FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Mike Hawkins Jr. ran for two touchdowns and threw for another score, and West Virginia's defense forced a turnover in its red zone in the final minute to beat TCU 24-20 on Saturday.

The Mountaineers (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) have surpassed their win total for all of last season.

“Any win’s a big win, and a win on the road is especially big,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said.

TCU (3-4, 1-3) drove the length of the field for the potential go-ahead score against the nation’s second-worst defense, but quarterback Jaden Craig was hit by David Afogho as he went back to pass and fumbled at the West Virginia 14. The Mountaineers’ Ben Cutter recovered with 34 seconds left.

Craig said he held onto the ball too long on that pivotal play.

“Got to get rid of it," he said. "Can’t take a sack in a two-minute situation.”

Hawkins said seeing his own defense come up big after a season full of disappointment "just brought joy to our whole team. It was just a great feeling overall."

Hawkins threw a 13-yard TD pass to running back Cam Cook with 11:28 remaining in the game for the final margin. Hawkins, who entered the game leading the nation with 14 rushing TDs, also had scoring runs of 2 and 36 yards.

Craig completed his first 12 pass attempts, the third-longest streak in school history. He was 8 of 8 on TCU’s 16-play opening drive, finding tight end Ka’Morreun Pimpton in the back corner of the end zone for a 6-yard TD toss. Craig also had a 2-yard scoring run in the third quarter.

Craig completed 33 of 47 passes for 372 yards.

In addition to the game-ending stop, TCU also turned the ball over on downs at the West Virginia 20 in the fourth quarter and missed a 43-yard field goal in the second quarter.

“The biggest thing for us right now is just an inability to be able to finish on offense,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “We shot ourselves in the foot.”

West Virginia’s streak of four straight games in which the teams combined for 1,000 yards of offense was snapped. It was the longest streak in the Bowl Subdivision since 2020.

The Mountaineers were held to 125 yards in the first half by the Big 12’s stingiest defense and were outgained 484-272.

Hawkins and Cook had plenty of support from family back in Texas.

Hawkins played high school football in Frisco in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He turned down a scholarship offer at TCU and spent his first two college seasons as a backup at Oklahoma.

Cook attended high school in Round Rock, near Austin, and spent his first two seasons at TCU. He led the nation in rushing a year ago at Jacksonville State before heading to West Virginia this season.

Rodriguez wore a cap with the word “Ike” on it to honor Ike Morris, his lifelong mentor and a prominent businessman in Glenville, West Virginia, where Rodriguez coached at Division II Glenville State three decades ago. Morris died last Monday at age 88.

West Virginia: A defense that has been roughed up all season finally held when it needed a stop in the end. The road team has won the last five meetings in this series.

TCU: The Horned Frogs fumbled four times and had three turnovers. The last one cost them the game.

West Virginia is idle next Saturday and will face three ranked opponents over their final four games starting at No. 8 Texas Tech on Nov. 7.

TCU hosts Kansas on Saturday.

---

Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here