By John Antonik for
MSNsportsNET.comPISCATAWAY, N.J. – It took a Sean Berton touchdown catch in the second overtime to give West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen his 200th career victory Saturday over Rutgers, 31-24 at Rutgers Stadium.
West Virginia held on to a 17-point lead after the third quarter, but a wild finish by the Knights nearly pulled the game out for Coach Terry Shea, who is resigning at the end of the season.
Trailing 17-0, Rutgers trimmed the deficit to 10 on a Dennis Thomas 15-yard touchdown run to begin the fourth quarter.
On its ensuing possession, Rutgers scored again to reduce West Virginia’s lead to three. This one came on a four-yard pass from quarterback Mike McMahon to Aaron Martin.
Rutgers had a chance to win the game late, but McMahon’s pass at the goal line was intercepted and returned to the WVU 17-yard line. It was one of six turnovers on the day for the Knights.
The Mountaineers couldn't maintain possession, though, and Zach Anglin’s punt was blocked by Brian Hohmann and the Knights assumed possession of the football at the West Virginia 23. On the play Anglin, who was subbing for injured starter Mark Fazzolari, suffered a compound fracture.
For the Mountaineers, it was the fifth blocked punt allowed this season.
Rutgers advanced the football to the West Virginia 16 and it appeared that the Knights had misused the clock and the game was over, but the officials awarded Rutgers two extra seconds, and Steve Barone coolly nailed a 26-yard FG to send the game to overtime.
Rutgers scored on its very first play in the extra session when Martin caught a 25-yard pass from McMahon – the duo’s second TD pitch and catch.
West Virginia struggled on its following possession and needed a huge 21-yard fourth-down pass from Brad Lewis to Phil Braxton to give WVU a fresh set of downs at the Rutgers nine.
Lewis had reentered the game after being lifted in the second half in favor of the more mobile Scott McBrien.
Cooper Rego scored on a nine-yard touchdown run on the very next play to tie the score and send it to a second overtime.
West Virginia took possession first and produced the winning score on Berton’s five-yard TD pass from Lewis – the quarterback’s first TD toss of the day.
Rutgers moved the football all the way inside the West Virginia 10, but an incomplete pass on fourth and goal gave the victory to the Mountaineers.
At the start of the game, it appeared West Virginia was going to have little trouble with the Knights, now 3-6.
The Mountaineers had the football in Rutgers territory the entire first half, but could only manage a 10-0 halftime lead.
WVU’s first score came on a 49-yard interception return by Richard Bryant with 5:50 left in the first quarter.
The Mountaineers added three more on a Jon Ohliger 31-yard field goal midway through the second quarter.
At the start of the second half, West Virginia produced its best drive of the day, taking the football the length of the field on a seven-play drive that was culminated by an Avon Cobourne three-yard run.
At that point, with West Virginia leading 17-0, it appeared the game was over.
But mounting WVU injuries and changing momentum brought the Knights back into the contest.
Cobourne finished the game with 117 yards on 32 carries. The sophomore now shows 719 yards for the season with two games remaining against East Carolina and Pitt.
The win snaps a three-game West Virginia losing streak and was the sixth straight by WVU over the Knights. The last time Rutgers defeated West Virginia was in 1994, a 17-12 decision in Piscataway.
West Virginia, now 5-4, will face East Carolina on Saturday in the final home game for Coach Don Nehlen at Mountaineer Field. WVU will complete the regular season at Pitt on Friday, Nov. 24.
Nehlen joins an exclusive list of just 18 coaches to win 200 college games, tying Fresno State’s Jim Sweeney with 200. Nehlen’s career record now stands at 200-127-8.
Rutgers, meanwhile, will play its last two games against Notre Dame and Syracuse to finish out the season.
Scoring Summary
WV – Bryant 49 interception
return (Ohliger kick)
WV – Ohliger 31 FG
WV – Cobourne 3 run (Ohliger kick)
RU – Thomas 15 run (Barone kick)
RU – Martin 4 pass from McMahon (Barone kick)
RU – Barone 26 FG
RU – Martin 25 pass from McMahon (Barone kick)
WV – Rego 9 run (Ohliger kick)
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: West Virginia-Cobourne 32-117, Rego 11-42, Ours 5-8, Mcbrien 1-minus 3, A Brown 1-minus 5, B Lewis 1-minus 7. Rutgers-D Thomas 21-114, M Mcmahon 6-44, Ohene 5-25, Friday 1-1, Anderson 1-0, Team 1-minus 8.
PASSING: West Virginia-B Lewis 9-17-1-94, Mcbrien 3-9-0-32. Rutgers-M McMahon 24-48-4-274.
RECEIVING: West Virginia-S Berton 4-39, Ours 3-24, Braxton 1-21, Ivy 1-16, Cobourne 1-11, A Brown 1-9, S Terry 1-6. Rutgers-D Thomas 7-91, A Martin 5-90, Johnson 4-29, Hobbs 3-22, L Smith 2-18, Anderson 1-12, Stringer 1-11, Stanton 1-1.
Attendance: 16,791
