The Day After: West Virginia football vs. Oklahoma State
The West Virginia football has now lost consecutive games after allowing a fourth quarter led to get away in a 48-34 loss to Oklahoma State.
The Mountaineers fell to 4-3 on the season and and WVSports.com takes a look back at what unfolded in our weekly feature The Day After.
HOT:
Garrett Greene. I'll discuss this more below, but the redshirt junior was the standout for the Mountaineers on the offensive side of the ball.
EJ Horton. While his role has been somewhat limited due to injuries, Horton collected 3 passes for 79 yards and a touchdown and brings a different level of speed to that wide receiver room. It will be interesting to see how playing time is dispersed there.
NOT:
Discipline. For the second week in a row, West Virginia completely unraveled in some of the areas that defined this football team through a 4-1 start. Turnovers, one completely inexcusable on special teams, penalties, missed tackles and more helped to contribute to the Mountaineers allowing a 24-20 lead and receiving the football to a 48-34 loss over the span of 14-minutes. This team can't survive miscues like this and it is the second consecutive game that it showed its ugly head in critical situations.
The fourth quarter. West Virginia entered the quarter leading 24-20 but ended up giving up 28 points and allowing 173 yards while the Mountaineers scored just 10 points and racked up 213 yards. The game was lost in the fourth.
Tackling and missing them. On both sides of the ball, West Virginia struggled in this department. The Mountaineers weren't able to break tackles to lead to big gains when they had the football and likely missed as many as they have all season on defense. West Virginia has now struggled with this in back-to-back games.
CJ Donaldson. Sometimes players struggle and that was the case in this one for the sophomore with just 39 yards on 13 carries. Junior Justin Johnson was back from injury that turned his 14 carries into 72 yards. The Mountaineers need Donaldson to run the ball effectively to put their best foot forward on offense.
The losing streak. Sitting at 4-1, West Virginia has since lost back-to-back games to fall to 4-3 with five games remaining. The Mountaineers appeared to be on the trajectory to surpass all pre-season expectations but now sits in a position where they will need to win some games to avoid falling deeper down into a hole.
DEFINING MOMENTS:
4th and 2 from WVU 27. After a three and out to start the game, West Virginia punted the football to the Cowboys but the ball was touched by Brennan Presley and recovered by Hudson Clement.
2nd and 10 from OSU. That momentum would be short lived as on a short four-yard toss to Kole Taylor the ball was punched out by Kendal Daniels and bounced up into his arms for a turnover just two plays after the Mountaineers started with a break.
1st and 10 from WVU 35. After Oklahoma State would turn that first turnover into a field goal, West Virginia would record a first down on the ensuing drive before Garrett Greene would launch a bad throw into the arms of Korie Black for an interception.
3rd and 2 from WVU 2. For the second time in the first quarter, the Cowboys would cash in on a turnover with a two-yard touchdown run by Ollie Gordon to take a 10-0 lead.
3rd and 16 from WVU 35. Facing third and long on the next drive, Garrett Greene would launch a pass down the sideline to Traylon Ray and while the pass was incomplete it would extend the drive on a pass interference penalty to keep things from getting away early.
3rd and 8 from OSU 22. On the same drive, Garrett Greene would throw a ball down the seam which was hauled in by Preston Fox despite the fact he was falling to the ground on the play. The Mountaineers would cap off the drive with a three-yard touchdown run on the next play.
4th and 3 from OSU 16. After a three and out, West Virginia would again move the ball deep into Oklahoma State territory but would be stopped short and settle for a 34-yard field goal to tie the game at 10-all halfway through the second quarter.
3rd and 5 from WVU 5. Oklahoma State would string together another successful drive, the Mountaineers would rise up in the red zone and stuff an Ollie Gordon run to force a field goal attempt that would push the Pokes ahead 13-10.
3rd and 9 from OSU 45. Facing third and long, Garrett Greene rolled out and bought enough time for Devin Carter to get behind the defense for a 45-yard touchdown to give the Mountaineers the lead.
4th and 4 from WVU 14. After driving once again into the red zone, the West Virginia defense would hold on third down and force a 31-yard field goal attempt that would misfire to give the Mountaineers a 17-13 lead heading into the locker room.
2nd and 5 from WVU 5. After a series of empty possessions, Oklahoma State would cash in to take the lead on a five yard touchdown toss to Jaden Bray.
1st and 10 from OSU 32. After a first down run by Greene on third and 6, the Mountaineers responded with a 32-yard touchdown toss to EJ Horton to move back ahead 24-20 with just a little over a minute left in the third quarter.
