STILLWATER, Okla. — No replay booth was going to overturn Dravon Henry’s first college interception this time.
West Virginia’s freshman safety grabbed Daxx Garman’s pass to stop a first-quarter Oklahoma State threat at the WVU 16-yard line.
In the fourth quarter, Henry got Garman again, running 52 yards with a pick-six that helped seal a 34-10 victory.
Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson, the lead recruiter in wooing Henry out of Alliquippa, Pa., couldn’t have been more proud.
“That guy has played against three top-five teams and he has played about every snap. Hell, he’s about a junior right now,” Gibson said. “I’m so happy for him, because he wants to be great.”
Henry appeared to make a sideline interception against Kansas on Oct. 4 before video reversed the call. Now it’s the West Virginia defense that’s reversing perceptions.
While holding Baylor to 318 yards last week was stunning, Saturday’s second-half shutout was validation. The Cowboys gained 436 yards but converted only 2-of-15 third-down tries and came up empty on 5-of-7 trips into West Virginia territory.
“We just have a business-like approach to this now,” said Kyle Rose. “We don’t get flustered. Our team has bought in to our coaches’ plan.”
Though Dana Holgorsen exercises a hands-off approach to defense, he liked what Gibson’s unit was doing.
“We were mixing it up well on third downs,” he said. “Sometimes we would blitz on third down, and sometimes we would drop everybody. I think Coach Gibson does that as good as anybody.”