Hawkins drives West Virginia to Cassidy’s last-second kick in 45-42 win

Jack Cassidy's 35-yard field goal as time expired gave West Virginia its only lead of the afternoon and a 45-42 win over Cincinnati on Saturday in Morgantown. Michael Hawkins Jr. threw for 464 yards, accounted for five touchdowns and drove the Mountaineers out from their own 1-yard line to set up the winning kick.

The teams combined for 1,220 yards without committing a turnover. Cincinnati finished with a 622-598 advantage in total offense, yet West Virginia produced the final two scores to end a three-game losing streak and earn its first Big 12 win of the season.

Hawkins completed 25 of 33 passes for three touchdowns and ran 26 times for 77 yards and two more scores. His last touchdown pass was a 40-yard catch-and-run to Cam Cook, tying the game at 42 with 3:44 remaining. Cincinnati then went three-and-out, but Mason Fletcher's punt pinned the Mountaineers at their 1 with 2:05 left.

West Virginia still had nearly the entire field to cross. Hawkins found Prince Strachan twice for long gains on the final possession, taking the Mountaineers inside the Cincinnati 20. After Cook was stopped for no gain and Hawkins added a short run, West Virginia called timeout with three seconds left. Cassidy finished the eight-play, 82-yard drive with the winning field goal.

Cincinnati had repeatedly forced West Virginia to answer. JC French IV opened the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown pass to JV Gibson and later found Isaiah Johnson for a 51-yard score. Cole Tabb's 28-yard touchdown run sent the Bearcats into halftime ahead 21-14.

The Mountaineers tied it early in the third quarter when Hawkins threw a 4-yard touchdown to Josh Sapp. French's 1-yard scoring run put Cincinnati ahead again before Hawkins connected with DJ Epps for a 37-yard touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter.

That began a period in which the teams traded five touchdowns. Tabb caught an 11-yard scoring pass and later ran in from 6 yards, while Amari Latimer scored on a 3-yard run for West Virginia. Cook's tying touchdown finally allowed the Mountaineers' defense to get the ball back with the score even.

French finished 22 of 30 for 389 yards and three touchdowns, with another score on the ground. Tabb ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries and added his receiving score. Epps led West Virginia with eight catches for 163 yards and a touchdown.

West Virginia improved to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference and travels to TCU next Saturday. Cincinnati fell to 4-2 and 1-2; the Bearcats return home to face Texas Tech.