STILLWATER, Okla. – It was the type of defensive performance that makes you sick.
“It was bad all the way around,” said West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. “A bad second half of football.”
Gibson quickly realized that wasn’t enough of a description to do it justice.
“It was puke,” he said.
The Mountaineers surrendered 31 points and 396 yards in the second half of a 45-41 letdown that extinguished any hope of reaching the College Football Playoff. A trip to the Big 12 championship game remains on the table if West Virginia beats Oklahoma next Friday, but in order to do so it will need a dramatically improved performance from its defense.
“If you look at it, 41 points in a game should be enough to win a game,” said defensive end Reese Donahue. “That is 100 percent the defense’s fault.”
The Mountaineers came in on the heels of an effort that saw TCU limited to minus-7 rushing yards. That seemed to carry over into the first half against the Cowboys as the defense forced two interceptions and a fumble to help WVU jump out to a 31-14 halftime lead.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said the Cowboys junked their original game plan at halftime.
“I thought our coaches made tremendous adjustments at halftime, maybe as good as I’ve been around in a long, long time,” Gundy said. “We got rid of what we were doing, revamped it, went to four wide receivers, ran six or seven base plays and said we’ll roll with it and play fast.”
One drive in particular will be agonized over the most if the Mountaineers come short of their goal of a Big 12 title.
Early in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma State converted a third-and-20 and a third-and-13 on a nine-play, 57-yard scoring drive to cut West Virginia’s game-long lead down to 34-31.
The third-and-20 conversion was a complete backbreaker. With an Oklahoma State punt looming, Cowboys quarterback Taylor Cornelius found Tyron Johnson at the West Virginia 17 for a 38-yard gain.
“Cornelius made a play. That dude is a good player who has gotten better every week,” said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. “We couldn’t get pressure on him. He kept his eyes down the field, made the throw and made a play.”
Gibson said the wrong play was signaled to the players on the field, a breakdown that permitted Johnson to get past West Virginia’s safeties.
“That was bad,” Gibson said. “It was not the call I wanted that got signaled in. The kids played something different.”
The Mountaineers still could have held Oklahoma State to a field goal try, but Cornelius found backup running back Chuba Hubbard on a 14-yard swing pass to pick up another first down by a yard.
“It was like a shot in the foot because we were hurting ourselves out there,” said defensive end Ezekiel Rose. “We did our own thing and someone would just blow an assignment or something and they’d stay on the field. We were talking about getting off the field on third down before we even got here. We don’t want none of those predicaments.”
By the time Oklahoma State took over for its final possession, the Mountaineers were on roller skates. Holgorsen intended to go for the first down on a fourth-and-6 from midfield, but abandoned the plan and punted when receiver David Sills took off downfield before the ball was snapped.
There was nothing complex about Oklahoma State’s game plan on its final possession. The Cowboys rammed the ball down West Virginia’s throat, gaining 54 yards on four combined carries by Cornelius and Hubbard. Both finished the game with more than 100 rushing yards in place of injured star Justice Hill.
Hubbard finished with 134 yards on 26 carries and Cornelius ran for 106 yards on 13 attempts. Both were career highs.
“Any time we can line up and know the run’s coming and can’t stop them, that’s bad,” Gibson said.
Oklahoma State didn’t complete a pass on the drive until Cornelius connected with Tylan Wallace at the 4-yard line for a short completion. Wallace brought West Virginia cornerback Keith Washington along for the ride until he reached the end zone, making it quite clear that the Mountaineers were completely gassed.
“It’s like somebody is imposing their will on you and you can’t do anything about it,” Rose said of Oklahoma State’s final few drives. “People were just messing up plugging a gap or missing a tackle.
“I feel like it was fatigue, and some injuries people tried to play through. But I understand that, I do the same thing. I’m not mad at nobody on the team. I’m mad at myself the most. I didn’t do enough. Fatigue set on me a couple times and I listened to the little voice in my head, and it beat me in this game.”