‘Sloppy’ day of 4s for Grier

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — One messy game didn’t diminish West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen’s confidence in Heisman Trophy hopeful Will Grier.

Grier’s four turnovers overshadowed a fourtouchdown performance in No. 9 West Virginia’s 38-22 victory over Kansas on Saturday.

West Virginia (5-0, 3-0 Big 12) has won its first five games for the second time in three seasons.

“We’ll take the sloppy win and go home,” Holgorsen said.

The heavily-favored Mountaineers had no trouble moving the ball, but Grier’s efforts to throw into extra coverage near the goal line cost his team plenty of points.

Grier was intercepted three times in the first half either in the end zone or at the goal line, two of them by cornerback Hasan Defense. All three of Grier’s interceptions occurred when West Virginia had driven inside the Kansas 15-yard line.

“He has the confidence to make any throw and every throw,” Holgorsen said. “That’s why he’s a hell of a quarterback, but those windows become small. I thought their defenders did a better job of attacking the ball than our receivers did.”

Kansas was limited to 286 yards of offense but stayed in the game until late.

After Kansas turned the ball over on downs in its own territory late in the game, Grier found David Sills with a 17-yard touchdown strike with 2:20 left for a 38-14 lead.

Grier finished 28 of 41 for 332 yards.