West Virginia quarterback Nicco Marchiol, playing in place of injured Garrett Greene, led the Mountaineers to a 31-26 victory Saturday over Arizona in a Big 12 game at Tucson, Ariz.
Greene and starting left tackle Wyatt Milum, both of whom suffered upper-body injuries in last week’s loss to Kansas State at home, did not make the trip to Tucson.
Marchiol, from nearby Chandler, Ariz., completed 18 of 22 pass attempts for 198 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Arizona (3-5, 1-4) has lost four straight games.
West Virginia (4-4, 3-2) took its biggest lead of the game, 31-13, on a 54-yard touchdown pass from Marchiol to Traylon Ray with 13:31 remaining.
Noah Fifita completed a 34-yard touchdown pass to All-American candidate Tetairoa McMillan on Arizona’s next possession.
McMillan’s first touchdown reception since the season opener against New Mexico cut the lead to 31-19 with 8:52 remaining.
McMillan finished with 202 yards on 10 receptions.
Fifita compiled 133 of his 294 passing yards in the fourth quarter. He completed 21 of 32 pass attempts with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
After a three-and-out for West Virginia, Arizona cut the lead to 31-26 on Fifita’s 3-yard scramble for a touchdown with 4:35 left.
Fifita completed a 49-yard pass to McMillan in the drive.
West Virginia was able to run out the clock after Marchiol completed a 9-yard pass to Jaylen Anderson on a third-and-7 play at the Mountaineer 39 with 2:02 left.
Marchiol led West Virginia to 17-7 halftime lead completing 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards with a touchdown.
West Virginia built a 10-0 lead in the first quarter behind a Michael Hayes II 45-yard field goal and a successful fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown.
The holder Leighton Bechdel took the snap and ran 14 yards for the score with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
Arizona put together a 14-play, 75-yard scoring drive that took 7:57 off the clock.
Quali Conley, who fumbled away the ball at the West Virginia 27 to end the previous possession, finished the lengthy drive with a 1-yard scoring run that cut the lead to 10-7 with 7:34 left in the second quarter.
–Field Level Media