MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Wendell Smallwood rushed for 163 yards and a touchdown, Rushel Shell had 111 yards and two scores, and West Virginia beat Texas Tech 31-26 on Saturday.
West Virginia (4-4, 1-4 Big 12) broke a four-game losing streak while Texas Tech (5-5, 2-5) lost its third straight in trying to become bowl eligible.
The Mountaineers compiled 300 yards on the ground against one of the nation's worst rush defenses. Shell and Smallwood surpassed 100 yards against the Red Raiders for the second straight year.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen improved to 2-2 as West Virginia's coach against Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury.
Kingsbury was the Red Raiders' starting quarterback from 2000-02, when Holgorsen was the team's wide receivers coach. Holgorsen was the offensive coordinator at Houston in 2008 when he helped Kingsbury join Kevin Sumlin's staff.
Shell responded to a challenge from Holgorsen for better production by earning his first 100-yard effort of the season. The junior had averaged 33 yards in his three previous games.
Texas Tech's Patrick Mahomes was held to a season-low 196 passing yards but took advantage of West Virginia's 3-3-5 defensive scheme by running for a season-high 73.
Mahomes ran for 8 yards on fourth-and-1 at the West Virginia 24 then threw a 17-yard scoring pass to DeAndre Washington that pulled the Red Raiders within 31-26 with 6:47 left in the game.
But Texas Tech never got the ball back.
Smallwood had a pair of big runs on third down to keep the ensuing drive going. And when Texas Tech's Micah Awe was flagged for ripping West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard's helmet off following a run, the Mountaineers got a first down at the Red Raiders 1 and subsequently ran out the clock.
Howard threw two interceptions and didn't have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. But it didn't matter considering how Smallwood and Shell were running against a defense that had allowed an average of 271 yards on the ground.
Washington finished with 102 rushing yards to become the first Texas Tech running back to go over 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons since Byron Hanspard in 1995 and 1996.
Texas Tech's Jakeem Grant, who had 178 receiving yards and a kickoff return for a score a week earlier against Oklahoma State, was limited to five catches for eight yards. He averaged 26 yards on five kickoff returns.
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