West Virginia returns from their first bye week of the season as they hit the road to face Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys are 3-2 (0-2 Big 12) on the season as they are coming into Saturday's game off back-to-back losses against Utah (22-19) and Kansas State (42-20).
Head Coach
Mike Gundy is in his 20th season as the head coach of Oklahoma State, compiling a record of 169-81.
Gundy is 9-3 all-time against West Virginia, including going 8-1 against the Mountaineers in their last nine matchups dating back to 2015.
Last year against the Mountaineers, OSU won 48-34 on Oct. 21, 2023. They outscored WVU 28-10 in the fourth quarter as their five possessions in the quarter equated to four touchdowns and a kneeldown.
Offense
The OSU offense centers around running back Ollie Gordon. Gordon has rushed for 334 yards and four touchdowns this season, also catching 12 passes for 80 yards.
This past week against Kansas State, Gordon rushed for 72 yards on nine carries in the first quarter alone but would finish the game with 15 carries for 76 yards, not seeing the field in the fourth quarter.
Alan Bowman is still the Cowboys' quarterback and has had a couple of up-and-down performances after a strong start to the season. Through five games Bowman has passed for 1,537 yards, 11 touchdowns, and six interceptions, completing 60 percent of his passes.
Against Utah and KSU though, Bowman completed 50.1 percent of his passes, passing for 570 combined yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.
Bowman has spread the ball around to multiple receivers, including De'Zhaun Stripling, Brennan Presley, Rashod Owens, and Talyn Shettron.
Stripling leads the group with 502 yards and three touchdowns on the year, while Presley leads them in catches with 33 catches for 289 yards and four scores. Owens has 283 yards receiving and a pair of touchdowns while Shettron has found the end zone once on 212 yards receiving.
Their offense ranks across the board as far as Big 12 leaders go, as they are 4th in points per game (33.4), 6th in yards per game(422.8), 3rd in pass yards per game (320.6), but are 14th in rush yards per game (102.2).
They have one sack against all season which is tops in the Big 12, and are converting 36.8 percent of their third downs, ranking 11th in the Big 12. They are 5/8 on fourth. down this season, which is 7th in the Big 12.
OSU's time of possession is 26:26 on average this season, ranking last in the Big 12.
Defense
The Cowboy defense has multiple guys that rank at the top of close to it in multiple statistical categories.
They hold the two leading tacklers in the conference in Trey Rucker and Nick Martin. Rucker has 63.0 total tackles, 1.0 TFL, and two interceptions on the season. Martin has 47.0 total tackles, 7.5 TFLs, a sack, and a forced fumble this year. He ranks second in the league in tackles as well as TFLs.
Safety Kendal Daniels has 26.0 total tackles, 4.0 TFLs, and 2.0 sacks. Defensive end Obi Ezeigbo has 22.0 total tackles, 6.0 TFLs, and 2.5 sacks on the season. He is 5th in the Big 12 in TFLs.
The OSU defense has multiple playmakers, however as a whole, they have struggled as a unit.
The Cowboys rank 13th in the league in points per game (25.0), last in yards per game (480.6), last in rush yards per game (204.2), and second-to-last in pass yards per game (276.4).
Their nine sacks as a unit are 9th in the Big 12, while they are holding opponents to a 34.6 percent third-down conversion rate which is 4th in the league and their 43.8 percent fourth-down conversion rate is good enough for 7th in the league.
Special Teams
Kicker Logan Ward is 10-for-13 on field goals this season.
His long is 52 yards, with that being his only attempt from 50+ this year. He is 4/5 on field goals 30-39 yards, and 3/5 on kicks from 40-49 yards.
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