College Sports: Dueling two quarters of 12 stars, Will Grier of West Virginia has the last word on Sam Ehlinger of Texas

AUSTIN – Maybe that was the fate of what Will Grier did to Sam Ehlinger and the Texas Longhorns on Saturday afternoon.

West Virginia's senior quarterback, one of the nation's elites in position and a draft pick for the NFL, made his last win of the Mountaineers' 42-41 victory over the Longhorns the defining moment of his already impressive season.

Last year, the turning point of the Grier season was negative. This moment has also come against Texas. During the first quarter of the Morphantown Longhorn encounter last November, Grier rushed to the corner of the end zone and dived for the pylon, reaching for the ball. He accidentally squashed his right hand against the grass and dropped the ball out of the end zone, creating a touchdown.

The other result is a broken major in the hand at the pitch and a premature exit from the game. Texas won 28-14 wins to qualify. Grier missed the last two games of the season in West Virginia.

But there was Grier late in the fourth quarter on Saturday, trotting on the field with a chance to take revenge on Ehlinger and the Longhorns. He methodically led West Virginia on the field before throwing a delicate, off-balance 33-yard pass to Gary Jennings Jr. in the back of the end zone, 16 seconds from the end.

Grier's winning two-point conversion was emphatic. He rushed to his left and stumbled aimlessly into the end zone before throwing the ball to the side of the wall outside the confines of the celebration and twinkling the double "Horns down" just in front of him. the student section of Texas.

"Will is an incredible player," Ehlinger said after the match. "They have an explosive offense and with two and a half minutes they can do a lot of things.I do not think there was a deep breath on our sideline.We understood that they are very capable of moving the ball and doing explosive things with the talent that they have ".

The offensive performance of Ehlinger's monster has been rendered insignificant. The second quarter had almost surpassed one of the country's top quarterbacks and a Heisman Trophy candidate. Ehlinger completed 25 of 36 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran 11 times for 52 yards and one touchdown. He hit junior receiver Devin Duvernay for a 48-yard touchdown with a time of 2:34 to play, giving Texas a 41-34 lead.

"We have a very good [at quarterback]"Said Texas coach Tom Herman.

Twice in the match, Ehlinger completed third place with junior recipient Lil 'Jordan Humphrey. The 100,703 spectators in the Darrell Royal K-Texas Memorial Stadium scratched their heads. On each occasion, Ehlinger escaped the blitz attack from West Virginia and rushed to his right, before firing a pass to the back of the ball at a place that only Humphrey could grab.

The first of the first quarter totaled 23 yards and set up a touchdown run of one meter. The second opportunity came late in the third quarter, when the game seemed even more dead but the result was just as positive. He raised 29 yards and made an investment in Texas with a 31-27 lead.

It sounded like a day when Ehlinger could make another statement to the rest of the Big 12 and college football, similar to the one he made last month in the Oklahoma win. He too was a quarter obliged to count. He too was better than the prone gambler than he was last season as a real freshman.

But his defense let him down in the final seconds.

"I think he's really done a very good job, I can not give him enough credit," said the senior tight half Andrew Beck, Ehlinger's roommate. "He played his game for a lot of games this season, and I think he played very well."

Grier, meanwhile, was a bit better when it mattered the most. The senior threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns on his side. He showed why he was one of the best quarterbacks in the last race, straightforward.

"Number 7 is a professional," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. "It turns out he's playing college game."

But as Grier's academic career draws to a close, Ehlinger is just starting to take off. With time and exceptional games, Ehlinger could one day become the Big 12 Grier.

Texas is a program that has spent almost a decade looking for its next stud farm quarter. After a period of Vince Young and Colt McCoy from the mid to late 2000s, it has become a roller coaster since. Last season did little to consolidate the position. At the start of the season, Ehlinger won the post against junior Shane Buechele in the preparatory camp, eventually the guy — and the second year did that and more through nine games.

"The most important thing is just the experience and the game that slows down, and that's all levels of sport," Ehlinger said. "When you get more experience, it slows down for you and you are able to better understand, and this has certainly helped a lot this year."

Only on Saturday, it helped a little more for the veteran Grier.

Twitter: @TrentDaeschner