When Was Last Time WVU Football Scored Multiple Defensive Touchdowns?

CINCINNATI — A pair of defensive scores helped WVU football fend off a second-half comeback attempt by Cincinnati Saturday afternoon in the Queen City.

Safety Anthony Wilson and linebacker Tyrin Bradley each found their way into the endzone en route to the 31-24 Mountaineer victory. It was the first time in over two decades that the Mountaineers scored multiple defensive touchdowns in the same game.

The first score came when Wilson picked off a pass from Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby. A falling Sorsby flipped the ball forward trying to avoid a sack, but it went right into the hands of Wilson, who had a clear path for the 79-yard touchdown.

Bradley’s score came late in the fourth quarter and helped to seal the game for the Mountaineers. Sorsby was hit as he threw a pass and the ball slipped out of his hand sideways. Bradley scooped up the ball, which was ruled a backward pass, and ran it 14 yards to the end zone.

The last time WVU scored multiple defensive touchdowns was in Morgantown on Nov. 3, 2001, in an 80-7 rout of Rutgers and both scores were by the same player. Senior defensive back Shawn Hackett accomplished the rare feat by first returning a Scarlet Knight fumble seven yards that gave WVU a 45-0 lead with over seven minutes left in the first half.

Less than four minutes later, Hackett intercepted a pass from Rutgers quarterback Ryan Cubit and returned it 40 yards for his second touchdown of the first half. That made it a 59-0 WVU advantage.

Hackett, a New Jersey native, was a part of another game with multiple defensive touchdowns just a year earlier against Boston College on Sept. 2, 2000. In the game, a 34-13 Mountaineer victory, Hackett returned an interception from BC quarterback Tim Hasselbeck 41 yards for a score. Later, linebacker Grant Wiley grabbed a 22-yard pick-six of his own. Both Hackett and Wiley were making their first career starts.

For a related story, WVU football fans react to a not-so-comfortable win over Cincinnati.