The University of Charleston had a realization after seeing West Virginia State score an early touchdown to take a lead in the first quarter Thursday night.
The winless Golden Eagles found themselves behind again, potentially on their way to a fourth consecutive loss to open the season, before things finally began to click.
That was when UC, led by running back Tevion Cappe and a smothering defense, stepped up and scored 26 unanswered points to pick up a 26-7 win over the Yellow Jackets in the third annual Kanawha Classic.
"We were tired of losing," Cappe said. "After a while that takes a toll on you, and when they scored first we just said, 'OK, it's time to change things.' It really felt like a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders."
West Virginia State was able to ride the arm of Matt Kinnick - who returned after missing last week's game - to get out to that lead early in the first quarter.
After both teams traded fumbles on their first drives, the Yellow Jackets (1-3) hit a couple of big plays. First, it was a 61-yard catch-and-run by Quinton Gray that put WVSU into the red zone before Kinnick connected with Akil Washington for a 10-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring.
Charleston (1-3) bounced back quickly after falling behind, closing out the half scoring 16 consecutive points to jump ahead at the break.
Cappe and the running game played a big role in that. The junior running back out of Watertown, New York, had 135 of his game-high 185 yards in the first two quarters - scoring on touchdown runs of 36 and 66 yards. Brett Benes added the longest field goal of his career with a 50-yarder in the first quarter.
"We've got some really good backs here and I think our offensive line came out and played really hard today," Charleston coach Pat Kirkland said. "They loaded up the box at times, and we were still able to consistently get yardage. That's the sign of a good running football team."
Defense dominated the early portion of the second half, with both teams struggling to get past the 50-yard line. West Virginia State and Charleston punted on the first five possessions of the third quarter, with the defenses allowing a combined 38 yards on the first 18 plays of the second half.
And it was Charleston's defense that made the big play late in the third quarter to keep the momentum in the Golden Eagles' favor as they added to the lead.
After Logan Cox's interception return for a touchdown was brought back due to a penalty, it looked as if UC's drive had stalled and the Golden Eagles would have to settle for a field goal. But holder Blaine Stewart took the snap, rolled out to his right and fired a pass to Benes, who dived just past the first-down marker to successful convert the fake field goal.
On the next play, Marvin Elam's 22-yard touchdown run made it 23-7 in favor of the Golden Eagles.
Overall, it was another frustrating game for the Yellow Jackets - one in which they had two turnovers and had several opportunities, only to fall short.
"You're never pleased with anything in a loss. We could've had better effort, can't be pleased with almost being there," West Virginia State coach Jon Anderson said. "We've got to play better as a football team if we want to win games."
Cappe and Elam, who finished with 96 yards, combined to run for 281 yards and 39 carries.
Defensively, Kahzin Daniels had a monster game for the Golden Eagles. The sophomore defensive lineman had seven tackles, including three sacks and another tackle for loss. Johnathan Pruden and Rhakeem Stallings added nine tackles apiece, while UC sacked Kinnick five times.
West Virginia State's offense was productive, despite its struggles to put the ball in the end zone. Kinnick completed 14 of his 34 pass attempts for 185 yards through the air while Juawan Etheredge carried the ball 20 times for 127 yards.
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.