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Live blog: Sooners hang on 16-7

 

NORMAN, Okla. — The live blog from Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, where global warming was in full-effect and the offenses took a giant leap backward as WVU fell 16-7 to the 16th-ranked Sooners:

10:47 p.m. Charles Sims stuffed in the backfield, and that’s your ballgame. OU wins it 16-7. Sheez.

Millard finished 21-of-40 passing for 218 yards.

10:46 p.m. Thanks to a roughing the passer flag, WVU gets an untimed down from the 3. Down by nine, this is for stat purposes only.

10:40 p.m. Hunnicutt comes on for 35-yard field goal try clanks off the upright.

10:32 p.m. A scary moment with 5:42 left as WVU senior linebacker Doug Rigg is carted off with medical personnel paying close attention to his head and neck area.

10:23 p.m. Having burned through three timeouts back in the third quarter, WVU takes a delay of game on fourth-and-2 at the OU 44. That leads to a fourth-and-7 incompletion where Millard couldn’t connect with a tightly covered Cody Clay—as curious a fourth-down receiver as WVU could have targeted.

10:14 p.m. Sooners tack on an insurance FG from 32 yards. OU leads 16-7 with 10:16 left. (9 plays, 45 yards in 4:34)

10:10 p.m. Blake Bell replaces Knight at QB for the Sooners. With Shaq Rowell joining Bruce on the injured list, OU might be wise to keep it on the gound. (Knight was 10-of-20 for 119 yards with one TD and two interceptions.)

9:56 p.m. That quarter “featured” five punts, four turnovers and zero points.

9:55 p.m. END OF THIRD QUARTER (Oklahoma leads 13-7)

9:46 p.m. TURNOVER ALERT: On third-and-20, Millard hits White on a drag route that picks up the first down, but the ball pops out at the OU 16 and the Sooners recover.

9:39 p.m. WVU moves into OU territory, where Ivan McCartney makes a beautiful double move only to drop a bomb at th goal line.

9:30 p.m. Guess what: TURNOVER ALERT: Knight throws into coverage where Marvin Gross (subbing for Bruce) tips ball into Karl Joseph’s hands. WVU ball on its 15.

9:29 p.m. TURNOVER ALERT: WVU rolls to midfield but Millard’s poorly thrown pass intercepted by Gabe Lynn.

9:23 p.m. TURNOVER ALERT: Clay rips off consecutive runs of 34 and 26 yards for Oklahoma, but then Knight forces a pass into the endzone on first-and-goal where Darwin Cook makes the pick. WVU dodges a bullet.

9:22 p.m. True freshman Marvin Gross on the field for WVU at Spur linebacker. (No Isaiah Bruce so far in 2nd half.)

9:14 p.m. We open the third quarter with an exchange of punts. (Constant refrain: This game is NOTHING like last year’s matchup.)

8:50 p.m. HALFTIME SCORE: Oklahoma leads 13-7.

Sooners have run 45 plays to WVU’s 26 and lead 228-176 in total offense.

8:43 p.m. FIELD GOAL! Travis Bell covers up OU’s Jalen Saunders on third-down pass in back of end zone, forcing OU kick. Sooners up 13-7 a mere 11 seconds before half.

8:32 p.m. OU catches WVU in corner blitz: Knight hits Saunders for 20 yards across the middle between Bruce and Joseph. (One play later, Bruce slow getting up with right leg “condition.” I’m not a trainer.)

8:29 p.m. Millard lacked mustard—short-hopped swing pass to Wendell Smallwood on third down. Bad miss. Punt time.

8:24 p.m. TURNOVER! Golson’s blindside hit forces a Knight fumble, which Will Clarke recovers at the WVU 38.

8:20 p.m. WVU nets only 26 yards on O’Toole’s low punt after a 17-yard return. OU starts at WVU’s 43.

