Sam Ehlinger passed for two touchdowns and the Texas defense had two huge stops in the red zone in the fourth quarter as the 22nd-ranked Longhorns outlasted West Virginia 17-13 on Saturday afternoon in Austin, Texas, in Big 12 Conference action.
Texas (5-2, 4-2 in Big 12 play) got a career-high 113 rushing yards from freshman Bijan Robinson in the win, its third straight and first at home over West Virginia since 2014. Robinson also caught a 35-yard pass on the Longhorns’ final drive to allow Texas to run out the clock.
The Texas defense turned away the Mountaineers twice in the red zone on fourth-down and 1 in the fourth quarter, the second with 4:44 to play at the Texas 8-yard line.
Ehlinger was 15 of 31 for a season-low 184 yards, but that — and a running attack that amassed 179 yards on 36 carries — was enough to keep the Longhorns in the race for the Big 12 title.
Jarret Doege was 35 of 50 for the Mountaineers (4-3, 3-3) for 317 yards.
Texas struck first, marching 75 yards in seven plays to a 7-yard TD pass from Ehlinger to Brennan Eagles. The scoring drive was started with a 54-yard run by Robinson, the longest running play for the Longhorns this season.
The Mountaineers responded with a nine-play march of their own, moving 75 yards to a 12-yard TD run by Leddie Brown to tie the game.
Cameron Dicker’s 34-yard field goal on the first snap of the second quarter gave Texas a 10-7 lead. Dicker then missed from 48 yards out on the next-to-last play of the first half.
West Virginia pulled even on the opening drive of the third quarter, with Casey Legg hitting a 25-yard field goal on the 11th play of a 66-yard march.
But Ehlinger and the Longhorns answered via a 33-yard touchdown pass to Jake Smith to send Texas back in front at 17-10 midway through the third quarter.
The Mountaineers pulled back to within 17-13 on Legg’s 34-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.
–Field Level Media