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15 Arrested In Connection With Latest WVU Victory Celebration

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. (KDKA) - It's been a great season so far for WVU football, but it's been marred by out-of-control celebrations on the streets of Morgantown.

Now, police and the university are vowing to take action to stop it.

The pictures only begin to tell the story of what happened Saturday night following the WVU's 48-45 victory over Texas.

School officials were hoping for the best and preparing for the worst, but the worst is pretty much what Morgantown got.

It took Morgantown Police, the WVU Department of Public Safety, the Monongalia County Sheriff's Department, state police and several departments to contain a crowd that grew to 1,000 people in the streets of the Sunnyside area.

Police needed protective gear after getting hit with rocks and bottles.

At least 30 fires were set, which resulted in five people being arrested and charged with arson related offenses.

According to police, 10 others were arrested and charged with a everything from battery on an officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

"I'm not surprised by what happened last night. I'm not surprised that there's fires, I'm not surprised. You know, there were fights, riots literally that caused tear gas, pepper spray, I mean those things happened, and it's really sad to say," Paige Carver, a student, said.

Late Sunday night, WVU Vice President of Student Affairs Ken Gray issued this statement:

"The behavior of some reacting to the Mountaineers' victory Saturday night is unacceptable and detracts from the team's achievements. University officials will also review videotapes and any student who is identified breaking the law will be subject to the full range of civil and school penalties, up to and including expulsion."

WVU said this was Fall Family Weekend and there were thousands of parents and friends in town for the festivities and this clearly wasn't the image they were looking to portray.

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