company, with Lee Kpogba and Anthony Wilson having two of WVU’s eight TFL’s on back-to-back plays midway through the second quarter, forcing a punt.
West Virginia got the ball back and gave it to freshman running back Jahiem White. White ran for 32 yards on the drive, before Greene found Preston Fox in a cluster of players near the back of the end zone for a 12-yard score, putting WVU in full control 24-0 right minutes before halftime, ultimately carrying a 27-0 lead into the break.
White turned out his second-career 100-yard rushing performance, running for 146 yards on 16 attempts, with a long of 32.
Being in full control, WVU didn’t let off the gas in the second half. BYU appeared to return the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown, but it was called back after a holding penalty. The drive then ended for the Cougars with Mike Lockhart breaking through the line for West Virginia and sacking Retzlaff.
WVU found the end zone again in the third quarter as Kole Taylor was found for a 43-yard touchdown, breaking a tackle, and leaping for the goal line in the process.
Greene’s night ended with him passing for 205 yards and two touchdowns, completing 50 percent of his passes.
West Virginia’s defense was not finished, as BYU had 28 total yards of offense in the third quarter, while WVU had three sacks in the quarter.
BYU would get on the board in the fourth quarter, with a pitch from Retzlaff to Robbins for a 10-yard score.
For West Virginia, this was the best Big 12 win under Neal Brown by margin of victory. WVU won by 30 points, which is the largest margin of victory since they beat Kansas State by 27 in 2020.
WVU now becomes bowl eligible with the win for the first time since 2021, and for the third time in Neal Brown’s fifth year.
