COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECAP

Howard, No. 12 West Virginia blitz TCU

The Sports Xchange

October 22, 2016 at 7:25 pm.

Oct 22, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Skyler Howard (3) runs the ball during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. Photo Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 22, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Skyler Howard (3) runs the ball during the second quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. Photo Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Skyler Howard threw four touchdowns passes against the hometown school that didn’t recruit him as No. 12 West Virginia crushed TCU 34-10 on Saturday.

Rushel Shell ran for 117 yards, Howard threw for 231 and the Mountaineers (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) extended their best start since beginning 7-0 in 2006.

The most surprising aspect has been West Virginia’s defense, which suffocated one of the nation’s high-scoring attacks for the second straight week.

Despite 103 rushing yards from Kyle Hicks, the Frogs (4-3, 2-2) fell to 0-3 against teams currently ranked in the AP top 25 and came nowhere near their 40 points-per-game average.

Howard’s final touchdown, a 16-yarder off a scramble, was scooped off the turf by Ka’Raun White to put West Virginia ahead 31-10 late in the third quarter. A Fort Worth native, Howard enjoyed a mistake-free day despite being sacked five times.

Kenny Hill finished 18-of-31 passing for 148 yards with a touchdown and an interception. TCU also lost fumbled away two kickoffs while enduring its lowest-scoring output since 2013.

West Virginia recovered Deante Gray’s fumble on the opening kickoff and scored three plays later on Howard’s 10-yard pass to Daikiel Shorts.

The lead grew to 14-0 when Howard found Shelton Gibson with a 22-yard strike.

TCU drew within 14-10 on Hill’s 11-yard pass to Jaelen Austin early in the second quarter, only to see the Mountaineers answer 1:45 later on Howard’s third touchdown of the half, a 12-yarder to Gary Jennings.

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