–West Virginia is now 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 Conference with an absolutely dominating performance on the road against Oklahoma State. The 24-points is the by far the biggest Big 12 Conference road win of the Neal Brown era, topping 13-points at UCF last year and is the largest since the 49-19 win at Iowa State during the 2016 season. We can discuss how poorly Oklahoma State played, but West Virginia went out and pushed them around up front and controlled the line of scrimmage on the offensive side, while bottling them up on defense. Nobody could have predicted this type of performance and hats off to all involved for using the bye week to come out and play their best football of the season on both sides of the ball. We’ll see how good this Oklahoma State team is moving forward but this was as convincing of a win on the road as West Virginia has had since Brown took the program over in 2019 and the key is the Mountaineers are now 2-0 in the league.
–The first half of that game might have been the best under head coach Neal Brown considering the fact it was on the road and the opponent. The Mountaineers pretty much moved the ball at will and while they only completed five passes, rushed for a total of 259 yards with 20 first downs. The Mountaineers only had three games where they rushed for 259 yards or more since quarterback Garrett Greene became the starter and it was the most in the first half of the Brown era. It was a clinic offensively as the offense was able to dominate at the line of scrimmage while the defense only permitted 115 yards and was a fourth down stop away from a shutout. The Mountaineers really put together their best overall effort and it showed that potential that was talked about in August.
–West Virginia had one win in Stillwater prior to 2022, but has now won consecutive times.
–West Virginia finished this game with 389 rushing yards. That’s the most since the 424 yards that the program had against Cincinnati last year. It’s the most that Oklahoma State has given up since 2005 when they allowed Texas A&M to rush for 399 yards.
–Senior quarterback Garrett Greene was injured early in this game after a 39-yard run and it didn’t look good at first, but came back and outside a slide too soon on fourth down really played pretty well. He only had to attempt 15 passes, completing 9 of those for 158 scoreless yards and again used his legs to pick up key first downs and move the sticks. Even on a play that was defended well by Oklahoma State, Greene tucked the ball and ran up the middle untouched for a 15-yard touchdown. It was just that kind of day for the Mountaineers offense and while Greene certainly wasn’t perfect he was more than good enough engineering this offense to their best showing against an FBS team this season.
–Hat tip to Nicco Marchiol. He came into the game in a difficult spot and not only threw a dart for a touchdown on third and eight on his first possession to put West Virginia up 10-0, but had an absolute truck stick of the Oklahoma State safety on an 18-yard run and led another touchdown drive to put the Mountaineers ahead 17-0. He only attempted one pass which was the touchdown, but ran the offense well and rushed for 46 yards of his own. True to their word, Marchiol seemed much more comfortable running the offense and it didn’t seem to change at all with him out there. Just like in 2022, Marchiol came in and played well in relief of Greene and played a key role.
–Welcome back Jahiem White. The sophomore came in this game with just 194 yards on the season but really found himself in this one showing patience and good contact balance, while taking advantage of the holes that the Mountaineers were opening up rushing for 158 yards and a score. White looked much more comfortable in this one and decisive. CJ Donaldson also had one of the best stiff arms you’ll see this season while rumbling for 77 yards and 2 scores. Tip of the cap to the offensive line because they controlled this game from start to finish.
–West Virginia ran the ball 63 (!) times in this game the most since the 2006 Sugar Bowl. Tip of the cap to the TV broadcast there, but that’s impressive.
–West Virginia held the ball for double the time of possession of the Cowboys and simply controlled this game in a dominating fashion.
–West Virginia didn’t have to throw the ball much but Hudson Clement again led the team in receiving with 64 yards and a highlight reel 40-yard one-handed catch. Trayon Ray also made some nice plays in this one and it was a good day all around.
–West Virginia came into this game with only one interception on the season, they got two in this one. The Mountaineers kept Oklahoma State off balance holding Ollie Gordon to just 3.8 yards per carry on 13 attempts before he left with injury and keeping the Cowboys from being effective in their RPO offense. The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State to just 162 yards until the game got out of hand and while the backups gave up some yards the defense did its job. You would have liked to see them close the game better but that’s the ups and downs of getting guys experience. The talk all week was how Alan Bowman had only been sacked once all season, but the defense recorded two in this one.
–In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, redshirt freshman Josiah Trotter led the team with 6 tackles and also had a highlight interception on the sideline. He is really developing into a good player although he needs to continue to refine his pass coverage like most young guys. I think the interception that Jaheem Joseph made when Oklahoma State was trying to build some momentum needs to be mentioned, as well. That was an excellent read and he made a great play to snuff out that drive.
–West Virginia was 9-15 on third down and 2-4 on fourth down, with one of those the Mountaineers simply stopping themselves with Greene sliding short of the sticks. The Mountaineers also were 6-7 in the red zone with them taking a knee on the last and scoring 38 points there. Also zero turnovers.
–Special teams were good at times with multiple touchbacks, but the one short kick resulted in a 51-yard return and there was a kick out of bounds. The Mountaineers only had to punt once and that didn’t even count because Ollie Straw was roughed on the play.
