West Virginia Defeats Rutgers in Heartbreaker 24-21 Saturday

The West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 24-21 yesterday at Rutgers Stadium on a cold rainy day. Both teams had a tough day on 3rd down conversions with Rutgers going 1 for 15 and West Virginia 2 for 14. Rutgers had their chances especially down the stretch but freshman QB Tom Savage was terrible, going 9 for 27 for 153 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The Scarlet Knights had a balanced running attack. RB Joe Martinek had 14 carries for 49 yards and WR Mohamed Sanu had 13 carries for 47 yards running of the wildcat formation. The play of the game was in the 4th quarter when WR Sanu broke away on single coverage down the right sideline for a 62 yard touchdown reception. He beat the cornerback for the touchdown which brought the score to 24-21. Sanu finished with 6 catches for 105 yards. On Rutgers final drive on 4th and 6 Savage threw to Sanu in the right flat but the pass was off target. Sanu tipped the ball and it was picked off by West Virginia. West Virginia, on 3rd and 6 was going to be stopped for a loss. Rutgers looked to get the ball back but QB Jarrett Brown broke out of the pocket and stiff armed the Rutgers DE for a 12 yard gain. That play sealed the game for the Mountaineers. Rutgers will go a bowl game finishing with an 8-4 record and the Mountaineers are going to the Gator Bowl to face Florida State.