BLACKSBURG, Va. 鈥 As the clock struck 0:00 at Lane Stadium, the Mountaineers began to celebrate their 33-10 victory over Virginia Tech.
After a moment, they noticed 成品人视频 director of athletics Shane Lyons standing on the field, holding the Black Diamond Trophy. The players quickly surrounded West Virginia鈥檚 smiling A.D. and assumed possession of the prize that goes to the winner of the VT-成品人视频 showdown.
Mountaineer offensive lineman James Gmiter took charge of the crystal-and-coal trophy, and that was appropriate since he and his linemates had been in charge on the turf during most of the football game.
West Virginia gashed the Hokies for 218 rushing yards, as true freshman C.J. Donaldson recorded his third 100-yard ground performance in his fourth collegiate game. He finished Thursday with 106 yards on 23 carries, and Justin Johnson chipped in 83 rushing yards of his own on 11 attempts.
鈥淲hen we can run the ball like that, it makes things very easy for our entire offense,鈥 explained 成品人视频 receiver Kaden Prather, who finished the contest with six catches for 69 yards. As a team, West Virginia had 203 yards through the air. 鈥淚f people try to stack the box on us to slow down our running backs, then they have to deal with two 6-foot-4 receivers on the outside (himself and Bryce Ford-Wheaton) and Sam James in the slot. It鈥檚 a win-win situation for us.鈥
鈥淚 always expect us to run the ball like that, just because we鈥檙e so physical up front,鈥 noted 成品人视频 quarterback J.T. Daniels. 鈥淲ith that line and a whole host of great running backs, I expect to run like that every time. We鈥檙e going to do what we do over and over again until you stop us, and they weren鈥檛 stopping the run.鈥
It wasn鈥檛 only ground-and-pound for West Virginia in Blacksburg. Daniels completed 20 of his 30 throws to eclipse 200 passing yards for the third time in his four games with the Mountaineers. The only game Daniels was short of that plateau was when he had 174 yards through the air in the 65-7 wipeout of Towson last week, a win he played less than two quarters because of 成品人视频鈥檚 dominance of its FCS opponent.
The momentum Thursday night in Blacksburg turned for West Virginia in the last two minutes of the first half.
Trailing 7-3, the Mountaineers narrowed Tech鈥檚 lead with a 35-yard Casey Legg field goal with 1:50 remaining in the period. Then after West Virginia鈥檚 defense forced a quick VT three-and-out, 成品人视频鈥檚 offense got the ball back and promptly put together a 70-yard drive in under a minute, which culminated with a 24-yard scoring strike from Daniels to Sam James. West Virginia would not trail again, as it outscored the Hokies 30-3 over the final 44 minutes to secure the win.
鈥淚t was huge,鈥 stated Prather of the 10-point swing in the final two minutes of the first half that gave 成品人视频 a six-point lead and a ton of momentum at halftime. 鈥淲e needed that. Our offense builds off stuff like that. After that touchdown, we were really rolling from there.鈥
鈥淭hat was big, much needed,鈥 echoed Daniels. 鈥淭here were just two minutes left in the half, and we were down 7-3. We went down, had a good drive and kicked a field goal. The defense shuts them down with a three-and-out, and then we take over with 55 (seconds) left on the clock and put together a touchdown drive. End-of-half drives are always huge. It helps you a lot, because you feel great going into the locker room, and we did.鈥
Daniels went into detail on what he saw on the TD bull鈥檚 eye to James with 11 seconds left in the first half.
鈥淭hey were in a Tampa-two (zone defense), which they haven鈥檛 run much this year but they do run some in two-minute situations when the offense needs to throw the ball,鈥 explained 成品人视频鈥檚 junior quarterback. 鈥淚 talked to Sam before the play, because he had that inside seam vertical. I told him if they鈥檙e in that two-cover, he needed to attack the mike (middle linebacker who drops deep) and beat him down the middle. That鈥檚 exactly what happened.鈥
The Daniels-to-James touchdown gave the Mountaineers all the momentum at halftime, and they didn鈥檛 relinquish it the rest of the game.
In the end, 成品人视频 not only had a 23-point victory over its old rival, but it also had the Black Diamond Trophy that goes with the win.
鈥淚t was a lot of fun lifting that trophy after the game,鈥 smiled 成品人视频 nose guard Jordan Jefferson. 鈥淭hese are moments you鈥檒l never forget. That trophy will be in Morgantown for a long time, so that鈥檚 great.鈥
Since the two rivals probably won鈥檛 play again for the next decade or more, the Black Diamond Trophy figures to reside in the Mountaineers鈥 Puskar Center for many years to come.
