SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 23, 2012
West Virginia 31, Iowa State 24: Geno Smith passed for 236 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 75-yard strike to Tavon Austin with 6:31 remaining, as the visiting Mountaineers snapped a five-game slide by slipping past the Cyclones.
Shawne Alston rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown and Tavon Austin piled up 173 yards from scrimmage and scored the deciding touchdown for West Virginia (6-5, 3-5 Big 12), which became bowl eligible.
Redshirt freshman Sam B. Richardson passed for 162 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another 119 yards on 18 carries for Iowa State (6-6, 3-6), which became bowl eligible by trouncing Kansas last week.
The Cyclones took a 24-23 lead on Edwin Arceo’s 49-yard field goal with 6:42 left but the Mountaineers needed only one play to get back on top. Smith hit Austin for the game-breaking touchdown and the two hooked up again on the two-point conversion to provide the final score.
Iowa State took a 21-20 lead on Richardson’s 35-yard touchdown pass to Quenton Bundrage with 4:56 left in the third quarter and West Virginia jumped back on top with Tyler Bitancurt’s 35-yard field goal at the 9:35 mark of the fourth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Stedman Bailey recorded seven catches for 82 yards and a touchdown for West Virginia. … The Mouintaineers entered the contest last in the nation in passing defense, allowing an average of 364.6 yards, but held Richardson to 13-of-31 passing. … Iowa State broke its all-time season attendance record.