FINAL: Mountaineers can’t keep pace, 45-33

West Virginia’s Kevin White had 111 yards receiving in the first half, including this 68-yard touchdown.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — There was a sellout crowd and a chance for a Gus Johnson “RISE UP!” moment as West Virginia battled No. 4 Oklahoma under the lights at Milan Puskar. But the Sooners squashed the upset alert for a 45-33 victory.

Below is a recap of the live updates throughout the game:

FINAL: West Virginia outgained Oklahoma 513-510, but the Sooners were too tough in the second half. Much will be made of the kick-return score that swung the game before halftime. Headed to the locker room for interviews.

Dreamius Smith 11-yard touchdown run (2:12 fourth quarter) Sooners lead 45-33
The 75-yard drive snapped a 28-3 scoring binge by Oklahoma. WVU wisely went for the 2-point try, but Trickett’s throw in the flat sailed over Kevin White’s head. Sooners appeared to have it covered anyway.

Perine 19-yard touchdown run (4:30 fourth quarter) Sooners lead 45-27
The drive covered seven plays and 65 yards, and Perine covered seven plays for 65 yards. That gives him four scores and 228 yards on 31 carries. He’s a powerful, shifty dude. WVU’s defense looks dead on its feet.

— WVU chipped its way into scoring position before Oklahoma’s Quintin Hayes dropped Trickett on a safety blitz to force third-and-13. A 9-yard catch by Thompson put WVU into Lambert’s range, but Holgorsen trusted his offense on fourth-and-5. The call didn’t pay off—Trickett’s pass sailed out of bounds and the QB was driven int the turf by 289-pound Chuka Ndulue.

— Geno Grissom bull-rushed through Eli Wellman and blind-sided Trickett into a fumble—WVU’s third turnover of the night. Oklahoma’s ball at the Mountaineers’ 48.

— Oklahoma has 428 yards to WVU’s 378 after three quarters.

END OF THIRD QUARTER

Perine 5-yard tuchdown run (1:00 third quarter) Sooners lead 38-27
The freshman scooted in for his third touchdown of the game to wrap up a nine-play, 74-yard drive that consumed 3:25. Alex Ross made a 34-yard scamper to buy Perine a rest, and Knight converted a third-and-6 pass to K.J. Young.

— In the span of three plays, West Virginia’s Wes Tonkery picked off Trevor Knight and OU’s Quentin Hayes stole one back from Trickett.

Lambert 31-yard field goal (6:28 third quarter) Sooners lead 31-27
The drive looked to be headed nowhere until Smallwood gained 37 yards on a third-and-9 screen. After a holding flag against Marquis Lucas forced WVU into long yardage, the Mountaineers went conservative with a third-and-10 run by Andrew Buie. It netted only 4 and on came Lambert.

— Trailing for the first time since the first quarter, WVU faced fourth-and-4 at the Oklahoma 42. Again, no gamble from Holgorsen, who sends on the punt team. O’Toole’s 30-yarder forces the Sooners to start from their 12.

Perine 9-yard tuchdown run (12:22 third quarter) Sooners lead 31-24
After Sterling Shepard shook loose for a 37-yard catch, the 243-pound Perine took over with four carries for 23 yards.

More stats to discuss: West Virginia is averaging 6.8 yards per play to Oklahoma’s 6.7. Guess that’s why we’re tied. … First downs are even also, at 12.

Stats to discuss: Kevin White has 111 yards on four catches and Mario Alford owns four for 64. … Trickett is 11-of-21 for 211 yards, with a last-second interception on an overthrow of White, who was open at the OU 35. It would have set up Josh Lambert for another field-goal try. … Samaje Perine has 111 yards rushing and a TD on 14 carries.

END OF FIRST HALF

Alex Ross 100-yard kick return (1:08 second quarter) Score tied 24-all
For the second consecutive week, an opponent scored on a special-teams return. This time, Ross needed 12 seconds to race the distance.

Rushel Shell 5-yard run (1:20 second quarter) WVU leads 24-17
The five-play, 55-yard drive featured a pass-interference call against the Sooners’ Julian Wilson and an 18-yard run by Shell to crack the red zone. His touchdown run was a smashup deal behind Mark Glowinski.

Samaje Perine 2-yard run (3:09 second quarter) Score tied 17-all
The Sooners moved 75 yards in nine plays for the equalizer. Knight was 4-of-4 on the series, including a 23-yard pass to Young. Perine finished it off with some tough runs. The guy is a wrecking ball.

Trickett 30-yard TD pass to Mario Alford (7:45 second quarter) WVU leads 17-10
WVU needed only 1:13 to answer. White made a 17-yard grab and Jordan Thompson hauled in an improvised 25-yarder before Alford benefited from a replay review on his scoring grab. That gives Trickett 211 yards passing on only 11 completions.

