The Black Diamond Trophy Returns Home to West Virginia
MORGANTOWN, WV - West Virginia nearly blew a 20-point lead against Virginia Tech on Saturday but held on to come away with a 27-21 win and regain control of the Black Diamond Trophy.
The Mountaineers got off to a fast start scoring on their second play from scrimmage with an 80-yard run from Leddie Brown who went untouched right up the middle. Virginia Tech's offense was stifled for much of the first half, especially early on. The Hokies went three and out on their second offensive series and West Virginia capitalized.
The Hokies jumped offsides so with the free play, QB Jarret Doege heaved one up toward the end zone and Bryce Ford-Wheaton came down with it to push the lead out to 14-0 a little over five minutes into the game.
It wasn't until WVU began committing penalties that the Hokies started moving the ball. Redshirt freshman corner Daryl Porter Jr. was flagged for a late hit out of bounds which tacked on 15 yards and an automatic first down. Then, the Mountaineers were flagged for illegal substitution having 12 men on the field which set up a 1st and 5 instead of a 2nd and 11 had the play stood. Daryl Porter was flagged once again, this time for a defensive pass interference call on 3rd down which kept the drive alive. Two plays later, Braxton Burmeister found Tayvion Robinson for a 23-yard touchdown to get the Hokies on the board.
Midway through the 2nd quarter, Neal Brown inserted Garrett Greene in at quarterback for a change of pace and to provide a spark to the offense. He rushed for a gain of ten to move the sticks but Leddie Brown was stuffed on 1st down and on 2nd down, Greene wasn't expecting the snap and had to pick it up and throw it away. Doege was re-inserted on 3rd down and connected with Sam James on a banana route for a gain of 30. Doege went right back to James over the middle for a 16-yard touchdown, pushing the lead back up to 21-7.
The final minutes of the first half were very interesting. WVU marched right down the field and had an opportunity to punch in another touchdown but had to settle for a Casey Legg field goal after Sam James was ruled out of bounds on the catch in the back of the end zone. Virginia Tech found some offensive rhythm for the first time on the day and got the ball down inside the five. On 3rd and 1, the Hokies were called for a false start after Neal Brown called back-to-back timeouts to get Tech out of sync. Burmeister then sailed a pass too high over the head of a wide open receiver in the end zone, setting up a field goal. John Parker Romo missed a chip shot field goal attempt from 24 yard out, keeping the score 24-7 going into the break.
West Virginia ate up nearly half of the third quarter on their opening drive. Brown elected to go for it on 4th and 2 which helped get WVU in field goal position. Doege completed a three yard pass to tight end Mike O'Laughlin which would eventually set up a 44-yard field goal from Casey Legg.
Braxton Burmeister came up clutch for the Hokies delivering a 39-yard strike to Drake Deiuliis to move the ball into plus WVU territory. A botched snap on 1st down and a sack by Taijh Alston on 2nd set up a 3rd and 23 for the Hokies. However, Burmeister took off and scurried for the first down picking up 25 yards on the play. Raheem Blackshear capped off the drive with a 20-yard scamper to the outside cutting the West Virginia lead to 27-14.
Virginia Tech's defense came up with huge momentum-swinging play as TyJuan Garbutt forced Jarret Doege to fumble the ball at midfield. The Hokies found theirselves in another 3rd and long following Jared Bartlett's second sack of the day. Burmeister completed a pass to Kaleb Smith to make it 4th and manageable, then went right back to Smith on 4th down to move the sticks.
The Hokies worked their way well inside the WVU 10 but failed to convert on 4th down as Bartlett had a strip sack of Burmeister, giving the Mountaineers the ball back and their 13-point lead preserved.
West Virginia went three and out and gave the ball right back to Virginia Tech. Despite being in 3rd and 18, Burmeister and Jalen Holston connected for a 29-yard touchdown to bring the game within six. This was the third big play the Mountaineer defense allowed on 3rd and long situations.
With the game on the line, WVU only needed a first down to seal the win but a false start moved them back to a 3rd and long. Jarret Doege threw an interception on the tunnel screen giving Virginia Tech an extremely short field to work with.
The Hokies were on the cusp of taking the lead but West Virginia's defense buckled down and put enough pressure on Braxton Burmeister on 3rd and 4th downs to force back-to-back incompletions inside the five-yard line and ultimately win the game for West Virginia.
The Black Diamond Trophy has returned to Morgantown.
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