Well, last night it was not only starred but also underlined.
It was the turning point in the game.
At the time, Virginia Tech was leading 7-3 after a Grant Wells 28-yard touchdown pass to Kaleb Smith and the Hokies were on the march into West Virginia territory hunting for more.
Tech used some no-huddle, shotgun to try and catch the Mountaineers off guard. A 21-yard Wells pass to Christian Moss got the football to the WVU 42, and following Sean Martin's roughing the passer penalty, the Hokies were sitting pretty at the Mountaineer 27.
Following an incomplete pass, Wells flipped a pass to running back Keshawn King, who took the football 9 yards to the Mountaineer 18. A third-down King rush up the middle was thwarted by linebackers Lee Kpogba and Jasir Cox, setting up a fourth-and-1.
Here, Tech opted to go for it and Wells' quarterback sneak was repelled by nose tackle Jordan Jefferson.
"That was huge, momentum wise and I think from a confidence standpoint," West Virginia coach Neal Brown admitted. "We played differently after that fourth-down stop."
The Mountaineers sure did.
Although West Virginia didn't turn Jefferson's big play into immediate points, it did stem the tide and allowed the Mountaineers an opportunity to recalibrate. One possession later, West Virginia kicked a field goal to reduce Tech's lead to 7-6.
Another defensive stop on Tech's ensuing possession enabled West Virginia to get the football back at its own 30 with 50 seconds left in the first half. Quarterback JT Daniels marched WVU down the field and into the end zone when he hit Sam James for a 24-yard touchdown.
Those two scores were masterfully done within a span of 1:50 to flip the game. Another defensive stop to begin the third quarter allowed West Virginia to kick another field goal and finally take control of things.
West Virginia outscored Virginia Tech 30-3 after Jefferson's big play.
It was the Mountaineers' most convincing victory ever in Blacksburg in a series that dates to 1912. Many good West Virginia teams have had unsuccessful trips down there.
The atmosphere in Lane Stadium at the beginning of the game is always impressive, and Jefferson said he took notice.
"It was my first time ever playing in this stadium and hearing ("Enter Sandman")," he admitted. "I've seen it on YouTube, but it was crazy the first time experiencing it."
If you recall, last March there was a four-alarm fire inside the Milan Puskar Center when Akheem Mesidor shocked everyone by abruptly announcing his decision to transfer to Miami. A glum Neal Brown made an impromptu visit to the media room to inform Mountaineer Nation of Mesidor's decision.
"Candidly, I was surprised," he said at the time. "Most of the time you sense this coming, a change of behavior or whatever, but not this one. The best emotion I could describe is hurt, or maybe just sad."
Soon after, each defensive player made available to the media who was asked about Mesidor replied, "Next man up."
Jefferson was the next man up.
At 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, Jefferson dramatically alters the look of West Virginia's front three. When you put 6-foot-4, 290-pound Dante Stills on one side and 6-foot-5, 288-pound Sean Martin on the other, that's an impressive looking defensive line.
It looks like a legitimate Big 12 D-line to me.
"We're good up front," Brown noted. "I think our front six is very formidable. Jordan Jefferson, people don't talk about him, our nose guard, but he's a player.
"(Virginia Tech) had 35 yards rushing, and I thought our D-line was really dominant in the game; they were 2 of 12 on third and fourth downs," he added. "We felt like coming into this year, we could be really good on defense. We played well up front against Pitt, and they hit some plays at the end of the game. Against Kansas, we didn't play well at all, and that's not what we're about. Then we were dominant last week."
And this week, too.
"I have a lot of faith in this group, and I have a lot of faith in my coaches," Jefferson said. "I knew we were going to come out and dominate the way we did.
"We just played how we know we can play," he continued. "We turned it loose and played fast. (Defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley) put in the game plan and said, 'Play fast and wreak havoc' and that's what we did."
West Virginia is now back to even. The Mountaineers haven't completely dug themselves out of the hole they've put themselves in, but the lid is off, and they can finally see daylight.
Hopefully, next Saturday the sun will be shining on them down in Austin, Texas.
"We've got another big-time trip down to Austin coming up," Brown concluded.
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September 24, 2022 at 01:00AM
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Jefferson's Fourth-Down Stop Flips Virginia Tech Game - West Virginia University Athletics - WVU Athletics
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