Monday Morning Stock Report: Mountaineers foiled by trick & by Tank

Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the third quarter against theWest Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium.

 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As Samaje Perine flipped the ball to Durron Neal on a reverse, West Virginia’s Tony Gibson felt sure his defense had its third-down stand.

“I thought ‘perfect,’ we’ve got him, because we had (Brandon Golson) running clean at the guy with the reverse,” Gibson said. “But then their guy throws it to the quarterback.”

Trevor Knight, unseen and uncovered, caught the 4-yard touchdown all by his lonesome, a bit of goal-line trickiness in a game where No. 4 Oklahoma inflicted plenty of damage by more traditional methods. With Perine tearing through tackles “like a freakin’ bull”—the assessment from teammate Alex Ross—Oklahoma controlled the second half to deny West Virginia 45-33 in a mercurial Big 12 opener.

For those Mountaineers fans left with a case of the Mondays, here’s the weekly stock report:

QUARTERBACK
While Trickett completed 25-of-41 passes for 376 yards and two scores, this wasn’t his sharpest performance. After committing only one turnover through the first three games, he was responsible for three against Oklahoma.

A third-quarter interception thrown late across to the field toward Jordan Thompson was simultaneously Trickett’s worst pass and decision of the season. It came two plays after Wes Tonkery’s interception set up WVU at midfield with a chance to retake the lead.

Trickett also was picked off late in the first half, overthrowing Kevin White at the Sooners’ 35 as WVU worked into field-goal range.

He lobbed a perfect 30-yard touchdown pass to Mario Alford, but missed on a deep sideline pattern after Daikiel Shorts beat safety coverage.

Despite being competitive against the No. 3 and No. 4-ranked teams in the nation, Trickett called a 2-2 record unsatisfactory.

“No, you never accept a loss,” he said. “You could say we lost to two top-five teams but that stuff doesn’t matter. We’re a pretty damn good team too.”

RUNNING BACKS
On a physical 5-yard touchdown run, Rushel Shell (15 carries for 60 yards) put West Virginia ahead 24-17 late in the second quarter. After that juncture, the offense lost its mojo and Shell’s final five carries netted 14 yards.

Dreamius Smith (five carries for 38 yards) scored on a late 9-yard run as Oklahoma defense substituted liberally, and Wendell Smallwood used some tough inside running (nine carries for 38 yards) to set up a 37-yard screen catch.

Two blocking mishaps by fullbacks hurt the group’s grade. Cody Clay whiffed on a safety blitz by Quintin Hayes and Elijah Wellman was overpowered by Geneo Grissom on a sack that led to turnover.

RECEIVERS
Sooners All-Big 12 cornerback Zack Sanchez simply could not handle Kevin White, who finished with 10 catches for 173 yards and continued to play like an All-American. White went deep for a 68-yard touchdown grab and broke tackles on two hitches that became first-down gains. White also drew a pass interference on Sanchez, who required safety help in the second half.

“We definitely left some (points) out there,” White said. “I feel like we could play with anyone. We came so close with Alabama and these guys, it pushes us that much more.”

Alford dropped two short passes and came up empty on a catchable deep ball in the end zone. Still, he made seven receptions for 101 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown that required replay intervention.

Thompson and Trickett showed marvelous improv skills on a 25-yard hookup, but targets (and snaps) were rare for the slot receivers as WVU used more sets with extra blockers to battle Oklahoma’s pass rush.

Oklahoma sacked Clint Trickett three times, with two coming on missed blocks by fullbacks.

 

OFFENSIVE LINE
Mark Glowinsky wasn’t overly impressed by Oklahoma’s defensive line, which presumes to be the Big 12’s best.

“I think Alabama was definitely better up front,” he said, and West Virginia’s 513-yard output supports the assertion.

Only one of Oklahoma’s three sacks were attributable to a lineman—left tackle Adam Pankey beaten off the edge by Eric Striker on the game’s second play. Playing with an eighth official for the first time this season, WVU received two holding calls. One came against Tyler Orlosky and a dubious one was dealt to right tackle Marquis Lucas.

