--West Virginia battled in this one but in the end it was many of the same issues that have plagued this team all season that caused its undoing. The Mountaineers were unable to finish drives in the red zone not scoring touchdowns on all three trips, while not even scoring on another possession that got into the Oklahoma State 30. There were close to half a dozen drops on very catchable balls and perhaps the biggest issue of all was the inability to run the football. I feel like a broken record at this point, but those three things are the biggest culprits in this team being 4-7 instead of possibly more. You do like the fight that the program showed and they were in this one until the game’s final possession, but in the end it’s just another loss for the Mountaineers and the program won’t be going to a bowl for the first time since the 2013 season where the program finished 4-8.
--This was fifth straight time that Oklahoma State has beaten West Virginia. The roles have almost been reversed from Kansas State and Oklahoma State from the early days in the league.
--The Mountaineers rushed for 26 yards on 22 carries. That’s the seventh time in 11 games that West Virginia has rushed for 51-yards or fewer. That happened only six times from 2011-2018. This team simply can’t run the football and it’s plagued it all year especially in critical situations. The Mountaineers had one rush over 10+ yards the entire game. Those 26 yards aren’t even the worst performance this year as the Baylor game was a total of 14. Now, this includes sacks and lost yardage on snaps but still the performance in that department will be the one thing that must be addressed. The Mountaineers had only one other game rushing for fewer than 25 yards since the year 2000 and that was the 2012 Maryland game. So this isn’t just bad, it’s historically bad company and you can forget a 1,000 yard rusher this team might not reach 1,000 yards as a team for the year.
--What’s even more frustrating here is West Virginia averaged 8 yards per play on first down and still couldn’t generate first downs consistently. How do you average 8 yards per play and still be looking at an average of 8.4 yards to go on third down? That’s mind-blowing.
--West Virginia allowed 10 tackles for loss and three sacks. A bad offense can’t do that.
--Thought on the video board that the shin of Sam James was down on the catch, but obviously others disagree with me and I haven’t had a better look at it. I did think it should have been marked closer at worst. But outside of that, it’s simply inexcusable to not be able to punch the ball into the end zone from that close. Yes, you can blame the refs but you shouldn’t have to leave any doubt in that situation to begin with and that series was simply a microcosm for the issues at large all year in short yardage. You look a lot worse in the red zone when you can’t run the ball.
--What more can you say about this defense? West Virginia held Oklahoma State to 285 yards and 20 points and kept the Mountaineers in the game. The defensive line impressed at times and tackling for the most part was solid although Chuba Hubbard is the real deal. This team came in averaging close to 500 yards and 40 points and this defense did its job. The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State to 5-14 on third down including two critical stops in the red zone. I can’t say enough about the effort that Vic Koenning has been able to get out of this group the past two weeks. The most critical part is a lot of these players are going to be back next year. The Mountaineers recorded three more sacks in this one and now is up to 31 on the year. That total was 29 last year with the bowl game.
--Hubbard got 100-yards rushing in this one but he had to earn it with 26 carries. As a team the Cowboys were held to 2.6 yards per tote and still found a way to win.
--West Virginia has found its quarterback in junior Jarret Doege. Doege threw for 307 yards and was 38-38 with a touchdown and just showed toughness and poise throughout the game. Oklahoma State threw some pressure at him over and over and he stood in the pocket and delivered a catchable ball much more often than not. He’s only going to get better with more reps and I think his performance the last two weeks has closed the door on any possible quarterback controversy in the future. The only good thing from this game is that the program now won’t have to worry about any potential dilemma of him being suiting up for a bowl game, although I never felt that was going to be in the cards regardless.
--Doege was again accurate on third down completing 5-8 passes for 48 yards and he again was able to extend drives with his ability to move around and buy time.
--Senior wide receiver George Campbell caught another touchdown and now has seven on the year. But perhaps most impressively was it was his third straight game going over 90 yards receiving as he has emerged as the primary pass catcher on this team. He’s had 13 of his 19 catches in that span.
--Penalties weren’t a huge problem with 5 for 40 but there were some costly ones.
--You hate to see the 22 seniors go out like that. This group is setting the standard in a difficult year and trying to help build something that they’ll never obviously be a part of but it’s part of it all. You would have liked to see them get a chance at a bowl game, but now the trip to TCU will close out the season for the Mountaineers in a game that’s lost some of its luster. Still it’s an opportunity to finish the year on a high note and carry some momentum in the off-season.
--It was not a good day for Winston Wright on the kick return team as he managed only an average of 15-yards on three kickoff returns and two were ill-advised starting the Mountaineers deep in their own end. Sometimes you’ll get that with freshmen but it didn’t help things. On the flip side, senior Josh Growden continues to do nice things punting the ball and really helped to flip the field.
