Nicco Marchiol throws TD pass on 1st start, West Virginia holds off Texas Tech 20-13

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Nicco Marchiol threw a touchdown pass in his first start, CJ Donaldson added a short TD run and West Virginia beat Texas Tech 20-13 in their Big 12 opener on Saturday.

Texas Tech backup quarterback Behren Morton came in for the injured Tyler Shough in the first quarter and put together a pair of scoring drives. But Morton, who threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns against the Mountaineers a year ago in a 48-10 win at Texas Tech, couldn’t rally the Red Raiders from a 13-3 deficit this time.

Morton drove the Red Raiders from their 28 to the West Virginia 11, but he threw four consecutive incompletions, the last with 11 seconds left.

On a day that saw former standout defensive end Bruce Irvin inducted into the West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, the Mountaineers (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) limited Texas Tech (1-3, 0- 1) to 56 total yards in the first half and 321 overall in a steady rain from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Ophelia.