MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s rugged October schedule continues with a showdown against No. 21 Oklahoma State at Milan Puskar Stadium, where there’s no Karl Joseph and no margin for error if the Mountaineers aim to stay in the Big 12 title chase.
Allan Taylor provides live updates throughout:
— OSU ran Chris Carson (ankle) three times for only 6 yards on its opening series. Though Mason Rudolph completed both passes, his third-and-7 hookup with Austin Hays was stopped a yard shy of the sticks by Dravon Askew-Henry. Nice tackle by the young safety who ran out of the tunnel holding a No. 8 jersey in honor of Karl Joseph.
— Pinned at its own 5 by Zach Sinor’s punt, WVU goes three-and-out on its first possession. All three on runs by Rushel Shell.
— Rudolph converted a third-down crossing route to David Glidden, but was picked off on the next snap, Terrell Chetsnut ran the deep sideline route better than WR James Washington did, hauled in the pick at the 7.
— A second consecutive three-and-out for WVU. This one featured a holding flag on Tony Matteo (declined after a sack) and a procedure penalty on Yodny Cajuste (accepted), who was wary of OSU’s third-down pass rush.
— Oklahoma State stalls at the WVU 34 and opts to punt instead of sending out Ben Grogan, who has one career FG attempt from beyond 50 yards. Sinor does good work again, pooching it to the 7.
— SCORE: Emmanuel Ogbah TD fumble recovery (4:45) OSU leads 7-0: Skyler Howard collided with Wendell Smallwood and disaster ensued. The ball was knocked loose into the end zone, where Howard had a shot at recovering before it bounced free again.
— On its fourth possession, WVU finally gets a first down and follows it with a William Crest 6-yard carry from running back. But on third-and-4 from the 38, Shell loses a yard and Dana Holgorsen gets fired up at the O-line’s lack of push. WVU has 17 yards through four series.
— After a 22-yard hookup from Rudolph to Marcell Ateman, OSU has to punt. But not before KJ Dillon knocks the breath out of Chris Carson, hung out to dry in the flat by a high Rudolph pass. So much for that being a “safety” valve.
— WVU’s brutal offensive quarter gets worse when Ogbah strips Shell. The Cowboys recover at the Mountaineers’ 28. The first quarter ends with West Virginia gaining 22 yards on 15 snaps.
— SCORE: Rennie Childs 1-yard TD (14:02) OSU leads 14-0: After the turnover, the 6-4 Ateman made a leaping 19-yard grab over Worley, who couldn’t do much more in that situation. With JW Walsh subbing at quarterback, the Pokes punched it in. (Drive: 5 plays, 28 yards in 1:19)
— Showing tempo, WVU finally got moving. A 15-yard run by Smallwood, a third-down conversion from Howard to Shelton Gibson and a fourth-and-1 plunge by Rushel Shell at the OSU 20. Then another fumble as Smallwood gained 10 and was stripped by Chad Whitener, the linebacker who’s stepping in for the injured Ryan Simmons. OSU recovered at its own 5—the eighth turnover for WVU in a little more than five quarters.
— SCORE: Rudolph sacked for safety by Kyle Rose (10:11) OSU leads 14-2: Oklahoma State tried to show some guts after the turnover … and it backfired. The WVU nose tackle’s goal-line sack required a review to verify the safety, and even then the position of the ball wasn’t exactly clear.
— The Mountaineers nearly enjoyed good field position, but a block-in-the-back flag on Justin Arndt negated that. Then Shelton Gibson pitched in an illegal block on a scramble before OSU committed its own pass-interference penalty against Crest on a deep sideline route. The net result was another punt for NIck O’Toole, whose 56-yarder bounded in for a touchback.
— SCORE: Ben Grogan 21-yard field goal (3:43) OSU leads 17-2: Oklahoma State didn’t bite on a fourth-and-1 at the WVU 4-yard line, unwilling to gamble on a poor run game. Still, the drive had its moments, including Rudolph making a 21-yard completion to David Glidden and a 17-yarder to Blake Jarwin. (Drive: 12 plays, 76 yards in 4:10)
— Another kick return, another block in the back against the Mountaineers. And then, another three-and-out as Howard tries to hit the double-covered Jovon Durante deep on a third-and-2 play.
— Holgorsen uses his timeouts to get ball back before the half, but Howard’s helmet comes off after a 7-yard scramble, resulting in not only his exit but also a 10-second runoff. Then Adam Pankey moved early, leading to another 10-second runoff. Smallwood’s 26-yard run to midfield as the clock expired was team’s biggest gainer in the half.
HALFTIME NOTES
— West Virginia’s offense produced zero points, three turnovers and five points so far. (Howard was 4-of-11 for 31 yards, while Smallwood gained 76 yards on eight carries, but fumbled away a scoring chance.
— OSU leads 174-147 in total offense despite netting only 2.2 yards per carry.
— SCORE: Smallwood 29-yard run (12:44) OSU leads 17-9: Much like last week in Norman, WVU came out smoking in the second half. And Holgorsen wasn’t about to punt from the OSU 40, not even on fourth-and-7. Howard and Durante made the decision a good one, connecting on an 11-yard gain. One play later, Smallwood went boom. (Drive: 7 plays, 61 yards in 2:09)
— On OSU’s first snap of the second half, Rudolph is picked off at the WVU 46 by Worley.
