The Sports Xchange
Oct 7, 2017
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kenny Hill had a touchdown passing, receiving and a 3-yard rushing score that put No. 8 TCU ahead for good in a 31-24 victory over No. 23 West Virginia on Saturday.
Hill threw a 45-yard TD to Jalen Reagor in the third quarter and took a pass from receiver KaVontae Turpin and ran 48 yards for another score for the Horned Frogs, who improved to 5-0 and 2-0 in the Big 12.
West Virginia fell to 3-2 and 1-1.
Mountaineers quarterback Will Grier, who entered ranked sixth nationally in touchdown passes, was 25 for 45 for 366 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, one of two West Virginia turnovers that TCU converted into 10 points.
Grier found David Sills for TD strikes of 64 and 4 yards. Ka'Raun White had a 76-yard touchdown reception.
Mountaineers running back Justin Crawford was kept just below his Big 12-leading 112.8 rushing yards a game with 111 on 19 carries.
Hill, who entered the game with a completion percentage of 72.6, was 15 of 28 for 188 yards.
The Horned Frogs turned a muffed punt in the first quarter into a Sewo Olonilua TD dive from the 2-yard line that gave TCU a lead. In the third, The Horned Frogs struck quickly after Nick Orr's interception, with Hill throwing 45 yards to Raegor for a touchdown and 17-3 lead.
The Mountaineers, however, answered with big plays.
Grier hit Sills for a 64-yard TD to cut the lead to seven points with 3:52 left in the third. And on West Virginia's next possession, Grier found White for a 76-yard scoring strike that tied the game.
On TCU's next possession, Turpin took a handoff, ran right and pulled up to throw back to Hill, who broke a tackle and ran untouched 48 yards.
The star of the first half was TCU's Adam Nunez,who dropped three punts inside West Virginia's 5-yard line and another at the 6.
West Virginia's average first-half field position was its own 13.
The Mountaineers opened the scoring with a Mike Molina field goal to cap a 14-play drive that started at their 4. Later, in the second quarter, the Mountaineers failed to capitalize on an 11-play drive with Molina's miss from 29 yards.
NOTES: West Virginia WR David Sills, tops nationally in receiving touchdowns entering the game, hauled in his eighth and ninth TDs of the season. ... TCU did not score on its opening drive for the first time all season. ... TCU is in the middle of a three-game stretch against three teams it lost to last year by a combined score of 95-22. The Frogs are 2-0 against Oklahoma State and West Virginia this season with a visit to Kansas State upcoming.