Mountaineers Held to 153 Yards
Trending
DALLAS -- When Dana Holgorsen made the move from offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State to head coach at West Virginia, he was hailed as one of the top offensive minds in college football.
Following a 31-14 loss to Miami in last year's Russell Athletic Bowl, Holgorsen elected to bring back former WVU assistant Jake Spavital, who had just come off helping the University of California's offense become one of the top units in the country.
With pedigrees like that, no one expected to witness what they saw during Tuesday's Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl.
Playing without leading passer Will Grier, leading rusher Justin Crawford and two starting offensive linemen -- senior Kyle Bosch and redshirt junior Yodney Cajuste -- WVU's offense was limited to 153 total yards and one touchdown in a 30-14 loss to Utah.
Without Grier, who had completed 250 of 388 attempts for 3,490 yards and 34 touchdowns, redshirt sophomore Chris Chugunov was called upon to lead the Mountaineers in their first visit to the historic Cotton Bowl on a rainy and cold day in Dallas.
"It's unfortunate," Holgorsen said following the game. "We really wanted to send our seniors out with a win. But, if we learned anything, 2017 taught us a lot that we are going to have to change some things if we are going to be successful in 2018.
"Pretty disappointing loss in a pretty disappointing season."
Chugunov completed 9 of 28 attempts for 129 yards and one touchdown, two interceptions, surrendered one fumble and consistently failed to connect with wide open receivers as WVU fell to 7-6 on the season.
But, as bad as the air attack was, it wasn't nearly as ineffective as the rushing attack. With Crawford, who elected to forego the bowl game to prepare for the NFL Draft, sophomore Kennedy McKoy carried the bulk of the load.
However, the Utes' front seven made sure that McKoy would not enjoy the success he had in WVU's final regular season game against No. 2 ranked Oklahoma -- holding the Mountaineer rusher to 31 yards on 14 carries.
"They have so many great receivers that we were never comfortable," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "We were able to control the game with our running and our defense has played well for us all season."
For the game West Virginia finished with 153 total yards -- 29 on the ground -- and six first downs. All-American receiver David Sills V, who was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, was shut out which put more pressure on WVU's other pass catchers.
Senior Ka'Raun White, who had WVU's only touchdown with an 18-yard reception in the fourth quarter, Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms each came away with a trio of catches.
Numbers which not only kept the offense on the sideline, but the defense on the field.
"We had to play way too many plays," defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said. "I'm not going to point fingers. Some of it was our inability to get off the field on third downs.
"When we did, we'd have a punt go off our shoulder or a dumb penalty and you just can't beat teams doing those kinds of things."
Two of the primary reasons for the Mountaineers' inability to get off of the field was Utah's Tyler Huntley and Zack Moss.
Huntley, who missed the Utes' regular season finale, completed 12 of 26 attempts for 165 yards and rushed 25 times for 57 yards and two scores while Moss ran for 150 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
Holgorsen had both praise and criticism for his Mountaineers after the first 30 minutes of play.
"I thought we settled down defensively," Holgorsen said. "But, if you don't score, or at least get some first downs, it's going to be a long day."
In other notes:
∫ Receiving the start in place of junior offensive lineman Yodney Cajuste was redshirt sophomore Kelby Wickline.
∫ Ka'Raun White's 18-yard touchdown reception put the senior past 1,000 yards for the season and was the first time since the 2012 campaign (Tavon Austin and Stedman Bailey) that WVU had two receivers go past 1,000 yards.
∫ Martinsburg's Trevon Wesco's two-point conversion on a pass from Kennedy McKoy was the second time the Mountaineers were able to complete a two-point conversion.
∫ In his final game for WVU, senior Kyzir White tallied a career-high 13 total tackles, marking the second time this season he has recorded at least 10 tackles in a game.