West Virginia Defends State, Wins Border War With Virginia in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE – Charlotte was friendly to WVU once again, as the Mountaineers won a back and forth premiere matchup with Virginia, defending John Denver’s anthem for West Virginia and securing Rich Rodriguez a signature win over a ranked opponent.

But the large contingent of Mountaineer Nation in attendance at Bank of America Stadium was quickly forced to sit down when West Virginia’s opening drive stalled out as quick as it got going. After Michael Hawkins opened up the possession with a short three-yard run, an offsides called against Kevin Brown squashed that effort. And making WVU pay for their struggles on offense, Virginia quarterback Beau Pribula led the Cavaliers up the field with erase, resulting in a a 12-play, 62-yard touchdown.

However, West Virginia answered right away. Hawkins (33 yards) and Cam Cook (37 yards) ran all over the Cavaliers, aided by an interference call on a rare pass attempt. Hawkins leaped into the end zone to cap off a 13-yard scoring sprint up the middle to tie the game.

Then, as momentum shifted back and forth, both defenses traded punches throughout most of the rest of the first quarter. That was until Xavier Brown found a hole and ran right through the WVU defensive line on a third and three attempt. Brown went the distance for 47 yards and the Cavaliers’ second touchdown of the night.

And making the most of securing the final possessions of the half, Hawkins did it with both his arm and his legs, completing a 41-yarder to DJ Epps and then sprinting 15 yards to the outside for his second rushing touchdown of the game.

With a 21-14 lead at halftime, the predominantly dominant West Virginia crowd was feeling the upset at the start of the third quarter. However, Virginia would not go away quietly, as Pribula turned a fourth and 10 to go into a 26-yard completion that would become a Cavaliers touchdown.

It took until the closing minutes of the third quarter, but WVU reclaimed their one-score lead. Hawkins, who had 150 yards through the air and 101 on the ground through three quarters, found Epps in the back of the end zone, giving the Mountaineers a 28-21 advantage.

But Virginia still had more in their bag of tricks, although that bag only resulted in a missed field goal. Hawkins put Virginia away, using multiple runs through the defense to score his fifth total touchdown and third with his legs. Hawkins racked up 190 yards passing and 123 rushing, combing with Cam Cook’s 123 yards for 421 yards of offense. A 21-yard Jack Cassidy field goal puts the final exclamation point on the night.

A targeting call on WVU’s Nick Taylor pushed Virginia forward and set up one last Cavaliers’ score, granted it didn’t change the overall outcome of the game.

The 38-27 victory kept WVU undefeated, having swept out of conference play and entering the Big 12 schedule at 3-0.

Find more coverage of the WVU football program and updates from the game at WV Sports Now.