Snow's fumble return starts avalanche of West Virginia scoring
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West Virginia receiver Tavon Austin tries to elude Connecticut defender Dwayne Gratz in the first half Saturday at Mountaineer Field in Morgantown, W.Va
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- It took one big turnover.
This time, in West Virginia's favor.
Pat Miller forced a Connecticut fumble in the red zone midway through the third quarter, linebacker Jewone Snow returned it 83 yards to the 12, laboriously chugging up the sideline, and West Virginia's offense took it from there.
The Mountaineers, a year after their most heartbreaking loss came at the hands of Connecticut, blasted the Huskies, 43-16, in West Virginia's Big East Conference opener Saturday afternoon at Mountaineer Field.
No. 16 West Virginia is 5-1, and 1-0 in conference play. Connecticut is 2-4, 0-1.
"I was just trying to score, keep going. By the time I got to the other 30 or 40 it caught up with me," said Snow smiling. "It was a game changer. The momentum completely shifted over to our side. It was a big play."
The Mountaineers had held a 10-9 lead at halftime. Connecticut had shut down West Virginia's running game and disrupted its offensive tempo.
Miller dislodged the ball from quarterback Johnny McEntee as the Huskies were threatening to take the lead. Snow grabbed it and ran for daylight.
After the fumble return, West Virginia scored 23 third-quarter points. The Mountaineers scored two plays later when quarterback Geno Smith connected with Tavon Austin on a 12-yard pass that made it 17-9 with the extra point.
West Virginia's special teams had their best game of the season with the help of new punter Mike Molinari who pinned Connecticut inside its 10 twice.
The defense never yielded a touchdown and finished with five sacks, eclipsing in one game its season total of three.
It was without question West Virginia's best performance on the pass rush this season. McEntee was under pressure all day.
"The defense played fantastic," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said. "That was a heck of a dominating performance from our defense. The run defense got after the passer and created turnovers."
First Published October 9, 2011 12:00 am
