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Game Preview: WVU vs. Oklahoma

West Virginia will look to jump start its offense with a backup quarterback.
West Virginia will look to jump start its offense with a backup quarterback.

DISCUSS: Visit the Blue Lot to discuss West Virginia all year long

Series: Oklahoma 7-2

Last meeting: 2016: WVU 28 OU 56

Television: 3:45 p.m. ESPN, Steve Levy (play-by-play), Brian Griese (analyst), Todd McShay (sideline)


West Virginia (7-4, 5-3) will close the season with a tall task in trying to beat Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1) on the road with a backup quarterback making his first career start Saturday afternoon in Norman.

The Mountaineers have lost redshirt junior quarterback Will Grier for 4-6 weeks after suffering a finger injury against Texas meaning that redshirt sophomore Chris Chugunov will step into that role. Although he has been in the program for three years, Chugunov has seen limited action with the most of his career coming a week ago against Texas where he tossed for 189 yards and a score.

West Virginia enters the game 20-plus point underdogs to the Sooners and have lost five consecutive games since the two started playing annually in 2012. Oklahoma is currently the only team in the Big 12 Conference that West Virginia has failed to beat since joining the league and the margin for each game has increased over the past five years including the 56-28 loss to the Sooners last season.

Oklahoma is led by first year head coach Lincoln Riley and haven’t missed a beat after the retirement of long-time head coach Bob Stoops in the off-season. The Sooners are 10-1 on the year with their only loss coming at home to Iowa State, which coincidentally was quarterbacked by backup Kyle Kempt.

The Oklahoma offense is one of the most impressive in all of college football ranking first in total offense averaging 589 yards per game and fifth in points at 44 per contest. The Sooners are averaging over eight yards per play and have a chance to finish the season with the all-time mark in that department.

While he won’t start the game due to disciplinary reasons, senior quarterback Baker Mayfield is one of the front runners for the Heisman Trophy and rightfully so. Having thrown for 3,816 yards and 34 touchdowns with only five interceptions, Mayfield also is more than capable on the ground rushing for 240 more yards and five touchdowns. Making him a difficult matchup is his ability to extend plays with his feet and find pass catchers down the field similar to what West Virginia experienced with Grier.

Mayfield has no shortage of pass catching options either with sophomore Marquise Brown leading the team with 830 yards and five touchdowns, while freshman CeeDee Lamb has 649 yards and six scores. At tight end, junior Mark Andrews is one of the best at his position in the nation with 787 yards and five touchdowns while the same can be said for fullback Dimitri Flowers with 369 yards and 4 scores as a pass catcher and four more touchdowns when he is called to carry the football.

Oklahoma will use a number of running backs to tote the football with redshirt sophomore Rodney Anderson emerging as the front runner with 749 yards and seven touchdowns although freshman Trey Sermon (597 yards, five touchdowns) and sophomore Abdul Adams (480 yards and a score) will both carry the football for the Sooners.

Defensively the Sooners haven’t had as much success, but the group has been improving ranking 64th nationally in total defense allowing 390 yards per game and 50th in scoring defense allowing 25.2. Under coordinator Mike Stoops, the Sooners will rely on a talented linebacker group and depth up front.

West Virginia has won one time at Oklahoma in 1982 before the two teams started to meet annually on the football field. The Mountaineers will be looking to snap the recent dominance by the Sooners in the series and help turn around the trajectory of the season after losing Grier a week ago.

Kickoff is set for 3:45 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN

West Virginia Depth Chart:

OFFENSE:

QB: 11 Chris Chugunov, (r-So.), 3 David Isreal (So.)

RB: 25 Justin Crawford, (Sr.), 4 Kennedy McKoy, (So.), 32 Martell Pettaway, (So.)

HB: 28 Elijah Wellman, (r-Sr.), 81 Trevon Wesco, (r-Jr.)

X WR: 13 David Sills, V, (Jr.), 8 Marcus Simms (So.)

Y/H WR: 12 Gary Jennings, Jr., (Jr.), 85 Ricky Rogers, (r-Jr.)

Z WR: 2 Ka'Raun White, (r-Sr.), 6 Reggie Roberson, Jr., (Fr.)

LT: 55 Yodny Cajuste, (r-Jr.), 72 Kelby Wickline, (r-So.)

LG: 73 Josh Sills, (r-Fr.), 78 Jacob Buccigrossi, (r-Fr.)

