Jarrett Brown completed 19 of 26 passes for 243 yards and ran for a 22-yard touchdown, and redshirt freshman Tyler Bitancurt kicked four field goals to lead West Virginia to a 33-20 season-opening victory over Liberty Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium.

“I was pleased with the way Jarrett Brown played today,” said West Virginia coach Bill Stewart. “He made some nice throws to the twos and the threes (on check downs).”

Liberty stayed within 13 points of the Mountaineers until a late Noel Devine touchdown run with 6:57 remaining gave WVU a 33-13 lead. Devine finished the game with 112 yards on 17 carries, his ninth career 100-yard rushing performance. Devine’s 112 yards pushed him past 2,000 for his career (2,028).

The Mountaineers (1-0) marched down field on their first drive of the season after Mark Rodgers’ 36-yard kickoff return reached the WVU 40 yard line. Seven plays later, Bitancurt nailed his first career field goal attempt from 38 yards out to give WVU a 3-0 advantage.

Liberty (0-1) knotted the score at three following a 32-yard FG by Matt Bevins. The Flames were aided by a Tommy Beecher 16-yard run on third down to keep Liberty’s scoring drive alive.

WVU came back with its first touchdown of the season on a two-yard plunge by Ryan Clarke, the first rushing TD of his career, to make it 10-3. The Mountaineers’ scoring drive covered 76 yards in 10 plays, aided by a key 16-yard reception by Wes Lyons and then a 12-yard run by Brown to the Liberty two.

On Liberty’s next possession, the Flames went for it on fourth and two at the 20, where an uncovered Brown was open in the flat to walk into the end zone and tie the score at 10.

WVU regained the lead when Brown slipped free on a quarterback draw for a 22-yard touchdown, giving the Mountaineers a 17-10 advantage.

Bitancurt added two more first half field goals of 35 and 45 yards, and kicked his fourth of the afternoon from 36 yards with 15 seconds left in the third quarter to make the score 26-13.

Two fourth quarter touchdowns, a 24-yarder by Devine, and a nine-yard TD catch by Liberty’s Mike Brown with 51.6 seconds remaining, concluded the scoring.

“The last touchdown was frustrating,” said Stewart.

Brandon Hogan recovered Liberty’s onside kick attempt, and two kneels by Jarrett Brown ran out the clock.

Jock Sanders led West Virginia with eight catches for 95 yards – seven different players caught passes for the Mountaineers.

“Maybe too much passing but I’m not going to bang my head against a wall,” said Stewart.

Liberty quarterback Beecher completed 22 of 33 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown – 11 of those passes going to Brown for 157 yards.

“Number 10 (Brown) can play and number seven (Beecher) can play,” Stewart said. “Beecher was a starter in the SEC.”

The Flames finished the game with 299 total yards and an average of 5.9 yards per play against West Virginia’s defense.

West Virginia had 438 total yards on 60 plays for an average of 7.3 yards per play. The Mountaineer defense was 3 of 13 on third down, although second-half penalties aided two of Liberty’s three first downs. WVU was flagged seven times for 69 yards.

The kickoff team performed better in the second half after allowing 117 yards in returns in the first half. For the game, Liberty finished with 161 yards on seven kickoff returns.

“We made some adjustments on the kickoff and shut them down in the second half,” Stewart said. “I made three personnel changes during the game and I thought we shut them down. If we have to, we will make more changes.”

Stewart said safety Nate Sowers had a nicked knee and Lyons was pulled out with a slight hamstring for precautionary measures.

“(Wes) could have gone back in but I held him out. It was my call,” said Stewart.

West Virginia returns to action next Saturday against East Carolina at 3:30 p.m. Milan Puskar Stadium. The Pirates held on for a 29-24 victory over Appalachian State after jumping out to a 24-0 lead.