4th and 13 from OSU 29. After the defense was able to get a stop and get off the field, Oklahoma State punted the ball and Andrew Wilson-Lamp collided with returner Preston Fox to force a fumble which the Cowboys recovered. They would score a touchdown three plays later to reseize a 27-24 lead early in the fourth quarter. Out of all the plays on this list, this was perhaps the biggest of the game.
2nd and 7 from OSU 29. After scoring a field goal to tie the game, the defense had an opportunity to get off the field and what would have been a third and 2 situation quickly turned into a massive shift when the Mountaineers were hit with not one but two personal fouls on the same play to completely flip field position.
3rd and 3 from WVU 29. West Virginia had held Oklahoma State to a third down and what would have likely been a long field goal attempt but couldn't make two tackles and allowed Brennan Presley to go 29-yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Oklahoma State would not give up the lead for the rest of the game.
4th and 2 from midfield. West Virginia trailing 34-27, had an opportunity to tie the game but on 4th and 2 elected to go for it and Garrett Greene was stuffed on a zone read when he pulled the ball and attempted to make a play. Oklahoma State would score on a 46-yard touchdown run to go ahead 41-27.
Onside kick attempt. West Virginia would tack on a touchdown to cut the score to just a single score once again but the onsides kick attempt would be recovered by the Cowboys and effectively shut the door on any comeback attempt.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
0-2 - West Virginia's record under Neal Brown against FBS teams this season when going over 450 offensive yards.
1 - West Virginia runs 30 yards or more. Ollie Gordon recorded four.
2-5 - West Virginia record against Oklahoma State in Morgantown.
3 - Different receivers that had a catch over 30+ yards in this game.
9-1-22 - The last time West Virginia blocked a punt which was against Pitt.
9.7 - Yards per carry for Ollie Gordon.
10 - Points off three turnovers for Oklahoma State.
11 - Explosive plays allowed by the West Virginia defense, with eight coming on the ground including three touchdown runs over 15+ yards.
8-17 - Conversions for West Virginia on third and fourth down.
19 - Punt return yardage allowed by West Virginia through seven games.
26.3 – Average yard per catch by EJ Horton on three receptions.
39 - Rushing yards by CJ Donaldson on 13 attempts.
55 - Penalty yardage by West Virginia.
89 - Points allowed by the West Virginia defense over the past two games. The three games prior to that the Mountaineers allowed just 41.
226 - Rushing yardage by West Virginia. The Mountaineers are now 22-7 under Brown when rushing for at least 100 yards.
282 - Rushing yards by Ollie Gordon. The most against West Virginia by a single opponent since Khalil Herbert rushed for 291 yards in 2017.
GAME BALL:
Garrett Greene. For the second consecutive week, it was the redshirt junior quarterback that takes home the nod in large part because he was by far the best player on the field for the Mountaineers. Greene wasn't anywhere close to perfect completing just 15-30 passes for 249 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception, while rushing for 117 more but he was yet again the centerpiece to the offense. Greene missed some throws in this one and his read on fourth down late in the game effectively sealed the deal but he was able to rally his football team and lead them down the field on a number of occasions for scoring drives despite a very difficult start to this game. This offense is going to go how Greene goes and that much is apparent.
BIGGEST QUESTION/CONCERN MOVING FORWARD:
Can West Virginia stop the slide? West Virginia sat at 4-1 and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference at the start of this month but now enters the final game week of October on a two-game losing skid and down to 4-3 and 2-2 in the league. Things have come unraveled in consecutive games first with the heartbreaking loss to Houston on the final play of the game and then allow things to unfold how they did against Oklahoma State.
The Mountaineers held a 24-20 lead in the fourth quarter and were set to get the ball back before a catastrophe on the punt return team gave the football back to the Cowboys. They would score three plays later. But that wasn't it as there would be a series of missteps and miscues down the stretch to lead to the 48-34 defeat.
The Mountaineers now travel to Central Florida with another massive contest on the slate as the program needs to find a way to win before things start rolling in the wrong direction down the hill. West Virginia was picked 14th to start the year, as it's been well documented, but appeared as if they were on pace to surpass those expectations.
Now after two consecutive losses in games that were winnable, the questions enter can this team right the ship and turn things around or is an even bigger slide on the horizon? It might not be fair considering the circumstances but that's football and the coaching staff along with this team is going to need to figure it out in short order.