C: 79 Matt Jones, (r-So.), 58 Ray Raulerson, (r-Jr.)

RG: 62 Kyle Bosch, (r-Sr.), 56 Grant Lingafelter, (r-Sr.)

RT: 53 Colton McKivitz, (r-So.), 65 Isaiah Hardy, (Jr.)

DEFENSE:

DE: 91 Ezekiel Rose, (Jr.), 88 Adam Shuler, (r-So.)

NT: 49 Lamonte McDougle, (Fr.), 94 Jalen Harvey, (r-Jr.)

DE: 46 Reese Donahue, (So.), 92 Jon Lewis, (r-Sr.)

SAM LB: 10 Dylan Tonkery, (r-Fr.), 33 Quondarius Qualls (Jr.), 5 Xavier Preston, (Sr.)

MIKE LB: 3 Al-Rasheed Benton, (r-Sr.), 44 Hodari Christian (r-Sr.)

WILL LB: 11 David Long, Jr. (r-So.), 45 Adam Hensley (So.)

SPUR: 8 Kyzir White, (Sr.), 18 Marvin Gross, Jr., (r-Sr.)

BS: 6 Dravon Askew-Henry, (r-Jr.), 16 Toyous Avery, (r-Jr.), 1 Derrek Pitts, Jr., (Fr.)

FS: 2 Kenny Robinson, (Fr.), 9 Jovanni Stewart, (So.)

LCB: 19 Elijah Battle, (Sr.), 29 Sean Mahone (r-Fr.)

RCB: 4 Mike Daniels, Jr., (Sr.), 24 Hakeem Bailey, (r-So.)

SPECIAL TEAMS:

K: 30 Evan Staley (r-Fr.), 48 Mike Molina, (r-Sr.)

P: 15 Billy Kinney, (r-Jr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)

LS: 52 Nick Meadows, (r-Sr.), 64 Rex Sunahara, (r-So.)

H: 15 Billy Kinney, (r-Jr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)

KO: 30 Evan Staley, (r-Fr.), 43 Luke Hogan, (r-Fr.)

PR: 8 Marcus Simms (So.), 13 David Sills, V, (Jr.)

KOR: 8 Marcus Simms (So.) 12 Gary Jennings, Jr., (Jr.)

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NOTES:

--This year marks the 126th year of West Virginia football with the Mountaineers currently sitting in 14th place all-time in wins in college football.

--WVU is 27-26 in Big 12 Conference Games, 13-13 on the road. West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen is 0-5 against Oklahoma and has never met Lincoln Riley in a head coaching matchup.

--Since 2000, West Virginia is 112-15 when scoring more than 30 points and 57-4 when scoring more than 40 points in a game.

--The Mountaineers are 83-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle.

--In the Holgorsen era, WVU has produced 83 games with 300 or more yards, 63 games with 400 or more yards, 34 games with more than 500 yards and 17 with more than 600 yards.

--Under Holgorsen West Virginia has scored 30 or more points in 57 games, 40 or more points in 29 games, 50 or more points in 10 games and 60 or more points three times.

--The West Virginia offense has had 32 scoring drives of 70 yards or more, with 30 of those resulting in touchdowns. The offense has put together 14 touchdown drives of 80-yards or more.

--The 2017 roster consists of 121 players from 20 different states.

--Coaching staff assignments: AHC/DC/LB Tony Gibson (field), OC/QB Jake Spavital (field), CB Doug Belk (press box), WR Tyron Carrier (field), S Matt Caponi (field), RB Tony Dews (field), LB/ST Mark Scott (press box), DL Bruce Tall (press box), OL Joe Wickline (field)

--There are 34 Mountaineers who have seen their first WVU action during the 2017 season: Hakeem Bailey (CB), Chase Behrndt (OL), Dante Bonamico (S), Druw Bowen (WR), Tevin Bush (RB), Mitch Chugunov (WR), Elijah Drummond (FB), Brendan Ferns (LB), Will Grier (QB), Isaiah Hardy (OL), Jalen Harvey (DL), Osman Kamara (S), Jake Long (CB), Sean Mahone (CB), Dominique Maiden (WR), Alejando Marenco III (WR), Lamonte McDougle (DL), Quondarius Qualls (LB), Xavier Pegues (DL) Derrek Pitts Jr. (S), Jeffery Pooler (DL), Ray Raulerson (OL), Reggie Roberson Jr (WR), Kenny Robinson (CB), Ezekiel Rose (DL), Josh Sills (OL), Evan Staley (K), Darius Stills (DL), Rex Sunahara (LS), Logan Thimons (LB), Dylan Tonkery (LB), Kelby Wickline (OL), Corey Winfield (CB) and Jonn Young (P).