8:15 p.m. TURNOVER! Knight hurls a 32-yard pass to Lacolton Bester, but Isaiah Bruce forces fumble at 20 and Darwin Cook (who dropped an interception the previous play) recovers at the OU 18.

8:09 p.m. A third-and-2 at the OU 41 becomes third-and-7 after Curtis Feigt moves early. Millard hit as he throws on the next snap, it’s ruled a fumble and OU recovers at its own 49. Holgorsen challenged (even after replay confirmed the fumble) and that costs WVU its final timeout of the half with 10:42 left.

8:06 p.m. Paul Millard-to-Ronald Carswell gets WVU out of a third-and-long hole with a 33-yard sideline connection. Perfect timing on that one.

8:02 p.m. OK, TOUCHDOWN for real this time as Knight zips a 1-yard scoring pass to Trey Millard. (The seventh career TD catch for one of the best fullbacks in the nation.) OU leads 10-7 with 13:35 left in second quarter. (Drive covered six plays, 32 yards in 1:29.)

7:57 p.m. TOUCHDOWN! NO TOUCHDOWN! Damien Williams runs 17 yards off right tackle for the go-ahead score, but his knee ruled own at the 1.

7:50 p.m. WVU stuffs OU on third-and-1, but punt returner Mario Alford coughs up the fair catch and the Sooners recover at WVU’s 32.

7:46 p.m. Cody Clay makes a catch! But it’s on third-and-long and only goes for a few yards. WVU punts.

7:35 p.m. OU has a perfect blitz-beating receiver screen play set up to Sterling Shepard, who runs 6 yards and then faceplants. Would have been a TD, but instead it’s third-and-4 followed by an illegal motion. Sooners settle for a 44-yard Michael Hunnicutt field goal. WVU leads 7-3 with 4:22 left in first. (12 plays, 51 yards in 4:32)

7:31 p.m. WVU forces a punt on OU’s ensuing series, but Daryl Worley penalized for roughing the punter and the Sooners get new life near midfield.

7:26 p.m. TOUCHDOWN! Dreamius Smith breaks two tackles (including that of senior linebacker Corey Nelson) and turns on the jets for a 75-yard run. (8:54 left in first quarter)

7:24 p.m. White’s first touch goes for 10 yards on a receiver screen.

7:21 p.m. WVU handles its next third-and-forever much better, tackling Knight on a scramble to force a punt.

7:18 p.m. Knight fumbles the snap and narrowly avoids a safety when intentional grounding is called inside his 1. Never fear, Sooners, because Brennan Clay rips off a third-and-19 run for 33 yards. First down. (And for a nano-second Clay had designs on a 99-yarder.)

7:16 p.m. OU opens at its own 10, and Trevor Knight rips off 9 yards on the read-option keeper.

7:12 p.m. WVU opens with a second-down 23-yard dump pass to Charles Sims to move into OU territory. Briefly. Dreamius Smith promptly flagged for a chop block and the drive stalls.

7:02 p.m. OU wins the toss and defers. So WVU gets first crack.

6:50 p.m. Gametime temp has PLUNGED to 95 degrees. Plenty of excuses for gassed defenders to fake cramps today.

5:52 p.m. Kevin White is dressed and seemingly running OK as he catches pregame passes. He reportedly had a foot injury that sidelined him against William & Mary.

5:50 p.m. WVU donning its all-white uniforms today, a wise choice with pregame temps in the high-90s.

5:35 p.m. Oliver Luck has issued a statement on the DeForest pay-for-play allegations: “Upon learning of the pending investigative report, WVU launched an internal review to ensure the coach’s full compliance to NCAA rules while at West Virginia. The NCAA has also been contacted. While our assistant football coach has denied the allegations, it is the right thing to do to look into the matter and review practices here.”

5:10 p.m. It’s shaping up to be an interesting day for WVU special teams coach Joe DeForest, who didn’t prefer to make Sports Illustrated this way.

4:10 p.m. I tossed out a few scenarios by which West Virginia could upset Oklahoma. Check them out here.







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