West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys
The Mountaineers began the game on offense....after some nice running plays and a very big passing play the offense came away with a field goal on offense. The Cowboys then followed up with a field goal of their own on their first drive of the game as well. The Mountaineers next drive wasn't as fruitful as the first as they stalled out and had to punt the ball. The Cowboys march up the field, but then the Mountaineers defense locked down on the Cowboys offense...and the Cowboys came away with another field goal. The Mountaineers then got the ball back to begin their third offensive drive of the game and that is how the 1st quarter ended.
The 2nd Quarter began with the Mountaineers continuing their drive from the 1st quarter....it was 3rd and 7 and the Mountaineers RB Rushel Shell was able to convert for a 1st down to keep the Mountaineers offense on the field. On 2nd & 5, Mountaineers QB Skyler Howard was able to get the ball to Mountaineers WR Shelton Gibson for a major gain and Gibson's first drive of the game. To conclude the drive, Howard throws a touchdown to Shelton Gibson for a 19 yard reception. To give West Virginia the lead over Oklahoma State.....10 - 6. Oklahoma State's offense goes "3 and out" and punts the ball back to West Virginia to begin their fourth offensive drive of the game. The Mountaineers offensive drive abruptly ends on 3rd down as Skyler Howard tries to avoid a sack and fumbles the to the chagrin of Mountaineers fans....to add insult to injury for Mountaineer Nation it is placed in the "red zone" for the Cowboys offense. On the 2nd play on offense the Cowboys are able to score a touchdown when Cowboys QB Mason Rudolph connects with Cowboys WR Chris Lacy on a 2 yard reception to give Oklahoma State a 13 - 10 lead over West Virginia. After a mixture of running and passing plays, West Virginia comes back on offense and attempts a field goal on 4th down but the 39 yard field goal attempt is missed by Mountaineer kicker, Mike Molina. The Cowboys have an extended time of possession with a mixture of running plays & receiving plays....a personal foul by the Mountaineers put them within a few yards of the endzone. Mason Rudolph was able to complete a 3 yard TD reception to WR Jalen McCleskey to increase Oklahoma State's lead....as the score to end the half is Oklahoma State - 20 and West Virginia - 10.
The 2nd half began with the Oklahoma State Cowboys on offense and they go "3 and out".....they attempted a field goal but it didn't connect. West Virginia Mountaineers offense will now get the ball after the failed Cowboys field goal attempt. The Mountaineers offensive drive sputtered and they go "3 and out" on offense to end the drive and force them to punt the ball back to the Cowboys. The Cowboys began their next offensive drive at midfield. The Cowboys after several plays on offense were forced to punt the ball back to the Mountaineers. After a long drive that started at around their 20 yard line, the Mountaineers offense stalled out and they were forced to punt the ball back to the Cowboys. The Cowboys weren't able to do much on offense on their next drive and they were forced to punt the ball back to the Mountaineers. The Mountaineers turn the ball over on their first play back on offense after a pass tipped by Skyler Howard's intended target WR Ka'Raun White, was caught by the Cowboys Ramon Richards and returned for 59 yards to take them into the redzone at the Mountaineers 9 yard line. On 3rd down, the Cowboys QB Mason Rudolph runs the ball for a 2 yard touchdown run. The score is now Oklahoma State - 27 and West Virginia - 10. To end the 3rd quarter, the Mountaineers offense is threatening to score by marching down to the Cowboys 12 yard line.
To begin the 4th quarter, on 2nd and 10 Skyler Howard runs 12 yards for a touchdown. The score is now Oklahoma State - 27 and West Virginia - 17. Oklahoma State gets the ball back and they go 3 and out and are forced to punt. The Mountaineers get the ball back on offense and come away with 21 yard field goal by Mike Molina to bring the score to Oklahoma State - 27 and West Virginia - 20. Oklahoma State's offense march up the field with a combination of run and passing plays....and Mason Rudolph completes a 7 yard reception to Chris Lacy for a touchdown. The score is now Oklahoma State - 34 and West Virginia - 20 with a little more than 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Mountaineers offense gets the ball back and Skyler Howard throws an interception on 3rd down. The pass was intercepted by the Cowboys Justin Crawford and he ran the ball for 6 yards to the Mountaineers 20 yard line. With a little over 2 and a half minutes left in the game, that turnover has more than likely closed the door for a potential Mountaineer comeback. To conclude the Cowboys offensive drive, Ben Grogan makes 22 yd field goal to take the score to Oklahoma State - 37 and West Virginia - 20 with 1 minute and 39 seconds remaining in the game. After a few running plays, the Mountaineers run out of time and the game ends with the final score: Oklahoma State - 37 and West Virginia - 20.
Takeaways: Oklahoma State executed a nearly flawless game plan against the Mountaineers on both side of the ball. They took advantage of just about every mistake or mishap that the Mountaineers made today. Mike Gundy picks up his 100th career win as the head coach at Oklahoma State in Stillwater as well as ends the Mountaineers quest for a perfect season. West Virginia squandered several opportunities with uneven play on both sides of the ball....although injuries and brutal mistakes also played a role. The defense was going to have to play a near perfect game on each drive that Oklahoma State had in order to have a shot at coming away with the win as Oklahoma State's offense is very similar to West Virginia's offense. Last but not least, as much as it hurt to lose Rushel Shell for the game in the 1st half it was a lot worse for QB Skyler Howard to throw two interceptions and have a fumble. Most teams will suffer the same fate as the Mountaineers did today when you turn the ball over and/or have the types of penalties that they had today. Losing to a quality opponent doesn't give Mountaineer Nation much solace today. Mountaineer Nation can only hope that Coach Holgerson and his staff can get the team to regroup and get them back on the winning track next week.