Duron Neal 4-yard pass to Trevor Knight (8:58 second quarter) Score tied 10-all
Knight-to-Neal gets dropped twice, but Neal-to-Knight scores a TD. Go figure. The Sooners used trickery to scored on third-and-goal. … Oklahoma broke out of its slump to start the drive with a 31-yard Knight pass to Shepard and a 38-yard run by Perine.

Josh Lambert 54-yard field goal (11:00 second quarter) WVU leads 10-3
Mario Alford failed to haul in a 31-yard TD catch, the same type catch he made at Maryland. On came Lambert, who drilled a 44-yard kick. When a holding flag pushed it back 10 yards, Lambert simply kicked it further. Way further. Into the first row of the band further. Might have dented a trombone.

— Sooners go three-and-out for the third straight series. Linebacker Edward Muldrow flushed Knight from pocket on third-and-9 to force incompletion.

— O’Toole’s 48-yard punt pinned OU at its 4. His leg looks plenty rested after getting little use the past two weeks. (Refs corrected spot to the Sooners’ 13, ruling Ricky Rumph touched punt there before the roll.)

— Oklahoma looks committed to stopping the run, as WVU has gained 12 yards on eight attempts so far.

END FIRST QUARTER

— Duron Neal drops it like it’s hot on back-to-back throws from Knight, who finishes the first quarter 5-of-12 for 60 yards.

Clint Trickett 68-yard touchdown pass to Kevin White (0:39 first quarter) WVU leads 7-3
In a matchup that received White beat cornerback Zack Sanchez off the line and streaked to an easy score. The drive covered 80 yards in four plays.

— Oklahoma goes three-and-out, too, thanks to Dontrill Hyman spilling Alex Ross for minus-3. Punter Jed Barnett deserved better on his booming 70-yard punt, but his coverage unit played hot potato at the goal line to gift WVU a touchback.

— WVU had its second three-and-out of the early going, with all three plays targeting Mario Alford. He caught one short gainer but dropped another quick-hitter.

Michael Hunnicutt 42-yard field (4:20 first quarter) Oklahoma leads 3-0
Oklahoma moved 70 yards from its own 5 thanks to two third-down conversions. K.J. Young found a generous gap over the middle for a 20-yard catch on third-and-8 at the OU 42, and Samaje Perine gained 4 yards on a third-and-2. Curious bit about WVU defense on Perine’s run: Pass-rush specialist Shaq Riddick was on the edge and got manhandled.

— Holgorsen decided against a fourth-and-inches gamble at his 43 and the move paid off when the Sooners fair caught Nick O’Toole’s 52-yard punt at the 5.

— After WVU picks up a first down on its second series, Kevin White comes up inches short on a third-and-9 screen. It was the same play he took to the house at Maryland.

— Trevor Knight, a 59-percent passer, threw behind a wide-open Sterling Shepard on third down at the WVU 46. Tony Gibson, along with 55,000 Mountaineers fans, breathed a sigh of relief over the busted coverage. PUNT

— Icky Banks, returning from a three-game academic suspension, started at right cornerback in place of Worley.

— Eric Striker’s sack leads to a three-and-out on WVU’s first series. He out-quicked left tackle Adam Pankey to force a third-and-15, from which the Mountaineers couldn’t recover. PUNT

— After two emotional games vs. Alabama and Maryland, you wonder how hyped WVU will be tonight. Holgorsen called the aftermath at Maryland “the best locker room I’ve been a part of ever.”

— You all know the legal situation facing suspended cornerback Daryl Worley, but West Virginia will be without another corner tonight as well. Senior Travis Bell reportedly missed several practices this week and we’re told he won’t be dressed. That means the rotation boils down to Terrell Chestnut (who started the first three games), Icky Banks (who was suspended for the first three games), Jaylon Myers (who has immense physical gifts but has yet to see meaningful reps) and Ricky Rumph (who has bounced between safety and corner the past two seasons).

— Let’s see how the WVU fans treat Sooners defensive end Chuka Ndulue (he’s No. 98). He wasn’t impressed with the hospitality of Mountaineer fans back in 2012: Check out what Ndulue said this week:

“They’re loud and rude. It’s really loud over there. On defense, we’re not going to get a lot of it, but they’re very loud and very rude, almost like (Texas) Tech, but I want to say (WVU fans) are the worst.”

— When Rushel Shell left the Maryland game with 11 minutes left, he was cleared by doctors to return, but position coach JaJuan Seider could afford to be cautious because of how well WVU’s other backs were performing.

“He was trying like hell to get back in there, but I held him out,” Seider said. “The way I saw the other guys running, I didn’t need him. I said, ‘Nah, we’re good.'”

Holgorsen said Shell sustained a shoulder injury and wore a noncontact jersey in practice this week, but he’s good to go vs. Oklahoma.





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