My Fiver on WVU's victory over the Cowboys in Stillwater on Saturday afternoon...
1. Cathartic. Ollie Gordon II had 7 carries for 53 yards and a TD in the FIRST QUARTER of last year's game vs. WVU. This year, our defense held him to 13 carries for 50 fairly meaningless yards for the entire game. Last year, as a team OSU had 33 carries for 281 yards. 8.5 ypc. This year, OSU had 21 carries for 36 yards, 1.7 ypc. This is the same QB, same RB in Gordon, same players on OL, same TE and a couple of the same WRs with same coaching staff. Yes, they are definitely off their game, but we're not. And credit where credit is due - our coaching staff had our guys ready to go to Stillwater and kick someone's ass. And that's just what we did. Last year's 4th quarter vs. OSU was a complete embarrassment & meltdown on the defensive side of the ball. And this year, our defense got a bit of payback.
2. Mauling. Offensively, we just mauled their defense. 65 carries for 389 yards at 6.0 ypc is imposing your will. We expected that this 2024 version of WVU would be able to establish the run vs. anybody. That is partially why the Penn State loss was so deflating. However, this is better than expected. This actually reminded me much of the BYU game last season - BYU was playing their 4th consecutive week in a row, coming off of a physical beating at Texas, and they were gassed. We then proceeded to steamroll them with the rushing game, going for 336 yards on 48 carries (7.0 ypc). OSU's D was playing their 6th consecutive week in a row, after physical losses to Utah and KSU, and they were gassed. We did what a good team is supposed to do...I'll let Peter Venkman take it away:
3. Offense flipped a switch? Since 5:24 to go in the 4th quarter of the Kansas game, here are our offensive possessions:
- vs. Kansas: 9 plays, 75 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. Kansas: 7 plays, 67 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 12 plays, 55 yards, FIELD GOAL
- vs. OSU: 9 plays, 65 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 6 plays, 63 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 8 plays, 87 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 9 plays, 75 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 7 plays, 45 yards, DOWNS (C.J. stuffed for 1-yard gain on 4th & 1)
- vs. OSU: 11 plays, 32 yards, DOWNS (Garrett slides short of sticks)
- vs. OSU: 8 plays, 88 yards, TOUCHDOWN
In the past 65 game minutes, we have scored 52 points vs. conference opponents, gained 652 yards, averaged 7.6 yards per play, scored on 8 of 10 drives including 7 touchdowns, have zero sacks, zero turnovers and but for an inadvertent slide and being 1-yard shy on fourth down, would've scored on all of them.
4. Since Garrett Greene took over as QB vs. Oklahoma in '22, and we essentially rebranded Neal Brown's version of Air Raid offense to the Ground Raid, WVU is now 14-7 overall, 10-4 in Big XII play. 19 of those 21 games have been against P5 opponents.
5. 3-2, 2-0 in the Big XII, vs. #11 Iowa State Saturday. We're now 2-0 in conference play, and all goals are still within reach. With the new look Big 12, really, we are not going to face another team this season who has a distinct personnel advantage over us. I know Iowa State is ranked #11. I know that they are 3 point favorites. But, really, man for man, they're no better than us...and we probably actually have more talent on all sides of the ball. Our fanbase had turned decidedly against Neal Brown after the Pitt endgame fiasco. Two consecutive Big 12 victories since, and Brown has the fanbase's attention, for better or for worse. And a win over a ranked Iowa State squad under the lights in prime time Saturday at Mountaineer field would do wonders to put a lot of energy back into the passion tank of our fanbase and rally Mountaineer Nation back behind the Ground Raid. Bottom line is that if we win Saturday, we're 3-0 in this conference, and there's not a team in front of us that Neal Brown hasn't defeated, save for an Arizona team who just lost to Texas Tech. This conference is there for the taking. We have the talent, on both sides of the ball if this secondary keeps up their play. The rest of the way is all about coaching, schemes, and how this talent is utilized. Neal Brown was hired because he won double digit games and conference championships at Troy. It's time to do that in Morgantown, right now.
