NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma piled up 646 yards, scored on its first nine possessions and beat West Virginia for the sixth consecutive year, 59-31, on Saturday.
The Sooners (11-1, 8-1) remained among the CFP top four while WVU (7-5, 5-4) ended the regular season on a two-game slide.
Recapping the updates from throughout the game:
Final stats
— Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield was 14-of-17 passing for 281 yards and three TDs. Rodney Anders on ran for 118 (all in the first half) and Kyler Murray ran for 80 yards while completing both passes fr 52 yards.
— Kennedy McKoy led WVU with 137 yards on 25 carries, while Justin Crawford had 97 yards on 17 attempts.
— Chris Chugunov closed the day 10-of-20 passing for 137 yards in his first start.
Fourth quarter
— TOUCHDOWN: Martell Pettaway 2-yard run (6:11) Oklahoma leads 59-31
WVU benefited from three defensive personal fouls, including a dubious pass-interference call on a fourth-down incompletion, to punch it in. The drive was so strange that the Mountaineers had first-and-goal at the 9 and scored seven snaps later. (Drive: 14 plays, 72 yards in 6:17)
— Oklahoma finally punted. After eight TDs and a field goal, Oklahoma finally punted.
Third quarter
— WVU punted.
TOUCHDOWN: Myles Tease 46-yard pass from Murray (1:25) Oklahoma leads 59-24
Oklahoma continued doing whatever it wanted against Tony Gibson’s defense. Tease spun away from Hakeem Bailey on the catch-and-run TD. On the drive’s first three drives, Trey Sermon gained 19 yards on two carries then caught a 6-yard pass. (Drive: 4 plays, 71 yards in 2:09)
TOUCHDOWN: Kennedy McKoy 3-yard run (3:34) Oklahoma leads 52-24
WVU snapped it 12 times and ran it 12 times, consuming more than 6 minutes than may be its best defense against the OU attack. (Drive: 12 plays, 75 yards in 6:39)
TOUCHDOWN: Grant Calcaterra 18-yard pass from Mayfield (10:13) Oklahoma leads 52-17
OU faced a third-and-10 early in the drive when Calcaterra caught a 14-yard pass from Mayfield. Later, a deep incompletion for Marquise Brown was negated by a pass interference on Elijah Battle. On the touchdown pass, Mayfield found Calcaterra on a slant. (Drive: 6 plays, 75 yards in 1:46)
TOUCHDOWN: Kennedy McKoy 15-yard run (11:59) Oklahoma leads 45-17
Running it six times on seven plays, the Mountaineers opened the second half with a pulse. Oklahoma’s defense contributed with two personal fouls — Amani Bledsoe’s facemask on Crawford and Steven Parker’s pass interference on Gary Jennings. McKoy lined up in the Wildcat before scoring his second touchdown. (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards in 3:01)
Halftime notes
— The Sooners are outgaining West Virginia 443-224 and averaging 13.8 yards per play.
— Rodney Anderson (118 yards and four TDs on 13 carries) has been the star of the half, though Mayfield has been sharp. He’s 11-of-12 for 238 yards and two scores.
— Chris Chugunov is 8-of-12 for 107 yards.
— WVU’s run game has been steady: McKoy with nine carries for 66 yards and Crawford 10 for 52 yards. But those numbers have been overwhelmed by OU’s peak efficiency.
Second quarter
FIELD GOAL: Austin Siebert 51-yarder (0:00) Oklahoma leads 45-10
Gifted a final possession, the Sooners capitalized when Siebert drilled the kick. (Drive: 1 play, 0 yards in 0:04)
— TURNOVER: West Virginia’s hook-and-lateral from Ka’Raun White to Gary Jennings led to a fumble that OU recovered at the Mountaineers’ 33 with 4 seconds left in the half. Unbelievable
TOUCHDOWN: Andrews 14-yard pass from Mayfield (0:13) Oklahoma leads 42-10
Mayfield went 5-of-6 for 64 yards on the possession, capping it by finding the big tight end over the middle. (Drive: 9 plays, 77 yards in 1:40)
— WVU punted after a three-and-out that gained 3 yards (again).
TOUCHDOWN: Anderson 1-yard run (3:35) Oklahoma leads 35-10
Mayfield hit CeeDee Lamb for 61 yards to set up Anderson’s fourth score. As the PAT unit came on, Mayfield ran along the sideline, waving his arms to get the crowd roaring. (Drive: 3 plays, 64 yards in 1:11)
— WVU punted after a three-and-out that gained 3 yards.
