WVU's scoring flurry produces victory
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West Virginia's Tyler Urban tries to split two Rutgers defenders Saturday in the snow of Piscataway, N.J. -
EMOTIONAL KNIGHT Former Rutgers player Eric LeGrand (52), paralyzed in a game against Army last season, led the Scarlet Knights onto the field at Rutgers before a game Saturday against West Virginia. -
Rutgers' Quran Pratt, left, can't hold onto a pass in the snow after being hit by West Virginia's Pat Miller.
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The snow still was falling.
The game was closing in on his team.
But Geno Smith made the decision Saturday that No. 25 West Virginia needed. From fourth-and-goal at the 1, he checked his options, then bolted toward the goal line, diving headfirst to score with 6:18 to play.
The touchdown gave the Mountaineers a three-point lead, and they hung on to pull out a 41-31 victory against Rutgers in a game that nearly ended badly for them.
"It was just me and the safety, and I just had to beat him to the goal line," Smith said. "I wanted to be the guy to make that touchdown because my teammates did a great job getting me out of bad situations for the most part through the game."
Tyler Bitancurt missed the extra point, and the Mountaineers clung to their three-point lead before Julian Miller recovered a fumble by Rutgers quarterback Gary Nova to end the Scarlet Knights' next drive.
Smith then connected with Tavon Austin on a 20-yardtouchdown pass, the kick was good, and the Mountaineers had their much-needed win.
Smith said his touchdown play was supposed to be a play-action pass to the end zone, but Rutgers had the receivers covered.
Coach Dana Holgorsen -- who could have called for a field-goal attempt to tie the game, 31-13 -- said it just felt right to go for the touchdown.
"I just felt like we had it," Holgorsen said. "I thought we had the right play called. Geno blinked a little bit and didn't trigger it, but he made a play.
"We've been telling guys its hard for us to call perfect plays on offense, that doesn't mean the play can't work."
Right before Smith's winning touchdown, defensive back Darwin Cook came up with a key tackle on a fake field-goal attempt by Rutgers. That was a momentum-changer for a defense that did not have a good first half, surrendering 31 points, 12 first downs and a fourth down conversion for a touchdown.
"There were a lot of dumb things the first half," said defensive coordinator Jeff Casteel. "To the kids' credit, they rallied in the second half and did what they needed to do. They're going to probably end up killing all us coaches as the year wears on."
The Mountaineers are 6-2, 2-1 in the Big East Conference, while Rutgers fell to 5-3, 2-2.
West Virginia's offense nearly was perfectly balanced. The Mountaineers gained 210 yards rushing and 218 passing.
First Published October 30, 2011 12:00 am
