It's been awhile since the West Virginia Mountaineers have pulled out a win, but they took a 17-14 lead into halftime Friday against the Iowa State Cyclones.

WVU stopped Iowa State on its first drive of the game, then drove downfield for a Tyler Bitancurt field goal that made it 3-0. West Virginia then forced another Iowa State punt, but Bitancurt clanked a 46-yard field goal attempt off the upright on the next drive. Luckily, the exact same thing happened to Iowa State immediately after -- Edwin Arceo attempted a 47-yarder, and it, too, hit the upright.

On the next drive, Geno Smith completed two long passes to Stedman Bailey, and Shawne Alston ended up finishing the job with a one-yard touchdown run. But Iowa State cut the lead to 10-7 on the next possession, as Sam Richardson threw a TD pass to Jerome Tiller.

Alston and Andrew Buie led the Mountaineers downfield in the next possession with a series of rushes, and Smith completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Bailey to make it 17-7. Shortly before halftime, though, Richardson threw a touchdown pass to Josh Lenz to cut the lead to three.