COMMENTARY
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A handful of questions as No. 13 West Virginia (8-2, 6-2) hosts No. 6 Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1) in the Black Friday regular-season finale:
Is this a defining moment for Dana Holgorsen?
He claims “this ain’t a do-or-die situation for me or this program.” In reality, that’s precisely what it is.
We’re at the tail end of Year 7 for West Virginia in the Big 12, and Holgorsen’s program has finished higher than fifth only once. After such an extended run of mediocrity, the fans expected Will Grier and a loaded offense to carry this year’s team to the Big 12 championship game.
That achievement already could’ve been secured had WVU not blown a 17-point lead at Oklahoma State. Now, the only foreseeable path to Arlington involves beating the Sooners.
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley alluded to the promise this season held for the Mountaineers, saying “it was kind of set up for them” with Grier and David Sills returning a seniors. It didn’t hurt that the nine-game round-robin schedule afforded WVU five home games. Two road stumbles have raised the stakes on this fifth and final game at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Remember: Holgorsen was hired to elevate West Virginia, not merely lead it to a succession of minor bowl games.
Holgorsen admitted Tuesday this is the first time the final week of the Big 12 schedule actually “means something” to the Mountaineers. Given that it took six years for that to happen, it means more than he’s letting on.
Is Kyler Murray the fastest guy on either roster?
With 104 carries for 739 yards, it’s conceivable that Murray — one of the nation’s top-rated passers — can also become a 1,000-yard rusher this season if OU makes the Big 12 championship game.
While he prides himself on making throws from the pocket, Murray is dazzling to behold when plays break down. And Oklahoma’s game plan frequently includes a series of designed runs.
So how fast was Murray when he last ran a 40 in the spring?
“I think it was 4.3,” he said. “But it was hand-timed so I don’t how real that is.”
Is Oklahoma’s defense atrocious or merely dreadful?
Riley’s midseason firing of Mike Stoops didn’t magically transform the Sooners into sure-handed tacklers, though the boss contends effort has improved under Ruffin McNeil’s guidance.
The most recent games still poetry a brutal defense with 46, 47 and 40 points allowed to Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Kansas. Riley somehow managed to highlight a positive after the Jayhawks pile up 524 yards, including 348 on the ground.
“I think we had one or two busts in the game, so we mentally played very clean,” he said. “But our yards after contact was off the charts. We’ve got to trigger and we’ve got to go make the plays. We played well schematically … but we’ve got to play more aggressive and better physically.”
Current NCAA metrics for the Oklahoma defense: 86th in points allowed (30.7 per game) 87th in third-down stops (41 percent), 87 in yards allowed (425 per game), 94th in pass-efficiency defense, 125th in generating turnovers and 128th in red-zone defense.
Can West Virginia’s defense hang on?
Tony Gibson’s unit melted away while trying to defend 54 snaps in the second half at Oklahoma State. Now it must get at least a few stops against an OU offense that’s on pace to set an FBS record for yards per play.
“By no means am I sitting here saying it’s undoable,” Gibson said. They’ve only punted 27 times all year. That’s the one where you say, ‘Whoa.’ Also they’re averaging 50 points a game — the list goes on and on. But what I like about it is it’s at home on a Friday night. Our kids will be juiced up. We’re not going to back down.”
Gibson knows WVU needs a rare defensive effort, something replicating that hair-on-fire effort it gave against Baylor in 2014.
How tangible is OU’s stranglehold on the Mountaineers?
Among the Sooners’ six-year win streak, only one game has gone down to the wire — the 50-49 win in Morgantown in 2012. Oklahoma’s offensive line has proven dominant, paving the way for 300-plus rushing yards three of the last four meetings.
“What gets me going is I love to take a grown man’s dreams, and I love to crush his dreams,” said guard Ben Powers, who started the previous two wins vs. West Virginia. Those were a 59-31 blowout last year and a 56-28 road win in 2016.
Powers told me in July that Oklahoma’s offense would be better in 2018 than it was in 2017. Now he looks like a 313-pound prophet with a mean streak.
“I love dominating, and that’s why I do what I do,” he said. “It’s fun to know that you’ve taken the breath out of someone and they don’t want to go no more. It’s fun to make someone quit. It’s fun putting your boot on someone’s throat.”
