HUNTINGTON, W.Va., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Tyler Bitancurt's 20-yard field goal in overtime Friday completed an amazing rally that gave No. 22 West Virginia a 24-21 win over Marshall.
The comeback prevented Marshall from recording its first win over West Virginia in the 10 meetings between the schools.
The second touchdown pass of the game from Brian Anderson to Antavious Wilson gave Marshall (0-2) a 21-6 lead with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter, but West Virginia's Geno Smith led his team on drives of 96 and 98 yards during the time remaining.
Noel Devine scored on a 4-yard run with 5:12 to go, bringing the Mountaineers within eight points. West Virginia kicked deep and held Marshall to a single first down -- forcing the Thundering Herd to punt the ball away with 3:09 to go.
West Virginia (2-0) took over at its own 2-yard line and ran off 17 plays to get to the end zone. Smith threw a 5-yard scoring pass to Will Johnson with 12 seconds to play and then found Jock Sanders for the 2-point conversion that tied the game.
Bitancurt kicked his field goal on the first possession of overtime and Marshall's Tyler Warner missed a 39-yard attempt moments later to give West Virginia the win.
Smith completed 32-of-45 passes for 316 yards.
Marshall seized the momentum early in the second quarter by stopping West Virginia on the Thundering Herd's 8-yard line and getting a 96-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Aaron Dobson two plays later for a 14-3 lead.
