West Virginia Mountaineers vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights Match Player Stats On Oct 29, 2011

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 29, 2011

Geno Smith threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another as No. 24 West Virginia erased a 10-point halftime deficit en route to a 41-31 victory over Rutgers on Saturday at High Point Solutions Stadium.

All three of Smith’s scores came in the second half as the Mountaineers (6-2, 2-1 Big East) outscored the Scarlet Knights (5-3, 2-2 Big East) 20-0 after halftime.

Rutgers punted three times, turned the ball over three times and had two turnovers on downs on its eight second-half possessions.

Gary Nova’s lost fumble on a drive late in the fourth quarter led to a West Virginia touchdown, a 20-yard pass from Smith to Tavon Austin that put the Mountaineers up 10 with 4:50 left.

With the win, West Virginia improved to 33-4-2 all-time against Rutgers, which includes a 17-game win streak since 1994. The Scarlet Knights, meanwhile, fell to 8-63-1 against ranked opponents and lost for the seventh time in 11 tries against top 25 teams since 2006.

Nova finished 18-of-46 for 235 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for Rutgers, which began 2-0 in Big East play but has since lost back-to-back games.

The first half had a back-and-forth feel to it as the two teams traded scores seven times in the first two quarters. The Scarlet Knights scored on their final two possessions of the second quarter, including an 18-yard touchdown run by Jawan Jamison to take a 31-21 lead into halftime.

Jamison finished with 96 yards and two scores for Rutgers, which was outgained 442-383.