Through the pain, West Virginia gains

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Skyler Howard played through a rib injury and Rushel Shell missed most of the second half with leg cramps, yet West Virginia overcame setbacks to their top-two offensive threats to break a five-game losing streak to SEC teams.

Backup running back Justin Crawford rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown filling in for Shell, and Howard stayed in the game to lead the Mountaineers to a 26-11 victory over Missouri on Saturday.

“We’ll take it,” West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

So does Missouri, which lost in the debut for Coach Barry Odom and fell in an opener for the first time since 2001, which was the first season under previous coach Gary Pinkel.

Howard was hurt when he was tackled by Missouri’s Donavin Newsom while sliding during a run near halftime. Trainers worked on his ribs before the second-half kickoff and he returned to the game.

Holgorsen said Howard is sore but no ribs were broken.

“He knew we needed him,” Holgorsen said. “The kid is a competitor and is going to do anything … to help the team win.”

Howard didn’t attempt a carry the rest of the game. He finished 23 of 35 for 235 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.

In the brief time Howard sat out, backup quarterback William Crest lost a fumble and Chris Chugunov threw an interception.

“When guys go down, [other] guys need to go in and play at a high level,” Holgorsen said. “Some did. Some didn’t.”

Crawford did. The junior college transfer got most of the carries after Shell walked off the field gingerly early in the third quarter and didn’t return. Holgorsen said Shell had leg cramps and “he’s fine.”

Crawford had a 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter.

“From a teammate perspective, it’s good to know when you come off the field they’re putting someone in that is just as good as you,” Shell said.

Shell finished with 90 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown in the first quarter. He said he didn’t want to return to the game after leaving and “mess up the flow and the tempo” of the offense.

“I don’t feel like I did a very good job on this,” Odom said. “I’m obviously very thankful and honored to be the head coach. But I’ve got a job to do, and I didn’t get it done today.”