West Virginia University Escapes the Marshall Thundering Herd with a 24-21 Victory in Huntington, West Virginia

Number 23-West Virginia University escaped Huntington, West Virginia with a win in overtime beating Marshall University 24-21. West Virginia was down 21-6 in the 4^th quarter and it looked like Marshall was finally going to beat the Mountaineers before a sophomore quarterback took the team on his shoulders. Geno Smith led the Mountaineers in the 4^th quarter to overcome a pesky Marshall Thundering Herd team.

Marshall scored in the 1^st quarter by Antavious Wilson catching an eight yard pass from Brian Anderson. The Mountaineers got on the board in the 1^st quarter by scoring on a field goal by Tyler Bitancourt.

Marshall Thundering Herd got on the scoreboard again in the 2^nd quarter by a bomb thrown by Brian Anderson to Aaron Dobson connecting on a 96 yard td pass. Dobson's td was questionable because looking at replays he dropped the ball while showboating for the untouched touchdown. However, officials did not review the play so Marshall got the touchdown.

The West Virginia Mountaineers got another field goal by Tyler Bitancourt in the 3^rd quarter. Marshall was still up 14-6 in the 3^rd and the Mountaineers looked like they didn't have an answer for Marshall's game plan.

In the 4^th quarter, Marshall's Antavious Wilson caught another touchdown from Brian Anderson from 12 yards out putting the Thundering Herd up 21-6. As the Herd thought everything was wrapped up and that they had a win against the WV Mountaineers, sophomore Geno Smith took over the game passing the Mountaineers down the field. Senior Noel Devine finally reached the endzone scoring on a 4 yard run, making the score 21-13. With time running out, Geno Smith led the last scoring drive for the Mountaineers with 12 seconds to go by hooking up on a 5 yard pass to Will Johnson. Then Geno Smith converted a two-point conversion by hooking with Jock Sanders tied the score 21-21.

In overtime, Tyler Bitancourt connected on a 20-yard field goal pushing the Mountaineers to lead 24-21. Marshall's last hopes hung on Tyler Warner to convert on a field goal. However, Warner pushed the kick out to the right just outside the goal posts. The Mountaineers won the game capping a great comeback by a sophomore quarterback Geno Smith.

Geno Smith finished the game converting 32-45 passes for 316 yards and 1 touchdown. Noel Devine carried the ball 23 times for 112 yards for the Mountaineers.

Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson completed 20-29 passes for 229 yards with 3 touchdowns. Martin Ward carried the ball 11 times for 101 yards.

Source:

www.espn.com