WVU's first half against Maryland didn't go quite as smoothly as the Mountaineers might have hoped, but they still finished with a 24-14 lead.
WVU jumped out to a lead halfway through the first quarter when Darwin Cook forced a fumble by Maryland quarterback Perry Hills, and Doug Rigg recovered and returned it 51 yards for a touchdown. The Mountaineers scored again a few minutes later with a 44-yard pass from Geno Smith to Tavon Austin.
With two minutes left in the quarter, though, Hills hit Stefon Diggs for a 42-yard touchdown pass. Then Maryland quickly forced a three-and-out, and Hills marched downfield against the Mountaineer defense, eventually completing a 12-yard pass to Marcus Leak to tie the score at 14.
West Virginia took the lead again on the next drive, which ended with a 37-yard field goal by Tyler Bitancurt. Then, after a series of three-and-outs, the Terrapins gave Smith the ball back with three minutes left in the half, probably not what they wanted to do. Smith launched a drive that ended with a touchdown pass to a wide-open Tavon Austin, and the Mountaineers took a 24-14 lead.
Maryland got the ball back and marched downfield, but missed a 42-yard field goal shortly before the half ended.
Smith went 14-for-23, equaling the number of incompletions he had in his first two games combined, but he ended up with 209 yards for the half.
Shawne Alston, the Mountaineers' usual starting running back, played sparingly while dealing with injury issues.
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