© Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Oklahoma State Escapes Morgantown with 20-13 Win Over West Virginia
It was a close game from start to finish for Oklahoma State, but the game came down to the final six minutes of the game. The Cowboys were held to a field goal that put them back up by a touchdown, 20-13. West Virginia got the ball back with 6:18 left in the game and following a few OSU penalties, were able to move down the field within the OSU 20 yard line.
Linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga came up with a tackle for a two-yard loss on second down, and that was followed by a third down stop by Kolby Harvell-Peel. On fourth and long, Jim Knowles dialed up a blitz that forced a rushed thrown by WVU quarterback Jarret Doege and an incomplete pass.
The Pokes got the ball back with 1:38 left on the clock, just enough for Dru Brown to take three knees to secure the 20-13 win. The game marked Oklahoma State's fifth-straight win over West Virginia.
"We had a really good plan," said head coach Mike Gundy on the Cowboy Radio Network. "West Virginia's been good on defense, you just go back and look at what they've done. A little bit of a short notice this week with Dru [Brown], so it's not real easy to change on the run, but our guys did a good job. The difference in the second half was we got on Chuba [Hubbard']s back, Dru [Brown] made some throws, [Dillon] Stoner continued to make plays, I think Braydon [Johnson] made plays. But in the end, the defense got three stops. Jim [Knowles] had good plays, we went after them in zero blitz several times and we made it happen.
Gundy continued with, "Really proud of our team, this is a good win. It's not easy to come out here - the weather's a little chilly, it's kind of rainy - we were dull in the first half. Why that is, I don't know, but really proud of the team. Thought the coaches did a great job."
As coach Gundy mentioned, the Cowboys were dull in the first half on both sides of the ball. They entered halftime trailing 10-7 and had given up 205 yards of total offense to West Virginia. On the offensive side for the Pokes, they combined for just 119 yards.
While he didn't hit his average, Chuba Hubbard was great for the Cowboys as he accounted for 68 percent of the Cowboys total offense. He had 26 carries for 106 yards and seven receptions for 88 yards. It marked his ninth-straight game of rushing for at least 100 yards, the longest streak in the country.
On the day, the Pokes combined for 285 yards of total offense.
In Dru Brown's first career-start at Oklahoma State, he went 22-of-29 for 196 yards and two touchdowns.
As for the defensive side of the ball, it was linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga who led the way with 11 total tackles, six of which were solo stops. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss.
Oklahoma State is back in action next Saturday, Nov. 30 as they'll be hosting Oklahoma for Bedlam. It's a 7 p.m. kick and will be televised on FOX.
