I Got Five On It: Oklahoma
Welcome to the sixth edition of my weekly analysis named "I Got Five On It," where I will give you five of my biggest takeaways and thoughts following every WVU football game this season and give you insight into what I saw from watching the Mountaineers. This week, West Virginia was dominated in all phases of the game on the road against Oklahoma, in what was a complete night and day difference between the last two games for the Mountaineers. Falling, 59-20 I have five takeaways from the crushing defeat.
1 -- Oklahoma shut down WVU's run game
Although when you look at the stat sheet and see 176 yards rushing for the Mountaineers, their 13th straight game with over 140 on the ground, this does not tell the full story, Especially when you look at the first half that saw WVU only accumulate 71 rushing yards. West Virginia may have ran for more yards while the game was out of hand in the second half, but the Sooners knew how to key in on the run game and they stuffed it better than nearly any other conference opponent this season. Whether it was supreme block shedding from the defensive front for Oklahoma or a lack of explosive running, the Sooners took the rushing attack out of the early game plan and forced WVU to work from behind the chains in multiple early game drives. I'm sure we all understand that this offense is not built for fighting from behind in a game and when their primary scheme was essentially schemed out, it made a comeback and a pass-heavy attack challenging when there were losses of yardage on first and second down. From the start, it was evident that Oklahoma had found something against the Mountaineers running game but the offensive line wasn't advantageous to its success either, in a game where they struggled in terms of physicality and assignments like we'll talk about later.
2 -- I liked the early-game aggressiveness but it's imperative to be efficient on important downs
Early in this game, even when the score was 17-7 Oklahoma or slightly more, I loved the aggressiveness shown by head coach Neal Brown and the Mountaineers offense and then immediately after the snap I disagreed with the low percentage plays in a few situations. For example, on WVU's first fourth down conversion attempt of the game, it seemed like a couple West Virginia receivers ran routes on top of each other, but the combination was also just a low percentage pass against a strong zone coverage look and this boggled me; especially when Greene misfired on the pass. Another example came at a key moment, four plays on the two yard line of Oklahoma for West Virginia that ended in a turnover on downs. Although the play calls in this situation were strong, the unpredictability was’;t there and this made the Mountaineers easy to stop. I, agreeing with the majority of people watching the game, believed that Greene did cross the plane on the first play of that sequence, but this still doesn't change a low percentage approach in a crucial spot. Capping this inefficient on third and fourth down came down to a fake pitch shovel pass on fourth and one, which was of course sniffed out by the Sooners and stopped pretty quickly from running back CJ Donaldson. Finishing the contest going 4-for-16 on third down and 2-for-4 on fourth down is one thing, but these moments of inefficiency stuck out.
3 -- Meaningful missed opportunities and points left on the board mean something outside of final score
Especially early in this game, missed opportunities and points left on the board were huge. The broadcasters in Oklahoma mentioned time and time again the points left on the board for the Mountaineers and this couldn't have rang more true than in the first half. Although the game's final score seemed to signal a lack of importance on these missed opportunities, the Mountaineers did leave 10 points or more on the board in succession; but these for sure weren't guarantees. Alongside the two aforementioned failed fourth down attempts, West Virginia also suffered from a missed field goal and for an optimist like myself, this feels like 17 points left on the scoreboard. These moments have been a problem all season, making games closer than they've needed to be or leading to a close loss that came down to back and forth scores. Take the game against Houston for example. Points left on the board are points not on the scoreboard and despite the final score proving that these conversations wouldn't have mattered, it's still plays that Brown should hope a good team takes care of.
Related: The Day After: West Virginia football at Oklahoma
4 -- Dillion Gabriel looks very good, maybe benefited from a weak defensive performance for WVU
Gabriel finished Saturday's contest with 423 yards and eight total touchdowns, three rushing and five passing scores and was making every play the Sooners needed. Although he benefited from an all-around struggle by the West Virginia defense, he was making the throws and was the primary reason behind a dominant win for Oklahoma. As I'm sure many West Virginia faithful saw, there was more on the board for Gabriel and Oklahoma and it seemed like they were searching for it, since Gabriel finished with a 64% completion percentage instead of the 75% mark he was trending around throughout the game. The Sooners continued to push the ball through the air despite a big lead so maybe head coach Brett Venables was looking for more for Gabriel late in the game. It was just a bit strange to see Gabriel passing the ball so much and being upset over incompletions late in this one, and especially with a huge performance for him. Regardless, Gabriel dominated with his arm and legs and West Virginia wasn't ready.
5 -- Now, these next two games become really important and give WVU something to play for
It was a long shot, but the Mountaineers' Big 12 Championship hopes were still alive until it was essentially dashed by Oklahoma on Saturday. Although a Big 12 Championship appearance is a huge milestone for any coach in this competitive Power Five conference, there is a lot to play for with head coach Neal Brown and a solid finish to the season for West Virginia. In my opinion, expectations must remain high for this team because of what they've shown in multiple performances this year, especially looking at a dominance like against BYU. Now, West Virginia faces two of the conference's worst teams in Cincinnati coming off its first Big 12 win Saturday and a 3-7 record alongside a Baylor squad touting its own 3-7 record. Believe it or not, one more victory would lead to the best record under Brown since 2019, not counting postseason bowl season victories at 7-5 and two wins against lowly opponents would meet an eight win season for Brown and West Virginia, which is still an impressive mark for this team under Brown. Despite a dominating loss, there is still a lot to play for and fight for to finish off this season, matching up with two of the conference's easiest opponents. Even if it's not fighting for a conference title, West Virginia can still build on the chances at the best season over the past five years and an opportunity at eight wins with two easily winnable matchups ahead.
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