TOUCHDOWN: Anderson 17-yard run (5:56) Oklahoma leads 28-10
WVU’s onside kick recovery was overturned for illegal touching by the kicker — a seemingly too-close-to-review call that went OU’s way. After Mayfield found tight end Mark Andrews for 12 yards, the chippiness heightened. Sooners guard Dru Samia was ejected after he and Adam Shuler wrestled to the ground. As flags flew, Samia got up and charged Shuler before his own OU teammates tackled him. (As he was walked to the sideline, Samia threw his helmet and dropped several F-bombs.) Anderson brought the crowd to its feet with his third TD run. (Drive: 7 plays, 44 yards in 4:29)
TOUCHDOWN: McKoy 1-yard run (10:25) Oklahoma leads 21-10
McKoy opened the drive by ripping off a 36-yard run up the middle before Jake Spavital slipped into trickiness, with Chugunov taking a lateral at receiver and flinging a 35-yard pass to Marcus Simms. The ball was underthrown, however, resulting in Simms being smashed by two defenders. WVU eventually punched it in on fourth-and-inches fro the goal line. (Drive: 7 plays, 89 yards in 2:43
TOUCHDOWN: Anderson 13-yard run (13:08) Oklahoma leads 21-3
Marquise Brown, who was nearly a Mountaineer coming out of junior college last winter, caught a 56-yard bomb over Hakeem Bailey. After Dimitri Flowers converted fourth-and-1 by running through linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton in the, Anderson popped free off the left side. (Drive: 7 plays, 89 yards in 3:02)
First quarter
— TURNOVER: Chugunov completed a 51-yard pass to David Sills and the two narrowly missed a touchdown hookup two plays later in the back corner of the end zone. That loomed large when Crawford dropped a toss and Okoronkwo recovered at the Sooners’ 11.
TOUCHDOWN: CeeDee Lamb 8-yard pass from Baker Mayfield (5:21) Oklahoma leads 14-3
Mayfield’s suspension lasted one series, and on his first snap, he handed off to Anderson for a 58-yard gain. The running back capitalized on a huge hole and made it an explosive run on the second level by breaking the ankles of safety Kenny Robinson. Mayfield then hit Lamb for an 11-yard out, and the duo hooked up for the score on a slant. (Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards in 1:47)
FIELD GOAL: Evan Staley 28-yarder (7:08) Oklahoma leads 7-3
Justin Crawford carried four times for 39 yards as WVU established some early running room against the Big 12’s top-ranked rush defense. Not surprisingly, the Mountaineers unveiled the Wildcat formation with Kennedy McKoy taking the direct snap and Chugunov splitting wide left. (Drive: 13 plays, 64 yards in 7:03)
TOUCHDOWN: Rodney Anderson 4-yard run (14:11) Oklahoma leads 7-0
Kyler Murray began the game by taking a zone-read keeper 66 yards, capitalizing on the over-pursuit of Adam Shuler and David Long. Anderson ran it on the next play as the Sooners delivered an opening blow. (Drive: 2 plays, 70 yards in 0:49)
Pregame notes
— Since 2013, Holgorsen’s teams are 5-17 as the underdog. (OU is favored by 22.5-points today.)
— WVU receiver David Sills on Chris Chugunov: “We’ve thrown with Chugs a lot. We just have to get the checks down and make sure we’re seeing what he’s seeing. He’s very smart, very relaxed as well. He doesn’t really get rattled and he’s definitely ready for a big stage.”
— Chugunov wearing No. 5 today, by the way.
— Senior guard Kyle Bosch, a three-year starter, is out for the Mountaineers. Grant Lingafelter starts in his place.
— WVU offensive coordinator Jake Spavital suggested spilling his entire repertoire of trick plays today: “A lot of things that we’ve held over week to week — those one-word plays that are named ‘Raider’ and ‘Cyclone’ — they may all come out in this game.”
— Mountaineers cornerbacks coach Doug Belk on the magic of Mayfield: “I always equate that to a good point guard in basketball, because he creates plays when nothing’s there. He turns broken plays into touchdowns.”
— The Mountaineers tackles must be on their toes against OU edge rusher Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, who O-line coach Joe Wickline calls “every bit as talented as (Eric) Striker.”
Okoronkwo has 17.5 TFLs and eight sacks, lining up at defensive end and linebacker.
“They put him in so many positions that allow him to get one-on-one matchups. He’s just twitchy and he’s got a whole bucket of different moves — inside, outside, bullrush. He’s not overly big but, my gosh, his hand-speed and foot-speed and the way he processes things.”
— My Friday Gold & Blue Lunch Report preview complete with interesting feedback from WVU coaches and players o this week’s challenge.
— Here are our MetroNews staff final-score predictions:
