Mountaineers Shock Cowboys
Stillwater, OK - West Virginia ran for 250 yards on a rainy day in Oklahoma to knock off the Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-5, 4-5) 24-19 as the Mountaineers (5-7, 3-6) ended a seven-game skid against the Cowboys and ended Oklahoma State's 14-game home winning streak.
West Virginia won the field position early and put the game's first points on the board with its second offensive possession.
After Mountaineers' punter Oliver Straw pinned the Cowboys at their own 12-yard line, middle linebacker Lee Kpogba sacked Oklahoma State quarterback Garret Rangel at the six, one of four first half Mountaineer sacks in the first half. Then, a 30-yard punt set the Mountaineers up in OSU territory at the 36.
On the first play from scrimmage, Garrett Greene scampered 36-yards on a quarterback draw for the touchdown
Oklahoma State's first scoring drive began late in the first quarter and ended on the first play of the second quarter with Brennan Presley capping a five-play 46-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run.
With 2:18 remaining in the first half, Oklahoma State took over at its own 12-yard line, and a 43-yard pass to Braydon Johnson moved the ball to the WVU 19. The Mountaineer defense held at the four to force a 22-yard field goal as Oklahoma State grabbed a 10-7 advantage heading into halftime.
On the opening drive of the second half, West Virginia quarterback Garrett Greene was knocked out of the game after a helmet-to-helmet collision.
Four plays later, Jaylen Anderson took the handoff from freshman Nicco Marchiol and raced up field for a 54-yard touchdown run to regain the lead 14-10.
On the Mountaineers following possession, Anderson ran for 15 yards before again bursting through for a 57-yard touchdown run and the Mountaineers extended their lead 21-10 with 9:53 left in the third quarter.
Oklahoma State responded on the following drive with a 38-yard field goal.
West Virginia went for it on fourth and short at midfield on its next possession and came up short, giving Oklahoma State the ball with great field position and they would capitalize on just five plays, with Ollie Gordon busting through from 23 yards away to get within two. The Cowboys went for the two-point conversion but the pass fell incomplete and the Mountaineers were clinging to a 21-19 lead with 24 seconds remaining.
West Virginia went three and out on offense, and the Cowboys appeared to be on another scoring drive, moving the ball to midfield but Rangel fumbled the ball and WVU defensive lineman jumped on it at the OSU 49. However, the Mountaineers were unable to pick up a first down and were forced to punt which went into the endzone for a touchback.
After the West Virginia defense held Oklahoma State to a three and out, the Mountaineer offense chipped its way down the field to set up a 34-yard Casey Legg field goal, pushing the WVU lead to 24-19 with 5:59 left to play.
The Oklahoma State offense began to find a rhythm with the ground game, picking up yards in bunches with 18 and 11-yard runs before a holding call forced the Cowboys to search for yards through the air on second and 17, connecting with Ollie on a screen for 10 yards and a four yard out pass set Oklahoma State with a fourth and three at the WVU 28.
Rangel took the snap out of the gun and threw up for grabs to Ollie down the right sideline and fell incomplete.
West Virginia needed a first down, to seal the game with Oklahoma State having all three timeouts remaining and could not pick up the first down with 1:36 remaining in the game.
A 28-yard punt gave it to Oklahoma State the ball at midfield. However, four incomplete passes gave the ball back to West Virginia and the Mountaineers hold on 24-19.
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