STARKVILLE – For one brief, heart-stopping second, Tony Burks held the key to one of the biggest upsets of the season in his hands.

In the next it was gone, bobbled away and lost forever.

Burks’ bobble in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter was intercepted by West Virginia’s Eric Wicks, the first of two fourth-quarter picks for the Mountaineers that allowed them to escape Davis-Wade Stadium with a 42-14 victory over Mississippi State.

No. 4 West Virginia scored 21 points in the last eight minutes to blow open what had been an unexpectedly close game.

Steve Slaton rushed for 185 yards and a touchdown for the Mountaineers.

Quarterback Patrick White threw only nine passes, but ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns. As a team, West Virginia finished with 314 rushing yards and averaged 7.1 yards per carry.

Mississippi State countered with 250 passing yards, and Burks hauled in four passes for 118 yards.

&#8220We were somewhat overwhelmed by the speed they had, but I think that our kids played tough and gave them a battle,” Mississippi State head coach Sylvester Croom said. &#8220I thought we were in position to win.”

In addition to the loss in the standings, Mississippi State suffered a couple off losses in the huddle.

Quarterback Omarr Conner, who has switched from that position to receiver and back again in the past year, left the game with a pulled groin in the third quarter. He suffered the injury at the end of a 5-yard run with just under 7 minutes to play and did not return.

Another State quarterback, Tray Rutland, also took a shot to his knee in the closing moments of the game. The extent of the injuries to both signal-callers was unknown.

&#8220Right now I pray to God that it’s not too serious. But if it is, I’ve just got to stay positive,” said Conner, who was 10-of-19 passing for 135 yards and a touchdown. &#8220I’ve just got to take it one day at a time.”

Michael Henig, who was State’s starting quarterback at the beginning of the season before breaking his collarbone in the opener against South Carolina, replaced Conner and gave the Bulldogs some life in the last 20 minutes.

Henig completed a pair of 21-yard passes on his first drive to move the Bulldogs to the West Virginia 7-yard line as the third quarter ended.

On the first play of the fourth, though, with West Virginia leading 21-7, he fired a pass to Burks at the goal line that bounced off the receiver’s hands and was intercepted by Wicks 5 yards deep in the end zone.

&#8220When I pulled it in, my leg hit the ball and it popped out,” Burks said. &#8220It was tough. I was taking the pass too lightly. We’re in the red zone, we’ve got to score.”

State forced a punt on West Virginia’s next possession and Henig again started to move the Bulldogs’ offense. He completed a pass to Will Prosser for 20 yard to the Mountaineers 25, but two plays later was hit as he threw and intercepted by Bobby Hathaway.

&#8220As I was throwing, he hit my elbow and it shot right up in the air. As soon as he hit me I knew what was going to happen,” Henig said.

White scored on a 46-yard run two minutes later to push West Virginia’s lead to 28-7, salting it away with 8:02 remaining.

State did manage to rally for a touchdown, on 1-yard run by Anthony Dixon with 5:31 to go, but West Virginia recovered an onside kick and drove in for another score. Owen Schmitt’s second 5-yard TD run of the game made it 35-14, and West Virginia finished it off with a 50-yard punt return for a touchdown by Vaughn Rivers with 1:07 left.

&#8220I’m very disappointed in the way we played football. I’m not very happy right now,” West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez said. &#8220I’m happy with a win on the road against an SEC opponent. I had some guys that played outstanding, but I still had some guys that just didn’t get it.”

West Virginia scored on its first two possessions to take a 14-0 lead, but State refused to go away.

Touchdown runs of 5 yards by Schmitt and 6 yards by White put the Mountaineers ahead by two scores early in the second quarter before MSU buckled down and forced punts on West Virginia’s next two drives.

&#8220No adjustments were made, it was just that we began to tackle better. We started wrapping up and actually tackling their runners,” Croom said.

The better tackling allowed State to stay in the game, and it pulled within a touchdown when Conner hit Burks on a 40-yard touchdown pass with 1:01 left in the half. Burks made the one-handed grab around the 5-yard line and dragged a defender toward the goal line. Burks had the ball stripped just before he crossed the stripe, but State’s Lance Long recovered and was credited with the touchdown.

West Virginia answered with a 10-play drive to start the second half and pushed the lead to 21-7 on Slaton’s 11-yard TD run with 10:22 to play in the third quarter.