--I don’t question the decision of Brown to use Evan Staley as the kicker when he missed a 47-yard kick. He sees the team every day and he knows his personnel, but what people aren’t really talking about was losing 12-yards on a sack and penalty to make it that much more difficult.
--Thought freshman Kerry Martin filled in well at free safety and he led the team in tackles with 9. He had a few early that saved potential touchdowns.
--This was fifth straight time that Oklahoma State has beaten West Virginia. The roles have almost been reversed from Kansas State and Oklahoma State from the early days in the league.
--The Mountaineers rushed for 26 yards on 22 carries. That’s the seventh time in 11 games that West Virginia has rushed for 51-yards or fewer. That happened only six times from 2011-2018. This team simply can’t run the football and it’s plagued it all year especially in critical situations. The Mountaineers had one rush over 10+ yards the entire game. Those 26 yards aren’t even the worst performance this year as the Baylor game was a total of 14. Now, this includes sacks and lost yardage on snaps but still the performance in that department will be the one thing that must be addressed. The Mountaineers had only one other game rushing for fewer than 25 yards since the year 2000 and that was the 2012 Maryland game. So this isn’t just bad, it’s historically bad company and you can forget a 1,000 yard rusher this team might not reach 1,000 yards as a team for the year.
--What’s even more frustrating here is West Virginia averaged 8 yards per play on first down and still couldn’t generate first downs consistently. How do you average 8 yards per play and still be looking at an average of 8.4 yards to go on third down? That’s mind-blowing.
--West Virginia allowed 10 tackles for loss and three sacks. A bad offense can’t do that.
--Thought on the video board that the shin of Sam James was down on the catch, but obviously others disagree with me and I haven’t had a better look at it. I did think it should have been marked closer at worst. But outside of that, it’s simply inexcusable to not be able to punch the ball into the end zone from that close. Yes, you can blame the refs but you shouldn’t have to leave any doubt in that situation to begin with and that series was simply a microcosm for the issues at large all year in short yardage. You look a lot worse in the red zone when you can’t run the ball.
--What more can you say about this defense? West Virginia held Oklahoma State to 285 yards and 20 points and kept the Mountaineers in the game. The defensive line impressed at times and tackling for the most part was solid although Chuba Hubbard is the real deal. This team came in averaging close to 500 yards and 40 points and this defense did its job. The Mountaineers held Oklahoma State to 5-14 on third down including two critical stops in the red zone. I can’t say enough about the effort that Vic Koenning has been able to get out of this group the past two weeks. The most critical part is a lot of these players are going to be back next year. The Mountaineers recorded three more sacks in this one and now is up to 31 on the year. That total was 29 last year with the bowl game.
--Hubbard got 100-yards rushing in this one but he had to earn it with 26 carries. As a team the Cowboys were held to 2.6 yards per tote and still found a way to win.
--West Virginia has found its quarterback in junior Jarret Doege. Doege threw for 307 yards and was 38-38 with a touchdown and just showed toughness and poise throughout the game. Oklahoma State threw some pressure at him over and over and he stood in the pocket and delivered a catchable ball much more often than not. He’s only going to get better with more reps and I think his performance the last two weeks has closed the door on any possible quarterback controversy in the future. The only good thing from this game is that the program now won’t have to worry about any potential dilemma of him being suiting up for a bowl game, although I never felt that was going to be in the cards regardless.
--Doege was again accurate on third down completing 5-8 passes for 48 yards and he again was able to extend drives with his ability to move around and buy time.
--Senior wide receiver George Campbell caught another touchdown and now has seven on the year. But perhaps most impressively was it was his third straight game going over 90 yards receiving as he has emerged as the primary pass catcher on this team. He’s had 13 of his 19 catches in that span.
--Penalties weren’t a huge problem with 5 for 40 but there were some costly ones.
--You hate to see the 22 seniors go out like that. This group is setting the standard in a difficult year and trying to help build something that they’ll never obviously be a part of but it’s part of it all. You would have liked to see them get a chance at a bowl game, but now the trip to TCU will close out the season for the Mountaineers in a game that’s lost some of its luster. Still it’s an opportunity to finish the year on a high note and carry some momentum in the off-season.
--It was not a good day for Winston Wright on the kick return team as he managed only an average of 15-yards on three kickoff returns and two were ill-advised starting the Mountaineers deep in their own end. Sometimes you’ll get that with freshmen but it didn’t help things. On the flip side, senior Josh Growden continues to do nice things punting the ball and really helped to flip the field.
--I don’t question the decision of Brown to use Evan Staley as the kicker when he missed a 47-yard kick. He sees the team every day and he knows his personnel, but what people aren’t really talking about was losing 12-yards on a sack and penalty to make it that much more difficult.
--Thought freshman Kerry Martin filled in well at free safety and he led the team in tackles with 9. He had a few early that saved potential touchdowns.
