MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Garrett Greene threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rodney Gallagher with 26 seconds left to lift West Virginia to a 32-28 victory over Kansas in their lightning-delayed Big 12 opener Saturday.
The Mountaineers (2-2) overcame an 11-point deficit with two touchdown passes by Greene in the final 3:27. It came a week after the Mountaineers squandered a 10-point lead in the final three minutes of a heartbreaking loss at Pittsburgh.
But Saturday’s outcome wasn’t decided until West Virginia’s Tyrin Bradley stripped the ball from Jalon Daniels on a pass attempt and Bradley recovered it with 8 seconds left.
Kansas appeared to be in control when wide receiver Luke Grimm went 32 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown with 5:39 left for a 28-17 lead.
But Greene, who had been shaky up until that point, took over. He hit Kole Taylor with an 8-yard TD toss, and Taylor caught the two-point conversion pass from Traylon Ray.
After Kansas was forced to punt, Greene ran for 25 yards on the winning drive. A pass interference call in the end zone on Mello Dotson of Kansas gave the Mountaineers first-and-goal at the 10. A false start pushed the ball back to the 15 before Greene hit Gallagher in the end zone for the final margin.
Greene, who also had a 5-yard scoring run, completed 15 of 30 passes for 295 yards. Hudson Clement caught seven passes for 150 yards.
Devin Neal rushed for 110 yards for Kansas (1-3). It was his fourth straight 100-yard game this season.
The game was delayed nearly two hours early in the fourth quarter by lightning.
The takeaway
Kansas: KU has lost three straight. The Jayhawks are in a free fall after starting the season ranked.
West Virginia: The Mountaineers showed some mettle in the comeback win, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier with the next three games against ranked opponents and three of the next five games on the road.
Up next
Kansas: Hosts TCU next Saturday.
West Virginia: Has a week off before playing at No. 14 Oklahoma State on Oct. 5.
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