MORGANTOWN, W. Va (GBN) – West Virginia earned its first victory of the season at home on Saturday, blowing out the LIU Sharks 66-0 at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers sought to show some improvement in week two, and by some measures, they did. All but [TWO] of their drives ended in points, and they gave up one turnover, while recovering a fumble they forced from the Sharks.
Winston Wright stole the show on the opening kickoff, taking it 90 yards to the end zone to give the Mountaineers an early lead. He finished with 149 all-purpose yards, including three catches for 59 yards.
Leddie Brown added another two scores on the ground from close range to give WVU a three-touchdown lead in the first quarter.
Jarret Doege showed signs of growth as well early on, throwing for 108 yards in the first quarter. Head coach Neal Brown opted to give his young gun Garrett Greene a look in the second quarter, and the sophomore added his first score of his career on the ground.
Doege did return to the field, however, and finished the contest throwing 14-of-22 for 267 yards and three touchdowns.
The Mountaineers logged their first touchdown through the air in the final minutes of the first half, when Doege found Sam James for 18 yards for his first receiving score of the season, and his first of two for the game.
In total, Doege and Greene found eight different receivers for a total of 334 passing yards. On the ground, six different WVU players got a touch, led by Leddie Brown’s 15 — but Greene led in total yardage with 98.
Defensively, WVU held LIU to seven threes-and-out in 11 drives, while also forcing a fumble in the third quarter. Josh Chandler-Semedo led with five total tackles, while Akheem Mesidor and Darel Middleton each added a sack.
LIU gained just 81 yards all game, 60 of which came off the arm of quarterback Camden Orth.
West Virginia next hits the field at home against Virginia Tech on Sept. 17.