Garrett Greene throws for 3 TDs, runs for another as West Virginia beats Albany

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Garrett Greene threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score, two West Virginia running backs rushed for more than 100 yards and the Mountaineers beat Albany, 49-14, on Saturday night.

CJ Donaldson ran for 125 yards, and Jahiem White had 100 for the Mountaineers (1-1). Both had a rushing touchdown. The Mountaineers compiled 305 yards on the ground in shaking off some of the sting from a lethargic 34-12 loss in the opener to No. 8 Penn State.

A week ago, Greene was responsible for three fumbles and got West Virginia into the end zone just once on five trips inside the 30-yard line.

This time, the yards came much easier.

Greene scored on a 40-yard run just before halftime and he engineered a 15-play, 99-yard drive to start the third quarter, capped by his 10-yard scoring toss to Hudson Clement for a 35-14 lead. Greene, who sat out the fourth quarter, completed 17 of 23 passes for 236 yards and added 68 rushing yards.

West Virginia had trouble corralling Albany quarterback Myles Burkett. He kept alive one touchdown drive with runs of 19 and 14 yards.

After White fumbled at the end of a 39-yard run on West Virginia’s next series, Burkett drove Albany 76 yards in seven plays, capped by his 33-yard TD toss to Jacari Carter to cut the deficit to 21-14. Burkett finished 18 of 39 for 306 yards.

The Great Danes (1-1), ranked 13th in the FCS Coaches Poll, fell to 1-9 all-time against Bowl Subdivision opponents. Seven McGee had four receptions for 90 yards, giving him 209 yards in two games. He had 287 receiving yards in three previous seasons combined.

The Mountaineers allowed eight completions of at least 19 yards. Cornerback Dontez Fagan was flagged for interference twice on the same Albany drive, including in the end zone. But after giving up pass plays of 41 and 49 yards on the opening drive of the second half, West Virginia’s defense forced a pair of incompletions and the Mountaineer took over on downs at their 1.