Wayback Wednesday: Charles Sims Breaks Out, Trickett Gets The Start, and WVU Pulls an Upset
The date is September 28, 2013. The location is Milan Puskar Stadium, located in the heart of West Virginia University's campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Mountaineers stand in at 2-2 with wins coming over FCS opponent William & Mary and a Georgia State program in its fourth year of existence. Things are not coming in on a good note however, as the team most recently suffered a 37-0 dismantling by Maryland in Baltimore the week before. Their opponents, in contrast, are a highly ranked Oklahoma State team coming off a double bye week with a Power 5 win over Mississippi State in Week 1.
On this day, the eleventh ranked Cowboys of Oklahoma State march into Morgantown led by a high-powered passing attack that runs through sophomore quarterback J.W. Walsh, a talented risk taker who overtook returning senior Clint Chelf in the offseason. The man who installed much of that offense is on the other sideline as WVU is coached by former OSU offensive coordinator Dana Holgerson, now in his third season in Morgantown. The search for a quarterback following the graduation of Geno Smith totally consumed the WVU offseason with former Smith backup Paul Millard, coveted redshirt freshman Ford Childress, and true freshman Chavas Rawlins duking it out in the spring before Florida State transfer Clint Trickett turned up for fall camp. The experienced Millard got the start against William & Mary and Oklahoma, turning in average results at best. Childress then took over against Georgia State, putting together an outstanding performance against an overmatched opponent before totally imploding against Maryland, tearing his pectoral muscle in the process. As a result of Millard's output and Childress' injury, Trickett will get his first start in the Old Gold and Blue in this game.
The game began with a Josh Lambert boot and the Cowboys took the ball to start. The biggest gain that they were able to make was a fifteen-yard penalty against WVU but a holding penalty two plays later stalled the drive. Kip Smith punted the ball away and Clint Trickett came on for the first time that day. He picked up his first completion by hitting slot receiver Jordan Thompson for seven yards and a pass interference call on third down moved the offense down the field. However, an incompletion and two short runs ended the drive and Nick "Boomstache" O'Toole had to let one fly and give the ball back to OSU.
A good punt pinned the Cowboys inside their own 20 but a pair of runs from Josh Stewart and Walsh brought the ball out to the 29 before a negative play set up second and 12 at the 27. From there, Walsh hit Stewart on a tunnel screen out of the slot and the receiver sprinted past the Mountaineer defense to put the Cowboys on the board, up 7-0. WVU looked to answer and some quick plays for Mario Alford and Sims gave them a manageable third and four. However, Trickett would slip up, getting his pass intercepted by future top 10 pick Justin Gilbert to give OSU the ball back.
Two plays later, Walsh gave it right back, but this time WVU's Ishmael Banks weaved through traffic and was able to extend as he took a hit at the goal line to put WVU on the scoreboard as Lambert's kick tied the game at 7. The defenses then began to step up their game a bit more with both teams forcing three and outs following the scores. WVU added another stop and Trickett then led the most impressive drive of his short Mountaineer career to that point. He led his team 70 yards on eight plays, including two long completions to Sims, before finding junior college transfer Kevin White from 17 yards out to give WVU their first lead of the game shortly before the end of the first quarter.
The Mountaineers forced another three and out but were unable to get far on their next drive either. OSU was able to run a few plays but after a handoff to Jeremy Smith, linebacker Brandon Golson wrapped the tailback up at the line and forced the ball out as Isaiah Bruce fell on it to give WVU possession at the OSU 29. The offense could not move the ball particularly well but the steady leg of Lambert came through again, hitting from 45 yards to extend the WVU lead to 10 points. The Cowboys were able to answer back quickly, mainly off the strength of their dual-threat sophomore quarterback. Walsh tallied 55 yards through the air and 21 on the ground to move his team down the field, capping off an impressive drive with a 27 yard strike to Tracy Moore, cutting the Mountaineer lead to 17-14.
The WVU offense moved quickly following the ensuing kickoff and drove into OSU territory within a few plays. Unfortunately, Trickett would throw his second pick of the day, this one coming on a deep ball intended for for White that instead fell into the waiting arms of Oklahoma State's Tyler Patmon at the nine yard line. The Cowboys were only able to generate 21 yards of offense and a 13 yard punt from Smith set the Mountaineers up at the very same 43 yard line where the turnover had began from. Trickett was sacked and recovered his own fumble for a loss of eight on the first snap but hit Mario Alford deep for a gain of 40 on the very next play. From the 11, Sims took a carry, tight end Cody Clay made a nice catch to pick up six yards and then Sims punched it tin from the one to provide WVU with a 24-14 lead.
Walsh came back out, driving against the clock and a series of positive plays, including a 16 yard connection with Jhajaun Seales set up freshman kicker Ben Grogan for a 44 yard attempt. The future Groza semifinalist came up off the mark and Trickett took a knee to end the half on the very next play.
If anyone was expecting WVU to come out energized in the second half up 10 on a top 15 team, they were very much mistaken. A botched kick return gave the Mountaineers the ball on their own three and only five yards could be gained on the drive. O’Toole booted it away and OSU took over at their own 43.
Walsh moved his troops quickly this time, scoring in just four plays which included a 25-yard completion to Charlie Moore and a 30-yard scoring toss to Jeremy Seaton. From there, the offenses turned absolutely anemic. On the next 12 possessions, the two teams combined for nine punts and three missed field goals. Regardless, a pair of chunk plays from the new starting QB got things moving once again.
Surrounded by minimal gains, Trickett put together a pair of 17-yard completions, one each to short-lived Mountaineer Ronald Carswell and Jordan Thompson, to put Lambert in range for another kick. This 27-yard boot would fly true and extend the WVU lead to six with just under four minutes to play. Once again it was the defense coming up big as just two plays into the OSU drive, safety Darwin Cook picked Walsh off at the 48 and returned it back to the Cowboy 36 yard line.
A somewhat chaotic drive ensued with penalties and negative plays involved but Lambert hit his third kick of the day and made it a two score game at 30-21. Defense was key again with the clock rolling away forcing three straight incompletions before bottling Walsh up on a fourth down run to turn the ball over on downs. With just 50 seconds left, Trickett took a pair of kneel downs and the Mountaineers sealed a nine point upset win over the eleventh ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys.
While WVU finished just 4-8 that season, this game had large implications going forward. Clint Trickett made his first WVU start before going on to be the full-time starter in 2014. His connection with Kevin White was on display with a 17-yard touchdown as well. Grad transfer running back Charles Sims had a major breakout game, putting up 60 yards rushing and 68 receiving, on the way to a first-team all-Big 12 award and a third round pick in the NFL Draft. 2013 was certainly a down year for the Mountaineers but some very important pieces got their first experience and some very good players showed up in this big upset win.
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