West Virginia Game Notes
November 23, 2003
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Chris Henry set a school record for most receiving yards in a single game. He had a career-high day, catching six passes for a career-high 209 yards. The last West Virginia receiver to collect more than 200 receiving yards in a game was Pat Greene (12 catches for 205 yards against Pittsburgh in 1997).
Henry tallied two fourth-quarter touchdowns against Syracuse. He had a 24-yard TD catch with 9:25 remaining in the contest. He caught a 67-yard touchdown pass and ran it in with 5:02 left on the clock.
Junior quarterback Rasheed Marshall threw for a season-high 271 yards, connecting on 14-of-25 attempts. He threw for three touchdowns and now has 14 passing touchdowns on the year.
Senior defensive back Lance Frazier recovered his second fumble of the season (fourth of his career) during the first series of the game, while Syracuse was looking at third and three. The fumble was forced by junior linebacker Scott Gyorko, who was credited with his second forced fumble of the season.
Junior kicker Brad Cooper missed a 42-yard field goal attempt early in the first quarter, but rebounded to nail a 25-yarder two possessions later. In the third quarter, Cooper hit another 25-yard field goal to give WVU a 20-17 lead. He improved to a perfect 8-for-8 on the season from that distance (20-29 yards).
In the first quarter, sophomore Adam Jones returned a punt 37 yards to the Syracuse 22, setting up the Mountaineers' first touchdown of the game. It was the longest punt return of Jones' career.
WVU's first touchdown against Syracuse was scored on a 20-yard reverse by senior wide receiver Travis Garvin. It was Garvin's second rushing touchdown of the season, fourth overall TD of the year. Cooper kicked the extra point from 18 yards out because of an usportsmanlike penalty and the Mountaineers led, 10-7, with 1:53 remaining in the opening quarter.
In the second quarter, senior tight end Tory Johnson caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Rasheed Marshall with 9:29 remaining in the period. It was Johnson's second touchdown catch of the season and fifth of his career.
Junior defensive back Lawrence Audena recorded the first forced fumble of his career at West Virginia in the second quarter. Senior defensive back Brian King recovered the fumble, his first fumble recovery of the season and second of his career.
With 105 yards on 19 carries, senior running back Quincy Wilson moved to fifth on the schoool's all-time rushing yards list (2,559), surpassing Robert Alexander who rushed for 2,456 yards from 1977-80. Wilson moved up to sixth on WVU's career rushing attempts chart (462). He moved ahead of Garrett Ford Sr., who carried the ball 453 times from 1965-67. On the school's single-season rushing yards list, Wilson moved into fourth place. He now owns 1,331 rushing yards this season, surpassing Robert Walker (1993) and Avon Cobourne (2001) on the list.
This game marked the third consecutive contest for West Virginia in which the score was tied at halftime. The Mountaineers improved to 3-0 this season when tied at the half.
