NORMAN, Okla. — The last time West Virginia beat Oklahoma in a football game, the coach exhorted the Mountaineers to leave no doubt.
Saturday afternoon, it was the Sooners leaving no doubt: Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) is one of the top five teams in the country, and the climb that Neal Brown is asking West Virginia fans to trust is as steep as anyone could have imagined.
After giving themselves a puncher’s chance in the first half, the increasingly thin Mountaineers (3-4, 1-3) were overwhelmed by the bigger, stronger and faster Sooners in a 52-14 defeat at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. Oklahoma outscored WVU 24-0 in the second half.
“That’s a championship-level football team in the other locker room,” said West Virginia coach Neal Brown. “They’ve got all of the ingredients to make a run. It was a struggle all day for us. We were outplayed and honestly outmanned at several positions.
“For this to be a competitive game we needed to play clean, which we didn’t. We had to run the ball, which we couldn’t. We had to force some turnovers, which we didn’t. We had to minimize explosive plays, which we couldn’t do.”
In some regards, the Mountaineers were a one-armed man playing with that hand tied behind his back.
Linebacker Josh Chandler was moved to the Mike to improve West Virginia’s fortunes at that position, but exited the game with a knee injury playing on the punt unit. Former Mike linebacker Dylan Tonkery was moved to bandit to help West Virginia’s depth at that position in the absence of VanDarius Cowan, who is out for the rest of the year after injuring his knee against Iowa State.
Starting cornerback Keith Washington missed the second straight game with an injury, forcing the Mountaineers to switch safety Josh Norwood back to his old position while freshman safety Kerry Martin started his first career game.
Late in the first half, walk-on Devan Wade ended playing corner when Norwood was moved back to safety before the Mountaineers finally got senior Hakeem Bailey back from his first-half suspension for a targeting foul.
Even with a fully functioning unit, the Mountaineers would have had a hard time slowing down Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts.
The graduate transfer connected on his first 11 pass attempts and finished the game 16 of 17 for 316 yards and three touchdowns. His passer rating of 308.5 is the highest in the NCAA this season and the second-best single-game showing in Oklahoma history.
If that wasn’t enough — and it was — Hurts also gained 75 yards on 10 carries and added another pair of touchdowns with his feet.
“He’s been this good since he started playing,” said West Virginia wide receiver T.J. Simmons, a former teammate of Hurts at Alabama.
Simmons had a fine game in his own right, catching six passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns. His 6-yard reception with 29 seconds left in the second quarter cut Oklahoma’s lead to 28-14 and had the Mountaineers feeling good going into halftime.
It didn’t take long for the Sooners to evaporate those vibes.
Oklahoma only faced second down once on its six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to open the second half. The next time the Sooners touched the ball, it took all of two plays to score again. Sam James muffed the ensuing kickoff, forcing West Virginia to start a possession at its own 2-yard line. That miscue begat the play that turned the game into a complete laugher — a blocked punt that Oklahoma’s Austin Stogner recovered in the end zone.
It was the third straight miserable third quarter for West Virginia’s offense. The Mountaineers gained 27 yards and two first downs. In its last three third quarters combined, West Virginia has produced 74 yards of total offense.
“We’ve been here before as a staff, and it’s good when you have guys around you that know where you’re going and know where you are,” said co-offensive coordinator Matt Moore, referencing Brown’s 3-9 first season at Troy. “Sometimes when you’ve never been here before, you don’t always believe. I believe 100 percent in what Coach Brown’s doing and how we’re doing it.
“We’re going to keep grinding and make sure our kids understand the same way. We’re going to keep grinding and keep recruiting, keep working in the weight room. We’re going to get this where it needs to be.”