1. Cathartic. Ollie Gordon II had 7 carries for 53 yards and a TD in the FIRST QUARTER of last year's game vs. WVU. This year, our defense held him to 13 carries for 50 fairly meaningless yards for the entire game. Last year, as a team OSU had 33 carries for 281 yards. 8.5 ypc. This year, OSU had 21 carries for 36 yards, 1.7 ypc. This is the same QB, same RB in Gordon, same players on OL, same TE and a couple of the same WRs with same coaching staff. Yes, they are definitely off their game, but we're not. And credit where credit is due - our coaching staff had our guys ready to go to Stillwater and kick someone's ass. And that's just what we did. Last year's 4th quarter vs. OSU was a complete embarrassment & meltdown on the defensive side of the ball. And this year, our defense got a bit of payback.
2. Mauling. Offensively, we just mauled their defense. 65 carries for 389 yards at 6.0 ypc is imposing your will. We expected that this 2024 version of WVU would be able to establish the run vs. anybody. That is partially why the Penn State loss was so deflating. However, this is better than expected. This actually reminded me much of the BYU game last season - BYU was playing their 4th consecutive week in a row, coming off of a physical beating at Texas, and they were gassed. We then proceeded to steamroll them with the rushing game, going for 336 yards on 48 carries (7.0 ypc). OSU's D was playing their 6th consecutive week in a row, after physical losses to Utah and KSU, and they were gassed. We did what a good team is supposed to do...I'll let Peter Venkman take it away:
3. Offense flipped a switch? Since 5:24 to go in the 4th quarter of the Kansas game, here are our offensive possessions:
- vs. Kansas: 9 plays, 75 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. Kansas: 7 plays, 67 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 12 plays, 55 yards, FIELD GOAL
- vs. OSU: 9 plays, 65 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 6 plays, 63 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 8 plays, 87 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 9 plays, 75 yards, TOUCHDOWN
- vs. OSU: 7 plays, 45 yards, DOWNS (C.J. stuffed for 1-yard gain on 4th & 1)
- vs. OSU: 11 plays, 32 yards, DOWNS (Garrett slides short of sticks)
- vs. OSU: 8 plays, 88 yards, TOUCHDOWN
In the past 65 game minutes, we have scored 52 points vs. conference opponents, gained 652 yards, averaged 7.6 yards per play, scored on 8 of 10 drives including 7 touchdowns, have zero sacks, zero turnovers and but for an inadvertent slide and being 1-yard shy on fourth down, would've scored on all of them.
4. Since Garrett Greene took over as QB vs. Oklahoma in '22, and we essentially rebranded Neal Brown's version of Air Raid offense to the Ground Raid, WVU is now 14-7 overall, 10-4 in Big XII play. 19 of those 21 games have been against P5 opponents.
5. 3-2, 2-0 in the Big XII, vs. #11 Iowa State Saturday. We're now 2-0 in conference play, and all goals are still within reach. With the new look Big 12, really, we are not going to face another team this season who has a distinct personnel advantage over us. I know Iowa State is ranked #11. I know that they are 3 point favorites. But, really, man for man, they're no better than us...and we probably actually have more talent on all sides of the ball. Our fanbase had turned decidedly against Neal Brown after the Pitt endgame fiasco. Two consecutive Big 12 victories since, and Brown has the fanbase's attention, for better or for worse. And a win over a ranked Iowa State squad under the lights in prime time Saturday at Mountaineer field would do wonders to put a lot of energy back into the passion tank of our fanbase and rally Mountaineer Nation back behind the Ground Raid. Bottom line is that if we win Saturday, we're 3-0 in this conference, and there's not a team in front of us that Neal Brown hasn't defeated, save for an Arizona team who just lost to Texas Tech. This conference is there for the taking. We have the talent, on both sides of the ball if this secondary keeps up their play. The rest of the way is all about coaching, schemes, and how this talent is utilized. Neal Brown was hired because he won double digit games and conference championships at Troy. It's time to do that in Morgantown, right now.