–West Virginia is now sitting at 3-2 with momentum heading into a massive home game against Iowa State at night. The Mountaineers have a real chance to announce themselves to the rest of the league and really build some momentum moving forward against a very good Cyclones team. West Virginia is now sitting where many people had them record wise at this point, but I didn’t see it coming this way.
–The first half of that game might have been the best under head coach Neal Brown considering the fact it was on the road and the opponent. The Mountaineers pretty much moved the ball at will and while they only completed five passes, rushed for a total of 259 yards with 20 first downs. The Mountaineers only had three games where they rushed for 259 yards or more since quarterback Garrett Greene became the starter and it was the most in the first half of the Brown era. It was a clinic offensively as the offense was able to dominate at the line of scrimmage while the defense only permitted 115 yards and was a fourth down stop away from a shutout. The Mountaineers really put together their best overall effort and it showed that potential that was talked about in August.
–West Virginia had one win in Stillwater prior to 2022, but has now won consecutive times.
–West Virginia finished this game with 389 rushing yards. That’s the most since the 424 yards that the program had against Cincinnati last year. It’s the most that Oklahoma State has given up since 2005 when they allowed Texas A&M to rush for 399 yards.
–Senior quarterback Garrett Greene was injured early in this game after a 39-yard run and it didn’t look good at first, but came back and outside a slide too soon on fourth down really played pretty well. He only had to attempt 15 passes, completing 9 of those for 158 scoreless yards and again used his legs to pick up key first downs and move the sticks. Even on a play that was defended well by Oklahoma State, Greene tucked the ball and ran up the middle untouched for a 15-yard touchdown. It was just that kind of day for the Mountaineers offense and while Greene certainly wasn’t perfect he was more than good enough engineering this offense to their best showing against an FBS team this season.
–Hat tip to Nicco Marchiol. He came into the game in a difficult spot and not only threw a dart for a touchdown on third and eight on his first possession to put West Virginia up 10-0, but had an absolute truck stick of the Oklahoma State safety on an 18-yard run and led another touchdown drive to put the Mountaineers ahead 17-0. He only attempted one pass which was the touchdown, but ran the offense well and rushed for 46 yards of his own. True to their word, Marchiol seemed much more comfortable running the offense and it didn’t seem to change at all with him out there. Just like in 2022, Marchiol came in and played well in relief of Greene and played a key role.
–Welcome back Jahiem White. The sophomore came in this game with just 194 yards on the season but really found himself in this one showing patience and good contact balance, while taking advantage of the holes that the Mountaineers were opening up rushing for 158 yards and a score. White looked much more comfortable in this one and decisive. CJ Donaldson also had one of the best stiff arms you’ll see this season while rumbling for 77 yards and 2 scores. Tip of the cap to the offensive line because they controlled this game from start to finish.
–West Virginia ran the ball 63 (!) times in this game the most since the 2006 Sugar Bowl. Tip of the cap to the TV broadcast there, but that’s impressive.
–West Virginia held the ball for double the time of possession of the Cowboys and simply controlled this game in a dominating fashion.
–West Virginia didn’t have to throw the ball much but Hudson Clement again led the team in receiving with 64 yards and a highlight reel 40-yard one-handed catch. Trayon Ray also made some nice plays in this one and it was a good day all around.
–West Virginia came into this game with only one interception on the season, they got two in this one. The Mountaineers kept Oklahoma State off balance holding Ollie Gordon to just 3.8 yards per carry on 13 attempts before he left with injury and keeping the Cowboys from being effective in their RPO offense. The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State to just 162 yards until the game got out of hand and while the backups gave up some yards the defense did its job. You would have liked to see them close the game better but that’s the ups and downs of getting guys experience. The talk all week was how Alan Bowman had only been sacked once all season, but the defense recorded two in this one.
–In what seems to be a weekly occurrence, redshirt freshman Josiah Trotter led the team with 6 tackles and also had a highlight interception on the sideline. He is really developing into a good player although he needs to continue to refine his pass coverage like most young guys. I think the interception that Jaheem Joseph made when Oklahoma State was trying to build some momentum needs to be mentioned, as well. That was an excellent read and he made a great play to snuff out that drive.
–West Virginia was 9-15 on third down and 2-4 on fourth down, with one of those the Mountaineers simply stopping themselves with Greene sliding short of the sticks. The Mountaineers also were 6-7 in the red zone with them taking a knee on the last and scoring 38 points there. Also zero turnovers.
–Special teams were good at times with multiple touchbacks, but the one short kick resulted in a 51-yard return and there was a kick out of bounds. The Mountaineers only had to punt once and that didn’t even count because Ollie Straw was roughed on the play.
–West Virginia is now sitting at 3-2 with momentum heading into a massive home game against Iowa State at night. The Mountaineers have a real chance to announce themselves to the rest of the league and really build some momentum moving forward against a very good Cyclones team. West Virginia is now sitting where many people had them record wise at this point, but I didn’t see it coming this way.
