The Sooners Dominate The Mountaineers From Start To Finish In 52-14 Win
The Sooners send the Mountaineers home to some famous words of John Denver, “...Country roads, take me home to the place I belong, West Virginia, mountain mamma, take me home, country roads…”.
If there was any concern about a potential hangover from the Texas win--that can be put to rest. The Sooners dominated the Mountaineers from start to finish, winning 52-14. This was a complete effort from all three phases: offense, defense, and special teams.
Offensively, the Sooners executed as well as they have all season. The rushing attack looked easy, as they totaled nearly 200 yards on the ground. Brooks, Sermon, Pledger, Stevenson, and Hurts all got in on the fun, as they averaged more than five yards-per-rush and scoring three times.
After today’s performance, Jalen Hurts may have moved back into first place in the Heisman race, if he wasn’t already there. In case you may have forgotten, OU has the last two Heisman winners in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. Successful quarterbacks are not a new thing to those who watch OU.
Hurts started the game 11-11 passing before a dropped pass by Drake Stoops ended the streak. Hurts is tied with Murray for the second longest streak of consecutive passes completed to start a game. Murray accomplished this feat last year. Jalen finished the day 16-17 passing and throwing for 316 yards, including 3 TDs. He also led the Sooners in rushing for the second straight week. Jalen ran 10 times, totaling 75 yards and scored twice for the Sooners.
In terms of receiving, there was a lot of love thrown around today as 10 different WRs caught passes. Rambo and Lamb combined for 4 catches on 142 yards. For the first time in 9 games, one of the touchdown passes thrown by an OU QB did not go to CeeDee Lamb. Rambo, Morris, and Hall were the recipients of the touchdowns thrown by Hurts today.
A week removed from nine sacks and 15 tackles for loss, how would the OU defense hold up against former OU QB Austin Kendall?
The defense answered the call today with only allowing 242 yards and 14 points. The Sooner defensive front held the WVU rushing attack to only 51 yards and only allowed 92 total yards in the entire second half.
It was a game impacted greatly but young players. Both true freshmen and sophomores played a critical part in today’s game. David Ugwoegbu, a true freshman from Texas, had 3 big tackles on the day. He seemed to float all over the field and was causing problems for the WVU front. The same can be said for Asamoah, Bookie, White, Bonitto, and Turner-Yell, as they all contributed to the beatdown of the Mountaineers.
One can not talk about today’s game without mentioning the play of the special teams. Coach Jay Boulware works hard to put these guys in position to make plays--and today it paid off. The Sooners came close to blocking punts on two different occasions early on. One of those times, Growden, the WVU punter, escaped a block and was able to get away a short kick.
On a punt attempt in the third quarter, pressure came right up the middle from Brayden Willis and the block was made, sending the ball into the endzone; which was recovered by Austin Stogner for a Sooner touchdown.
This was never really a close game. The Mountaineers scored a late touchdown to make the game 28-14 at the half, but it never felt as though WVU was within striking distance. The second half proved as much, as the Sooners didn’t allow another point.
The Sooners sent coach Brown and his West Virginia team back home, to the country roads, of West Virginia-- shoutout to John Denver.
Oklahoma plays next Saturday at 11 AM, for a fifth consecutive week, when they travel to Manhattan, Kansas to take on the Kansas State Wildcats.
BIG UPDATE: The Sooner Schooner took a tumble after an OU touchdown, throwing everyone aboard to the ground. OU has released a statement indicating everyone involved has been cleared medically, including Boomer and Sooner. RIP to the beautiful grass the grounds crew have worked diligently to maintain. They will have their work cut out for them while they have a road game next Saturday (10/26) followed by a BYE week (11/2).
-Austin Wood
