With 42 seconds left, TCU had reached the West Virginia 14 and appeared to have a chance at a winning touchdown. Jaden Craig was sacked and stripped, and Ben Cutter recovered at the West Virginia 23 with 34 seconds remaining, and West Virginia escaped Amon G. Carter Stadium with a 24-20 victory.
The closing sequence was cruel because the drive had done nearly everything except finish. TCU covered 67 yards in 17 plays, converted fourth-and-2 with a 2-yard completion to Jordan Dwyer at the West Virginia 43, and kept moving through the Mountaineers’ territory.
The final four TCU snaps were a 5-yard completion to Amante Martin, an 8-yard pass to Ed Small, an incompletion intended for Dwyer and the sack of Craig. The turnover ended the afternoon before another scoring attempt could begin.
That drive fit the larger shape of the game. TCU produced 484 yards, 29 first downs and 372 passing yards. Craig completed 33 of 47 attempts for one touchdown and one interception.
Those figures belong to an offense that could sustain pressure on West Virginia. They cannot erase a fourth-down stop at the Mountaineers’ 20 with 9:07 left, or Nate McCashland’s miss from 43 yards in the second quarter. TCU kept arriving near the scoring end and repeatedly failed to bring points back with it.
The opening possession showed how different the afternoon could look when the Horned Frogs completed the job. Starting at their own 9, they went 91 yards in 16 plays over 9:04. Craig found Dwyer three times, including an 11-yard completion to the West Virginia 4, and connected with Jacobe Hayes for 4 yards on third-and-4 at the TCU 43.
Craig also ran for first downs on second-and-6 and second-and-2. Ka’Morreun Pimpton finished the march with a 6-yard touchdown catch.
There was variety in that drive, but also precision. TCU’s later possessions often supplied the first ingredient without the second. In the second quarter, Craig’s 2-yard run ended a five-play, 48-yard possession with a lost fumble.
Another eight-play drive reached the West Virginia 25 before the missed kick. Then, with 1:20 left in the half, TCU moved from its own 29 to a completion at the West Virginia 39. A holding penalty pushed the ball back to the West Virginia 49, and Chams Diagne intercepted Craig’s next pass at the West Virginia 16 without a return.
Craig deserves a large portion of the blame. Two lost fumbles and an interception are costly in any game decided by four points. He also ran for 26 yards and scored on a 2-yard keeper in the third quarter, putting TCU ahead 20-17.