— Howard tried to strike deep, but Ashton Lampkin batted down a bomb intended for Shelton Gibson. After Howard fumbled on a third-down scramble (Ogbah on the force, shocker), Crest outwrestled several defenders to avoid the turnover.
— SCORE: Blake Jarwin 4-yard pass from JW Walsh (9:20) OSU leads 23-9: The key play was Rudolph’s 40-yard gallop on third-and-10, a scramble on which the left half of the field opened up as DBs chased receivers in man coverage. Walsh capped the drive by hitting Jarwin, the so-called Cowboy back. in the rear of the end zone off a play-action fake. The PAT went awry on a botched hold. (Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards in 2:37)
— SCORE: Gibson 48-yard pass from Howard (7:48) OSU leads 23-16: Howard went 4-for-4 for 71 yards on the drive, more than doubling his output until that juncture. Ashton Lampkin, so good on two previous deep breakups, couldn’t keep up with Gibson this time. (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards in 1:25)
— James Washington makes a terrific 22-yard catch over Chestnut, but the cornerback made amends three plays later. He broke up Rudolph’s pass for Washington leading to a Nick Kwiatkoski interception. That’s the third INT even without Karl Joseph.
— WVU goes three-and-out despite some razzle-dazzle: Crest taking a handoff and firing incomplete for Durante. Crest was crushed as he released the throw and went off the field grimacing.
— SCORE: Josh Lambert 38-yard field goal (13:51) OSU leads 23-19: WVU converted three third-down tries on the series, one courtesy of OSU jumping offsides. Howard also scooted 15 yards on a designed draw on third-and-8 and completed a short third-and-2 rollout pass to Daikiel Shorts. (Drive: 12 plays, 43 yards in 4:25)
— After OSU goes three-and out, West Virginia gets possession and a chance to take its first lead. But the Mountaineers stall at midfield, and O’Toole punts the Pokes back to their 15.
— A 31-yard catch-and-run by Rennie Childs put the Cowboys at midfield, but they could go no further. Touchback punt.
— Howard throws late over the middle, into the arms of linebacker Devante Averette at the 30. He runs it back to the WVU 11.
— SCORE: Grogan 22-yard field goal (5:36) OSU leads 26-19: Big stand for the WVU defense to keep it a one-score deficit after the interception. Oklahoma State’s lack of a running game really hurts—that’s two chances that stalled inside the 10. (Drive: 4 plays, 6 yards in 1:57)
— SCORE: Howard 3-yard touchdown run (2:44) Game tied 26-all: West Virginia ran it seven out of 10 times, drawing even on a Howard keeper. Nice comeback from a brutal first half for the junior quarterback. (Drive: 10 plays, 68 yards in 2:45)
— OSU gained 14 yards on first down only to be flagged for ineligible receiver (slot receiver was covered up). Rudolph made up for it anyway, eluding the rush to find Jarwin for 16 yards, but OSU wound up punting from its 40.
— WVU started from its own 9 with 58 seconds but couldn’t mount a serious threat before a leg-whip personal foul forced it to kill the clock.
— SCORE: Walsh 2-yard touchdown run (untimed) OSU leads 33-26: On fourth-and-2, Mike Gundy essentially put the game in Walsh’s hands, and the fifth-year senior delivered. That maligned O-line also created a seam up the middle. (Drive: 6 plays, 25 yards)
— Needing to answer, WVU faced third-and-2 at 17 when Howard threw incomplete for Durante in the back of the end zone. Shell picked up 8 yards on fourth down to keep the Mountaineers alive. Fourth-and-goal at 11, Howard couldn’t connect with Daikiel Shorts in the end zone.
PREGAME NOTES
— After West Virginia opened as a 7-point favorite, the line has been betted down to 5.
— My pregame pick, Oklahoma State 30-27, was made before Joseph’s season-ending injury. I don’t know that the Cowboys are great at anything, but they’re pretty good in several areas.
— Remember how inefficient and flat-out non-threatening the OSU offense appeared in last year’s matchup? It’s a better group this year. Mason Rudolph for Daxx Garman was an upgrade at quarterback. The receivers are at least functional now, and the O-line, though it doesn’t overpower anyone, has trimmed its negative plays.
“Last year they couldn’t put things together,” said West Virginia spur safety KJ Dillon. “They’d make some drives but couldn’t score. Now they can.”
But the biggest difference is on defense, where OSU has shaved its points allowed almost in half. (Granted, the Cowboys haven’t faced stat-inflating Baylor or TCU, but quite an improvement nonetheless.)
— Oklahoma’s Red River meltdown today certainly dings the perception West Virginia lost to a CFP contender last week, but the result in Dallas was great news for the Mountaineers. It instantly brings the Sooners back to the pack as far as the Big 12 race goes. I realize the next few weeks may prove WVU and “Big 12 race” don’t belong in the same sentence, but for now, there’s still a chance.