The West Virginia football team dominated from start to finish in a convincing 38-14 road win at Oklahoma State and moved to 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference.
The Mountaineers moved to 3-2 on the season and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
Rushing offense. West Virginia completely dominated this game up front and rushed for a total of 389 yards on the ground while controlling the clock throughout. The offensive line was able to open up holes and the running backs were able to force some missed tackles, while both of the quarterbacks that played picked up yards with their feet. This was a convincing performance from a team that wants to run the football.
The defense. West Virginia carried their momentum from the final two drives against Kansas over into this one and played their best game of the season on that side of the ball. The Mountaineers bottled up Ollie Gordon to just 3.8 yards per carry, forced two interceptions and gave up only 7 points until the backups came into the game late. West Virginia made play after play on that side of the ball and held the Cowboys to just around 160 yards in the game until things got out of hand.
Both quarterbacks. Garrett Greene only attempted 15 passes, completing 9 of those for 159 yards but the senior quarterback made a number of plays with his feet to pick up first downs in critical situations. He finished rushing for 86 yards and a score and had complete command of the offense. But even after he left with an injury for two series in the contest, redshirt sophomore Nicco Marchiol didn't miss a beat with a 10-yard touchdown toss and then leading the Mountaineers on another scoring drive to make it 17-0 early in the second quarter. Both quarterbacks played well in this one.
The red zone. West Virginia was 6-7 in the red zone in this game scoring touchdowns on all of those outside of a field goal on the first drive. And even that is a little misleading because the one miss was when the Mountaineers elected to take knees to end the game after another long drive. Scoring six points matters and it did here.
The intangibles. You name it and West Virginia won the battle. The Mountaineers forced two turnovers and didn't have one themselves, won third down, had only five penalty yards and controlled the football throughout. It was a dominant performance.
NOT:
Kickoff team. For the most part this unit was very good against Oklahoma State booting several touchbacks and playing the returns well but when a team plays this well you have to nitpick. And a 51-yard return when the ball was kicked short where the Mountaineers lost the edge and then a kickoff out of bounds puts this unit here.
The fourth downslide. While the determination of the replay review is certainly debatable, one of the only major mistakes with the offense in this game was a decision by Garrett Greene on a fourth and five to slide before the sticks when the first down and a clear pathway out of bounds was there.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
4th and 2 from OSU 19. On the opening drive of the game the Mountaineers rolled the dice in the Cowboys' red zone and CJ Donaldson was able to get just enough. However, the drive would stall and the offense would have to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
3rd and 14 from OSU 30. The Oklahoma State offense moved the football on the first drive but after a holding penalty, it led to a third and long where Bowman’s pass fell incomplete to force a punt.
3rd and 7 from WVU 49. Greene didn’t find anybody open and elected to take off and rushed for 39 yards down to Oklahoma State 12 but the quarterback was shaken up on the play.
3rd and 8 from OSU 10. After two runs, Marchiol stood in the pocket on third down and fired a bullet across the middle to Traylon Ray for a touchdown to give the Mountaineers a 10-0 lead.
3rd and 10 from OSU 25. The following drive West Virginia was able to record a three and out as Bowman again misfired on a pattern down the left side.
1st and 10 from WVU 37. Marchiol ran a designed draw and flattened the safety on his way to an 18-yard run on his second series of the game to set the tone for the drive. Jahiem White would cap off that six-play, 63-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to make the game 17-0.
The ensuing kickoff. West Virginia would then allow a 51-yard return on the kickoff to give the Cowboys good field position at the Mountaineers 39 when the return team lost the edge.
2nd and 8 from WVU 23. The Cowboys squandered that opportunity however after West Virginia safety Jaheem Joseph stepped in front of a Bowman pass for an interception to keep the opposition scoreless and give the football back to the Mountaineers offense.
1st and 10 from OSU 15. Greene reentered the game and moved the football down the field with a nice mix of run plays. After a nice run by White, the Mountaineers had a broken play where Greene was able to take off up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown run untouched.
4th and 7 from WVU 43. West Virginia held to fourth down, but Bowman was able to deliver the ball into Pressley for a first down to set up the Cowboys at the Mountaineers 19-yard line. The Cowboys would then go down and score their first touchdown to cut into the lead before halftime.
2nd and 6 from OSU 15. But the Mountaineers had other ideas as the offense quickly moved down the field and Donaldson finished the drive with an impressive 15-yard run where he shed a tackle to put West Virginia ahead 31-7 with just 28 seconds left in the half.
3rd and 7 from OSU 25. The Cowboys came out of the locker room with the football but after two runs Bowman threw the ball to Gordon who was only able to get two yards and the Cowboys had to punt. \
4th and 2 from OSU 28. West Virginia moved the ball into the Cowboys territory but on fourth down Brown elected to roll the dice and go for it only for Donaldson to get stuffed.
4th and 18 from WVU 43. The Cowboys were able to get into West Virginia territory but after two sacks, Bowman faced fourth and long and had to float the ball up down the sideline where Josiah Trotter made a spectacular interception to keep the score at 31-7 and essentially ice the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
1- Passes completed by backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol but it was a 10-yard touchdown toss on 3rd and 8 to make the score 10-0.
1.7 - Yards per carry by Oklahoma State on 21 attempts.
2 - Sacks by the West Virginia defense. Texas Tech had only given up one all season. The Mountaineers also recorded a pair of interceptions.
2-0 - The second consecutive season that West Virginia has started
5 - Penalty yardage by West Virginia.
9-15 - Third down conversions by West Virginia.
14 - The longest run by Ollie Gordon. He averaged just 3.8 per carry.
16.9 - Average yards per completion on the 10 completed passes.
24 - Margin of victory, the highest for West Virginia since beating Iowa State 49-19 during the 2016 season.
42:26 - Time of possession by West Virginia compared to 17:24 for Oklahoma State.
65 - Rush attempts by West Virginia, the most since 2006.
158 - Rushing yards by Jahiem White, he had 194 over the first four games.
389 - The most rushing yards Oklahoma State has given up since 2005.
GAME BALL:
The team. This might seem like a cop-out of sorts, but when you play your most complete football game of the season by far it certainly qualifies. This was a dominant effort from West Virginia from start to finish and the Mountaineers were able to go on the road and convincingly beat an Oklahoma State team that had their backs against the wall. The jury is still out on where this team fits into the picture moving forward but if West Virginia can sustain this momentum moving forward the Mountaineers have a real chance to build on this against the meat of their schedule in the coming weeks.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
Can West Virginia seize the moment? After a very difficult non-conference portion of the schedule that left West Virginia sitting at 1-2 with a lot of questions on a team that many projected to compete in the Big 12, the Mountaineers have flipped the script. West Virginia is now 2-0 in the Big 12 and is getting ready to go against some of the best teams in the league over the next three weeks beginning with a night game against Iowa State in Morgantown and then a home game against Kansas State before heading on the road to Arizona before the next bye week.
That 2-0 start is certainly impressive in the league, but how this team fits into the picture in the Big 12 Conference could be determined over the next three weeks. The Mountaineers put their best performance of the season together in Stillwater and showcased what they can do on both sides of the football. Is this a one-off, or can this team seriously make some noise and rebound to potentially put themselves in the mix in a league that is as wide-open as any team in the country?
The answer to that isn't going to come today but if this team plays the same brand of football that it did Saturday it's certainly in a much better spot than it was a few weeks ago and that can't even be debated at this stage of the season.
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