Houston quarterback Conner Weigman looked over towards West Virginia defensive back Jordan Scruggs, and then motioned his receiver. Scruggs knew something was up. He’d seen this before in practice. Defensive coordinator Zac Alley schemed up for this exact play.

The ball was snapped, and Weigman eyed down the motioned receiver. As soon as the ball left Weigman’s hands, Scruggs knew the ball was coming his way, and he jumped the pass, intercepting the ball, taking off the other way for a touchdown.

Houston went from just down three points to 10 once again in seconds.

“I knew he was running an out, so I just jumped it as soon as I saw the quarterback take his hands off the ball,” Scruggs said. “I couldn’t believe he threw that. I just jumped it.”

WVU’s defense didn’t completely shut down Houston, who is not known for its offense. The Cougars still scored 35 points and had 400 yards of offense. There were a couple big plays, too.

The defense greatly won the turnover battle and halted a lot of drives, stopping the Cougars’ momentum. The defense forced three turnovers, and then the Mountaineers forced Houston to muff a punt, which allowed WVU to run the clock and end the game.

Rich Rodriguez said after TCU that it was hard to win the game without turnovers, and his defense responded quickly, creating the most turnovers in a game all season.

“It wasn’t our best defensive game overall, but from an intensity standpoint and staying in the game, creating some turnovers, they kept fighting until the end,” said Rodriguez.

In a shootout, the offense took advantage of the turnovers. WVU has had turnovers this season, but the offense couldn’t get any points. The offense had 17 points off turnovers.

“The offense they strive from that, turnovers,” Scruggs said. “That’s a big momentum boost.”

It wasn’t easy for the defense to commit those turnovers, too. There was a long discussion during Tuesday’s press conference about pass interference and how it’s hard on the defense and the defensive backs, especially.

Some calls went against WVU, but it didn’t scare the Mountaineers from attacking the ball in the air. WVU picked off Weigman twice.

“We’ve been talking about we need to come down with the ball,” Scruggs said. “As you’ve seen today, we were trying to attack the ball in the air.”

It was a group effort, and WVU’s playmakers finally made an impact. Highly anticipated UTSA transfer pass rusher was a no-show against TCU. Fans were labeling him as a bust, but he had a big impact against Houston.

Robinson had half a sack, a quarterback hurry, half a tackle for loss, and recovered a fumble forced by Devin Grant, which turned into a WVU field goal.

“Jimmori showed up today,” Rodriguez said. “He had a better week. I thought he was making an impact out there. It was really good to see. He’s a talent, and he was into it for sure.”

The problem this season has been that the defense and the team as a whole haven’t been able to create repeat performances. From TCU to Houston, even with the loss to the Horned Frogs, the team carried over the improvement.

This week, WVU gets a struggling Colorado squad at home to see if it can have three-straight strong performances in a row, which WVU has yet to do. The Mountaineers are still looking for back-to-back wins.

“That definitely makes us feel good,” Scruggs said. “That also helps the momentum. That helps boost momentum.”