By Zippy Zimmerman, RealWV
West Virginia, who came off their best performance of the year just last week against BYU, was unable to continue that momentum against Oklahoma. West Virginia now moves to 4-3 in conference play, and will no longer have a shot at reaching the Big 12 title game. The Mountaineer defense allowed 644 yards of Sooner offense. On the offensive side, the Mountaineers produced just 330 total yard resulting in 20 points.
West Virginia opened up the ball game by putting together a drive reminiscent to the ones they put together last week against BYU. CJ Donaldson capped off the possession on a 13-yard touchdown run giving West Virginia a 7-0 lead, but that would be the only lead the Mountaineers would have all night long. Oklahoma quickly struck back, putting together a nice offensive drive of their own which ended in a 2-yard Dillon Gabriel quarterback run. After a West Virginia punt, Gabriel would again punch the ball in on another 2-yard run for the Sooners. The Sooners now led late in the first quarter 7-14.
Following a muffed punt return by Oklahoma, West Virginia was put into prime scoring position, but the Mountaineer offense was unable to turn the turnover into points, as Michael Hayes missed his 48-yard field goal attempt wide left, allowing the Sooners to retain possession at the spot of the kick attempt. Oklahoma drove down the field and would again put points on the board by converting a 23-yard field goal of their own. From this point on, West Virginia was never able to make it back into the ball game.
Gabriel went on to have a career night for the Sooners, scoring a total of eight touchdowns in the game. Wideout Drake Stoops also had a fantastic night for the Sooners, accumulating for 164 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The Sooners defeated the Mountaineers in beatdown fashion to the tune of a 20-59 victory. A career high night for some, and a career worst for others.
The Mountaineers will have two more games to decide which bowl game they’ll compete in at the end the season, with matchups against both Cincinnati and Baylor. The first of those two games for West Virginia will take place back home at Milan Puskar Stadium against Cincinnati. This will be their last home game of the season before they round things out in their final matchup at Baylor. For now, the Mountaineers will look to move past a tough Oklahoma loss, and start to prepare for a matchup against their old Big East inner conference rival Cincinnati.