--West Virginia has run a total of 820 plays with 389 coming on the ground and 431 through the air. The rushing game has totaled 1,674 yards for an average of 4.3 per carry and 14 touchdowns. The passing attack has totaled 3,760 yards, 36 touchdowns and an average of 13.7 per completion.

--The Mountaineers have gained 97 first downs via the run and 150 with the pass. West Virginia has averaged 152.2 yards per game on the ground and 341.8 in the air for a total of 494 yards per game.

Injuries/Suspensions: Redshirt junior quarterback Will Grier will not play after breaking his finger. Redshirt freshman linebacker Brendan Ferns will miss the remainder of the 2017 season after undergoing shoulder surgery. West Virginia was without a number of players against Texas, senior linebacker Xavier Preston, redshirt junior defensive lineman Jalen Harvey, redshirt senior cornerback Corey Winfield and redshirt senior kicker Mike Molina. At this stage it is unclear if any of those players will be able to play against the Sooners with all being listed day-to-day.

Redshirts: Six true freshmen played in the season opener against Virginia Tech in Tevin Bush (RB), Lamonte McDougle (DL), Derrek Pitts Jr. (S), Reggie Roberson Jr. (WR), Kenny Robinson (CB) and Darius Stills (DL).

--A total of fifteen redshirt freshmen have seen action for the Mountaineers in 2017: Chase Behrndt (OL), Dante Bonamico (S), Druw Bowen (WR), Mitch Chugunov (WR), Elijah Drummond (HB), Brendan Ferns (LB), Osman Kamara (S), Jake Long (CB), Sean Mahone (CB), Jefferey Pooler (DL), Josh Sills (OL), Evan Staley (K), Logan Thimons (LB), Dylan Tonkery (LB), and Jonn Young (P).

West Virginia will have to prevent the big play against Oklahoma.
West Virginia will have to prevent the big play against Oklahoma.

POINTS TO CLICK:

--Play loose and let it rip. West Virginia is not expected to win this game, facing one of the largest lines against it in program history and is walking into a place where Oklahoma hardly ever loses with a chance for the Sooners to take a major step forward in reaching the College Football Playoff. The deck is stacked against West Virginia no question, but it’s exactly for those reasons that should have the team playing as if they have nothing to lose and should take off the pressure of going in and having fun playing the game. With a quarterback making his first career start, Chugunov isn’t going to face the pressure of most players in that situation and the Mountaineers have to play loose on the field.

--Run the ball. After averaging 1.9 yards per carry against Texas, West Virginia is going to have to do a better job establishing a ground game and moving the football against Oklahoma to help take some of the burden off a young quarterback’s shoulders. That means the offensive line is going to have to get push and the running backs are going to have to break tackles and churn out yards. If West Virginia can’t control the ball some and turn around their fortunes up front this is going to be a long day.

--Bend, don’t break. Oklahoma not only has the best offense in college football when it comes to yards per game and yards per play, it has one of the best of all-time. The Sooners thrive off big plays and used them to knock out West Virginia a year ago at home. Expect defensive coordinator Tony Gibson to take a page out of Jeff Casteel’s playbook and sit back forcing Oklahoma to drive the field instead of bringing pressure and leaving open the possibility for big plays down the field. If the Sooners do drive the football, the key is to hold them to three points instead of seven.

--Tackle, tackle, tackle. West Virginia had arguably its worst performance all-year in the tackling department against Texas routinely attempting to throw their bodies at offensive players instead of wrapping up and driving. That resulted in 28 points for Texas and if the same thing happens this week it’s going to get a lot uglier. West Virginia has to get the Sooners to the ground.

--Special teams. Just go ahead and take out a space for this point every week, because it’s going to be there. Special teams have been a sore subject at times this year for West Virginia as the Mountaineers have struggled in different areas throughout the year. However, the unit has been gradually improving over the course of the season and will be key here as well. Special teams always loom large and West Virginia will need to continue to play well in the third phase.

--Turnovers. West Virginia is 83-11 since 2002 when winning the turnover battle which is a very telling sign. Turnovers have already cost the Mountaineers dearly this year and it won’t be any different against Oklahoma on the road. With a new quarterback protecting the ball is key.

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