West Virginia wins regular season finale at Iowa State

The win snapped a three-game losing streak by West Virginia (7-5, 5-4).

Howard started in place of quarterback Clint Trickett, who remained sidelined after suffering a concussion last week against Kansas State.

The backup quarterback completed 21-of-40 passes for 285 yards. Shell had 22 carries for 146 yards.

West Virginia ended the game on a 30-3 run after a sluggish start.

Shell gave the Mountaineers an early 7-0 lead with a 54-yard touchdown run, his longest of the season.

The momentum turned in favor of Iowa State (2-9, 0-8) for the rest of the first quarter and start of the second. Aaron Wimberly tied the game 7-7 on a 3-yard touchdown pass.

Sam Richardson found Wimberly for a 5-yard TD pass to give the Cyclones a 14-7 lead.

The Cyclones weren’t done yet. They took a 21-7 lead when Richardson found Tad Ecby along the sideline for a 29-yard touchdown.

A poised Howard responded with TD passes of 29 and 4 yards to Mario Alford.

After missing on his first attempt, field goals of 46 and 32 yards by Lambert put West Virginia 27-21 at halftime.

Iowa State struggled offensively in the second half. They scored just three points on 10 possessions after taking an early 21-7 lead.
 
The Cyclones looked as if theu were on their way to tying the game at 27 after an amazing catch by freshman Allen Lazard, but the Mountaineers’ defense came up big. Richardson completed a couple short passes before Shaq Riddick’s sack ruined a third-and-6 play at the West Virginia 11. Iowa State settled for three on a 34-yard field goal by Cole Netten.
 
The Cyclones held West Virginia again and got the ball back, driving inside the West Virgina 25. Richardson floated a third down pass into the end zone that was picked off by Terrell Chestnut to open the fourth quarter.
 
Alford answered Lazard’s catch with a juggling 40-yard reception, setting up a 15-yard TD catch by Dakiel Shorts with 9:34 remaining.
 
With 5:35 remaining in the game, Lambert put the icing on the cake with a 43-yard field goal to put the Mountaineers up 37-24. A 21-yard reception by Cody Clay put West Virginia in field goal range.
 
Iowa State’s Dale Pierson recovered a fumble with 2:06 left to give the Cyclones one final chance, but they turned it over on downs.
 
Howard also ran for 69 yards, the most for a Mountaineers quarterback since 2009. Iowa State lost their fifth straight and played without tight end E.J. Bibbs, who was injured in last week’s loss to Texas Tech.
 
Richardson threw for 275 yards and two TDs for the Cyclones. Wimberly ran for 77 yards and scored two TDs.