Final Thoughts: West Virginia Must Find a Playmaker on Offense

West Virginia's loss to Oklahoma was another bitter pill to swallow, knowing they were just a few plays away from upsetting the fourth-ranked Sooners on the road, but mistakes and miscues, again, cost the Mountaineers another win.

West Virginia got off to a perfect start, taking the opening drive 75 yards on 17 plays for a touchdown and ate up just over nine minutes of game clock. The drive featured both quarterback Jarrett Doege and Garrett Greene, with Greene capping it off with a two-yard keeper into the end zone.

Oklahoma responded after receiving excellent field position after a personal foul on the following kickoff. It took the Sooners just three minutes to score but had to convert a fourth and four at midfield to keep the drive alive.

Offensively, the Mountaineers struggled to sustain a drive due to a much improved Sooner defense, although the Mountaineers were their own worst enemy - penalties were a killer.

The West Virginia defense continues to improve, and they shut down the Oklahoma offense, which is a bit of a surprise considering the history of the series, and surprisingly, won the field position battle in the first half that resulted in the offense starting at midfield with over two minutes to play. They succeeded in moving the ball deep inside Sooner territory, setting up first and goal from the 10-yard line but had to settle for a field goal as time expired, and it was a win for the Sooners to only trail 10-7 at the half.

Oklahoma came out of the break and tied the game with a 28-yard field goal. Then, West Virginia responded on its opening drive with a field goal to regain the lead, but another huge opportunity was missed.

West Virginia had the ball second and goal from the one-yard line and a false start pushed them back five yards.

Garrett Greene had brought the team down from the OU 36-yard line, but Doege was brought back in after the penalty. The Mountaineers had three receivers to the left and Bryce Ford-Wheaton broke free over the middle as Doege delivered the pass high and went off the fingers of a leaping Ford-Wheaton.

The pass was high, and you can argue Ford-Wheaton could have come down with it, but the pass needs a closer look. It appeared a linebacker was hovering over the middle and may have caused the high pass. However, he could have looked the linebacker off and made him drift left. If the attempt to move the linebacker did not work and he remained stationary, Doege could have pushed the pass to the right and a little lower to avoid the LB. Of course, this is easier said than done. Nonetheless, the penalty should not have happened and someone, either the receiver or quarterback, has to make a play there.

Naturally, it's easy to ask, Why not put Garrett Greene back in the game? Well, the question becomes, can Garrett Greene make that throw in that type of space? My guess is he's not been consistent enough to earn that trust. But, then, they could have run the option read that had some success, and it might have there, but more than likely, the Sooners were going to key in on it.

At this point, it was two trips inside the ten that only came away with six points. You can't settle for field goals if you expect to upset the No. 4 team in the country on their home field no matter how well the defense is playing.

On Oklahoma's next possession, the Mountaineer defense made a stand on fourth and one, and West Virginia took over at midfield.

On the first play from scrimmage, an intentional grounding from Doege killed the drive immediately and went three and out. Plain and simple, this cannot happen. They have to come away with points there. Ideally, drive it down and punch it into the end zone.

Of course, on Oklahoma's next opportunity, they tied the game.

West Virginia received the ball with under nine minutes remaining and appeared to be constructing a game-winning drive. Garrett Greene popped into the game on a second and seven from the OU 28-yard line. Then, and on the first play, an illegal snap pushed the Mountaineers back five yards, which prompted Neal Brown to send Doege back in. Next, the unthinkable happened, another mistake by the reliable Zach Frazier, snapping the ball early,d and it went whizzing by Doege for a 21-yard loss and pushing the Mountaineers out of field goal position.

The punt pinned the Sooners back at the eight-yard line. Spencer Rattler, who had to hear the fans boo him and chant for the backup quarterback, dinked and dunked the ball down the field before Gabe Brkic chipped in a 30-yard walk-off field goal.

It is, without a doubt, a heartbreaker. Again, if it were not for a few mistakes, the Mountaineers would have indeed won the game.

The quarterback situation is the elephant in the room, albeit there is no "situation" within the program. Fans and critics are looking for a change which is fair considering the offensive struggles.

This week, Neal Brown added a wrinkle with Greene, throwing out of the RPO to Winston Wright Jr. into the flat. It worked beautifully on back-to-back plays that set up that second and one from the goal line. Also, Greene running the read-option opened up some gaps in the running game for Leddie Brown since Greene is a threat to get around the edge.

However, we have not seen Greene throw intermediate passes against FBS opponents, something Doege has done well. If Greene can make that throw, then Neal Brown may want to consider giving Greene more reps.

Doege has not been able to hit the deep ball, and if that is the only thing separating the two, it might be a time for a permanent change.

Quarterback is not the only issue. The offensive line continues to have false starts and missed assignments here and there, and all you can really hope is that with experience, it becomes less of a problem. Also, the skill position players need to break tackles and make defenders miss and get into the endzone, i.e., explosive plays.

Then, there are just no explosive plays that result in touchdowns and, at times, like in the third and goal from the four situation, no one is stepping up and making a play in those type key moments.

The Sooners defense deserves some credit on the offense's deficiencies on Saturday. Defensive coordinator Alex Grinch has turned that unit around over the last couple of years and they're flying around and have become physical upfront.

I don't think you can ask for much more from the Mountaineer defense/ They held one of the most prolific offenses over the last four years to just 16 points.

I'm not citing a moral victory, there are none, but Oklahoma's margin of victory in the previous four meetings in Norman versus the Mountaineers was 23.8 points. To only lose by three, that's significant to me, especially considering the offensive miscues. However, this is only the fourth game of the year and seven more challenges lie ahead.

West Virginia needs to find a way to get in the win column this Saturday versus Texas Tech, a program they've lost to the last two seasons.

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