No. 11/9 Longhorns defeated by No. 8/7 West Virginia, 48-45

Saturday, October 6

Austin, Texas

6:00 PM

University of Texas

4-1 , 1-1

West Virginia

5-0 , 2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

West Virginia

Texas

No. 11/9 Longhorns defeated by No. 8/7 West Virginia, 48-45

10.06.2012 | Football

Box Score

Oct. 6, 2012

Box Score | Quotes | Notes |

Longhorns Gameweek | Buy photos at TexasPhotoStore.com

AUSTIN, Texas -- Running back Joe Bergeron ran for a career-high four touchdowns, but No. 8/7 West Virginia emerged with a 48-45 Big 12 victory over No. 11/9 Texas before a record crowd of 101,851 Saturday evening at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Texas quarterback David Ash completed 22 of 29 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown, and Bergeron produced 45 yards on the ground.

Freshman running back Johnathan Gray carried 14 times for a career- and team-best 87 yards for Texas (4-1, 1-1). Running back Jeremy Hills caught six passes for 67 yards, and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin added a touchdown catch.

Safety Kenny Vaccaro led the Texas defense with 11 tackles (five solos), and safeties Mykkele Thompson and Adrian Phillips posted nine stops apiece.

West Virginia's Geno Smith, who entered the game as the top-rated passer in the nation, directed two 76-yard, fourth-quarter scoring drives.

He hit Stedman Bailey on 6-yard touchdown pass with 10:50 left in the game to give West Virginia a 41-38 lead and Andrew Buie added a 5-yard TD run with 1:18 to go.

Texas added a late touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Ash to Goodwin, but was unable to recover the on-side kick.

West Virginia (5-0, 2-0) assumed a 7-0 just over two minutes into the game when Smith, who was 25 of 35 for 268 yards, found Stedman Bailey for an 8-yard touchdown. Texas quickly responded and evened the score at 7-all. Ash hit wide receiver Daje Johnson for a 46-yard reception to the Mountaineers' 17-yard line. A West Virginia personal foul on the same play moved the ball to the WVU 8.

Two plays later, Bergeron plunged into the end zone from 2 yards out. Making his first appearance as a Longhorn, place-kicker Anthony Fera booted the point-after to even the score.

West Virginia took the ensuing kickoff into Texas territory, but its drive stalled three plays later. Texas defensive end Alex Okafor blocked a 42-yard field goal attempt by Tyler Bitancurt to keep the score even at 7-all.

Texas held West Virginia without a score on the ensuing drive, but two possessions later, on fourth-and-4, Smith found Tavon Austin for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Mountaineers a 14-7 lead with 1:55 left in the first quarter. West Virginia pushed its lead to 21-7 early in the second quarter behind a 4-yard touchdown run from Buie.

Texas cornerback Carrington Byndom gave the Horns' offense a short field by partially blocking a punt that rolled dead at the 50. On the next play, Gray peeled off a career-long 49-yard run that set up first-and-goal. Two plays later, Bergeron found the end zone once again to cut the Mountaineers' lead to 21-14 with 8:45 left in the half.

West Virginia started from its own 13-yard line on the next possession. The Longhorns stuffed the Mountaineers for losses to set up third-and-13 from the WVU 10. Okafor sacked Smith inside the 5-yard line and forced a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat in the end zone for a touchdown. Fera's point-after knotted the score at 21-all with 7:37 left in the half.

WVU's Bitancurt booted a 37-yard field goal to give the Mountaineers a 24-21 lead, but Texas raced down the field in seven plays and took its first lead of the game.

Ash found wide receiver Jaxon Shipley for 13 yards to the UT 45 before hitting tight end D.J. Grant for 26 yards. Tight end M.J. McFarland hauled in a 24-yard reception to the WVU 5, and Bergeron scored from 1 yard out two plays later to give Texas a 28-24 lead with 1:14 left in the half. WVU's Bitancurt converted a 41-yard field goal attempt as time expired to cut the Texas lead to 28-27 at the half.

Texas took the second half's opening kickoff and ran 7 minutes, 25 seconds off of the clock on its way to a 38-yard field goal from Fera to assume a 31-27 lead. West Virginia responded and regained the lead, as Smith found Bailey for a nine-yard touchdown to stake the Mountaineers to a 34-31 lead with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter.

Texas, however, marched down the field and reclaimed the lead. Ash connected with Shipley for 23 yards to the WVU 35. Ash hit Grant for 4 yards before the Horns took to the ground to finish off the drive. Six plays later, Bergeron scampered into the end zone from 4 yards out for his fourth touchdown of the night, as Texas took a 38-34 lead.

Texas had a chance to reclaim the lead after Bailey's 6-yard touchdown catch. On a first-and-20 play from the West Virginia 29, Okafor stripped the ball from Smith, and defensive tackle Chris Whaley recovered the fumble at the WVU 12. But on third-and-6 from the 8, an errant snap forced Ash to take 16-yard loss on a sack and Fera's was unable to tie the game when his 41-yard field goal attempt missed wide right.

Following Buie's 5-yard TD run, Texas covered 49 yards in 57 seconds and cut the West Virginia lead to 48-45, but just 15 seconds remained in the game when Nick Jordan attempted the failed on-side kick.