Wesco Finds the End Zone
Martinsburg Native Scores First Touchdown Since 2016
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MORGANTOWN -- To say it's been a long wait for redshirt senior Trevon Wesco would be putting it mildly.
But then again, patience is a virtue -- and a necessity when you play the tight end position at No. 9 West Virginia.
That patience finally paid off Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium when Wesco, who came into the game with 13 catches for 166 yards but no touchdowns, found himself wide open inside the TCU 20-yard line for the Mountaineers' third touchdown of the first half during WVU's 47-10 victory.
More importantly, veteran quarterback Will Grier also saw the miscue by the Horned Frogs defense and made sure it paid for thei mistake by hitting Wesco with a perfect pass the Musselman graduate took to the house for his first touchdown since hauling in a 6-yard Howard Skylar pass at Iowa State as a redshirt sophomore in 2016.
"Yeah, it was because I got to get it here," Wesco said. "I'm not a stat kind of guy, but to get my first touchdown catch in nearly two years and to get it in front of my school's fans, I'm speechless."
Wesco wasn't finished, however.
The Martinsburg native finished with five catches for a team-high 86 yards while delivering huge blocks to help the Mountaineers unleash a rushing attack that accumulated 164 yards on 40 carries.
One in particular found WVU's 270-pounder paired up against TCU senior defensive end L.J. Collier. Unfazed by his opponent's preseason All-Big 12 selection, Wesco proceeded to send Collier to his back allowing WVU's Kennedy McKoy to break away on a 33-yard score.
"I like it all," Wesco said about comparing his TD catch to his face-plant of Collier. "I just try and do it all."
It's a motto that has apparently been taken by the Mountaineer defense as, one week after giving up 40 points to Texas, Tony Gibson's unit held the TCU rushing attack to negative-7 yards and 222 total on 61 plays.
"We needed to go out and redeem ourselves after last week," Gibson said. "That was the message this week in our room. That's the first time that (holding a team to negative rushing yards) has happened to me."
A fact that did not get past TCU coach Gary Patterson.
"Well, in essence, it turned after (it was) 3-3 with about five minutes to go in the second quarter, as we got our butt kicked. We're not good enough right now to make up for mistakes, and they're a good football team. You have to give West Virginia a lot of credit."
Grier finished 25-for-39 for 343 yards and three touchdowns. The Heisman Trophy candidate also had his eighth interception of the year when a pass intended for T.J. Simmons bounced off his hands and was hauled in by the Horned Frogs' Ridwan Issahaku.
Six of those receptions went to senior David Sills V for 71 yards and a score while senior Gary Jennings Jr. added the other touchdown and finished with five catches for 58 yards.
Leading the way on the ground was junior Martell Pettaway, who finished with 59 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. Freshman Leddie Brown chipped in with 53 yards on 13 attempts while McKoy found the end zone twice while amassing 40 yards on 10 totes of the pigskin.
Game Notes
∫ St. Clairsville native Brendan Ferns made his return during the fourth quarter. The redshirt sophomore had been sidelined while recovering from a torn ACL during WVU's fourth game of the season in 2017.
∫ Redshirt junior linebacker David Long Jr. finished with four tackles for loss, including three sacks, and now has 17.5 TFLs on the season.
"We didn't have a great week last week, so we just wanted to come out this week and play hard," said Long, who surpassed his 2017 tackles-for-loss total.
∫ Dana Holgorsen earned his 61st career victory at WVU, passing Rich Rodriguez (2001-07) for the No. 2 spot on WVU's career win list.