WVU QB Grier Takes Blame for Second Half
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LUBBOCK, Texas -- No one has to tell West Virginia quarterback Will Grier the offense in the second half of the Mountaineers' 42-34 victory over Texas Tech was less than a 'work of art.'
"We hurt ourselves," Grier said. "It's going to need to be corrected going forward, but we came out with a win, and that's all that matters right now."
Grier, who was close to perfect during the first 30 minutes of action as WVU jumped out to a 35-10 halftime advantage, struggled during the final 30 minutes as the Red Raiders' defense picked up some steam.
"We executed," the Heisman Trophy candidate said. "That's what -- we were playing hard. We were finishing blocks. We were finishing catches and making the right reads, and that's how we need to play football all four quarters, I think.
"It was a great start, a great first quarter, even second quarter I thought we were doing good things. But, like I said, we won, but we've got to get better, and that's part of the season. I talked a lot throughout the week about getting better every game, and we're going to go watch this film and make corrections. I think energy, like I said, has something to do with it, but it's also just playing a complete game of football and executing like we did in the first quarter for an entire game."
And, what a first quarter it was.
Taking the opening kickoff, Grier and Company marched down field with the passing game. Seven plays later, the Mountaineers lit up the scoreboard at Jones AT&T Stadium for the first time when Gary Jennings Jr. hauled in one of his seven receptions on the day for a 13-yard touchdown.
WVU's second possession also found paydirt when freshman Leddie Brown dove over from 1 yard out.
Drive No. 3 ended in a Billy Kinney 25-yard punt, but West Virginia was back in business four plays later and needed on three plays to score a third touchdown when Grier connected with junior Marcus Simms for a 45-yard score.
TTU answered when freshman Alan Bowman hooked up with Antoine Wesley for a 40-yard score, but WVU had the answer when junior Kennedy McKoy jaunted 38-yards for the Mountaineers' fourth touchdown of the quarter.
"A lot of it was energy and where guys were at, and I put that on me and the other leaders of keeping everybody in it, making sure that just when we get up, there shouldn't be any letup," Grier said. "We talk about it, we say it. We obviously said it at halftime. Third quarter we talked about it. But there's a difference. I don't think there was -- I think it was about just executing and finishing play, finishing the block, finishing the run, finishing the catch, and then I missed a couple things, and that's not okay at any point in the game, whether we're down or up. Those are things that have to be corrected."
In other game notes:
∫ WVU has won 18 consecutive games when leading at halftime and improved to 45-6 under Holgorsen when leading at halftime.
∫ Martinsburg native Trevon Wesco latched onto two of Grier's passes for 33 yards. The Musselman High School standout had a long of 28 yards.
∫ Kenny Robinson Jr. picked off his first two interceptions of the year and now has five for his career. It was the first multiple-interception game of his career and the first by a Mountaineer since Kyzir White accomplished the feat against East Carolina last season.