The 3.4 yards per carry were just so-so, but West Virginia went 3-of-3 on short-yardage conversions.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Outside of 286-pound center Ty Darlington, Oklahoma’s other four O-linemen are 330-plus, and they mashed WVU to the tune of 6.5 yards per carry. “They moved the line of scrimmage,” said Mountaineers defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.

Save for a couple plays by defensive end Dontrill Hyman, the defensive linemen didn’t generate much push. Nor did they control gaps, allowing freshman phenom Samaje Perine to build steam before colliding with second-level defenders.

The lack of depth showed in the second half when Perine scored three of his four touchdowns and capped a 34-carry, 242-yard performance.

“You could see us wear down,” Holgorsen said.

LINEBACKERS
Sam linebacker Wes Tonkery returned from a leg injury to make eight tackles, a diving interception and 1.5 TFLs, though Perine shed him on a couple occasions. When it came to missing tackles on the “The Tank,” Tonkery had frequent company.

“We were falling off him,” Gibson said.

More bothersome were the times Perine wasn’t touched by the front seven (and in some cases the front “eight.”) These included his 38-yard run on OU’s first touchdown drive and a 19-yard score that put the guests up by 18 in the fourth quarter.

“That’s a scheme breakdown, with guys in the wrong gap, not doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Gibson said.

“The biggest thing is sticking to your assignment,” said Nick Kwiatkoski (six tackles), who was walled off on several runs. Edward Muldrow (four tackles) had a hurry that contributed to a third-down incompletion, but the unit’s successes were scarce on a night when Oklahoma amassed 510 yards.

SECONDARY
With Daryl Worley’s suspension and Travis Bell’s absence, this group looked vulnerable, but Oklahoma’s pass-game execution was spotty. Trevor Knight (16-of-29 for 205 yards) twice missed open receivers on conversion opportunities and was victimized by two drops also.

Back from NCAA suspension, Icky Banks held up well in coverage but found himself blocked into infinity on some Perine runs. Terrell Chestnut (six tackles, one breakup) was beaten by OU’s top receiver Sterling Shepard on catches of 37 and 20 yards, though not as badly as Shepard beat Jaylon Myers on a deep sideline route that Knight overthrew.

Fans eager to see Karl Joseph lay into Perine were treated to multiple collisions, but the safety is 50 pounds lighter and  didn’t have physics on his side. He made 13 tackles and gave WVU its first forced fumble of season at the end of K.J. Young’s 23-yard catch-and-run. The ball immediately squirted out of bounds, however.

SPECIAL TEAMS
After ripping off a 31-yard kick return on his first try, Oklahoma’s Alex Ross turned the game around with a 100-yard runback in the second quarter.  On the heels of Maryland’s punt-return TD the previous week, fans remain in full-throat fury over special-teams coach Joe DeForest.

West Virginia wasn’t able to showcase its return game with Nick Hodgson going 7-for-7 on touchbacks, Hodgson nearly made DeForest’s night even worse by dribbling a surprise onside kick that had WVU duped. The Sooners kicker was set to recover the ball after 10 yards when a teammate inadvertently kicked it downfield to Shaq Petteway.

Thompson allowed Jed Barnett’s 70-yard punt to carom toward the goal line, where the Sooners mishandled it into a touchback.

Josh Lambert made both field goals, including a 54-yarder that was one yard shy of the longest in stadium history, and Nick O’Toole effectively pinned three punts inside the 20. None of that makes up for the backbreaking effect of the 100-yard kick return.

COACHING
For the first time this season, the staff wasn’t trending up. Backed by a sellout crowd that exceeded capacity, West Virginia didn’t have the capacity to finish the upset. An upset it could smell with 70 seconds left in the half when it led 24-17. For the ensuing 26 game minutes, Oklahoma outscored WVU 28-3.

Holgorsen also with flirted with clock mismanagement at the end of the half, pocketing a timeout as WVU moved into range for Lambert’s strong leg. Trickett’s pass was picked off on the sideline with 2 seconds left at the Sooners’ 32—a pass intended for White. If the throw had been on target, could White have caught it and gotten out of bounds before time expired? Maybe. But why tempt such a thin margin, when the previous running play ended with 20 seconds remaining?

Dana Holgorsen talks with an official during Saturday’s 45-33 loss to Oklahoma.






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