Greene leads West Virginia to a 32-28 win over Kansas

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia overcame an 11-point deficit with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter to defeat Kansas 32-28 on Saturday afternoon here at Milan Puskar Stadium.

Things weren't looking good for the Mountaineers late in the fourth quarter after weather conditions forced a two-hour delay, the second of the season. Garrett Greene managed two late touchdown drives that resulted in 15 points after the Jayhawks took a 28-17 lead.

The decision was made 26 seconds before the end when Greene scored Rodney Gallagher III in the right flat for a 15-yard touchdown.

“Long day and I'm exhausted, but a huge win,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said afterwards. “Most things evened out, and today we came back and rewrote the script.”

Last week in Pittsburgh, West Virginia couldn't close the deal after leading by 10 points with just under five minutes left in the Backyard Brawl.

Today WVU made the crucial decisions at the crucial moment.

On its winning touchdown march, WVU took possession of the ball on its own 33 with 2:22 on the clock, a timeout and the two-minute warning in the bag. Greene started the drive with an 11-yard pass to Hudson ClementGallagher added 6 on a wide receiver run and then Greene fought back to 12 to give WVU a first down at the Jayhawk 29.

Kansas took its first timeout with 37 seconds left after Greene's 4-yard run to the 25-yard line. A pass interference penalty on safety Marvin Grant during Greene's pass to Clement in the end zone moved the ball to the 10-yard line. A false start penalty returned the ball 5 yards before Gallagher was released on the near side of the field, where Greene met him on the run and he outran the defense to the pylon.

On the ensuing drive, Kansas (1-3, 0-1) got on West Virginia's side when Jalon Daniels completed a 36-yard pass to Lawrence Arnold to the WVU 40. On the next play, however, Tyrin Bradley was able to break free from behind and score a strip-sack fumble, which he recovered at the Mountaineers' 48-yard line.

Greene went down on his knees to end the game.

On that day, Greene completed 15 of his 30 pass attempts for 295 yards and two touchdowns and ran 17 times for 87 yards and another touchdown.

“We're better when he's running,” Brown said. “I can tell he's special in the two-minute drill.”

Clement was Greene’s biggest target in the passing game today with seven catches for 150 yards, while Traylon Ray added two catches for 70 yards.

The game became a hectic affair in the second half after the two teams had fought a close defensive battle in the first two periods.

The Jayhawks marched the length of the field on their first drive of the second half and tied the game at 14-14, taking advantage of reliable passes from Daniels and a 7-yard run from Devin Neal on fourth-and-2 at the WVU 43-yard line.

Kansas finally got into the end zone when Daniels threw a 7-yard pass to a completely free Luke Grimm in the back corner of the end zone, capping a 10-play, 75-yard run that took 5:52 off the clock.

On the next possession, Greene's 52-yard post pass to Ray moved the ball to the Kansas 23, but two failed runs by CJ Donaldson Jr. and Greene's incomplete pass to Gallagher in the end zone required Michael Hayes to kick a 40-yard field goal, his fifth in five attempts this season, to give West Virginia a 17-14 lead with 7:03 left in the third quarter.

But this advantage was short-lived.

Kansas needed just four plays to get back into the end zone, getting the ball on the ground to within seven. A 21-yard run by Daniels took the ball to the midfield line, and then Daniel Hishaw Jr. took it to the WVU 15 with a 32-yard run down the other side of the field.

Two plays later, Hishaw sprinted 11 yards into the end zone unchallenged, giving Kansas a 21-17 lead on Tabor Allen's conversion kick.

The Mountaineers dodged a bullet after Mello Dotson intercepted Greene's short pass and forced a punt, but the offense was hampered by a false start penalty, two short runs by Greene and a short pass into the flat. Jahiem White.

Shortly thereafter, lightning struck the area, forcing a nearly two-hour delay before play resumed at 4:44 ET, when the game clock showed 10:23 and Kansas faced a fourth-and-7 attempt at the KU 48-yard line.

The Mountaineers regained possession at their own 9, but immediately punted the ball back to Kansas, who got the ball at their own 46, after Oliver Straws short line drive punt.

Kansas extended its lead one play after Hishaw's 11-yard run on fourth down to the WVU 32. Grimm took a reverse from Daniels and followed a wall of blockers along the near sideline for a touchdown.

Allen's conversion kick gave the Jayhawks a 28-17 lead with 5:39 minutes left.

Greene passed to Clement and Gallagher took the ball to the KU 33, and a personal foul on Marvin Grant during Greene's scrum brought the ball to the 11. Two plays later, Greene threw a pass into the left field to a completely open Cole Taylor for an 8-yard touchdown. Taylor also caught the two-point conversion on Ray's reverse pass, bringing WVU to within a field goal with all three timeouts remaining and the two-minute warning.

West Virginia used its RPO play early to get first on the scoreboard on its second possession of the afternoon. Greene completed quick slants of 38 and 39 yards to Clement on consecutive plays to move the ball to the KU 1. White took advantage of a convoy of blockers to complete the drive on the next play for his third rushing touchdown of the season.

The next time the Mountaineers had the ball, they appeared close to taking a two-point lead, but Cobee Bryant intercepted Greene's pass intended for Ray at the KU 12-yard line and returned it 5 yards to the 17-yard line.

The Jayhawks kept the ball on the ground between tackles with Neal and Hishaw, the duo combined for 55 yards, 11 of them by Neal, and ended the drive in WVU's end zone.

A big play was Daniels' third-and-13 pass to Quentin Skinner on the opposite sideline that was initially ruled incomplete, but the referees on replay said Skinner put a foot in the play before leaving the field. Daniels also completed a 17-yard pass to Grimm during the 13-play run that gained 83 yards.

West Virginia maintained the upper hand on one possession when Gallagher returned Damon Greaves' line drive punt 16 yards to the KU 34.

Greene completed a third-and-4 pass to Clement for 9 yards before calling his number for a 19-yard touchdown. However, Brandon Yates was called for holding to prevent a touchdown.

Two plays later, Greene threw an 18-yard pass to Ray to the KU 5-yard line and then intercepted the pass himself after it bounced off safety OJ Burroughs at the 2-yard line and into the end zone.

Neal led all runners with 110 yards on 27 attempts and the Jayhawks finished the afternoon with 247 yards on the ground.

Daniels completed 15 of his 25 passes for 184 yards and a touchdown against a WVU pass defense that allowed more than 280 yards through the air per game. The Mountaineers made some personnel changes in the secondary and also simplified their coverage.

“We wanted to keep the ball in front of us,” Brown said.

52,428 spectators watched today’s game.


West Virginia (2-2, 1-0) will take a break next weekend and resume Big 12 play on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.^th-ranked Oklahoma State in Stillwater.


“We need a break,” Brown admitted. “We're exhausted and it's been a tough time physically and emotionally.”


Kansas plays at TCU next weekend.