NCAAF

West Virginia Mountaineers at Oklahoma State Cowboys

· NCAA - Football
Final
38 - 14

White rushes for 158 yards as West Virginia dominates Oklahoma State, 38-14

Josiah Trotter's INT helps secure the win for West Virginia

Garrett Greene passed for 159 yards and rushed for 86 and CJ Donaldson Jr. added 77 yards rushing and two scores for the Mountaineers (3-2, 2-0 Big 12).

West Virginia coach Neal Brown called the win “special.”

“I thought it was dominant," he said. "I thought our preparation, staff-wise, player-wise, mentally, physically, emotionally — I thought our guys were ready to go.”

West Virginia gained 389 of its 558 yards on the ground. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said defensive players tackled poorly and often were out of position.

“It looked like to me that we had our worst tackling day of the year," Gundy said. "Like, in my mind, I was counting up to eight tackles where we had a chance to hit and get a guy down for a two-yard gain or less, and we bounced off and they ended up being big runs.

“I think that was a little bit of an issue. We did not tackle well in this game at all.”

Oklahoma State (3-3, 0-3), one of the preseason favorites to contend for the Big 12 title, lost its third straight. The Cowboys finished with just 227 total yards, including just 36 rushing.

Alan Bowman threw two interceptions before he was benched in the third quarter. Garret Rangel replaced him and threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to De'Zhaun Stribling in the fourth quarter. Bowman has struggled throughout the losing streak, and Gundy said the extra time during the upcoming bye week will help him decide who should start going forward.

“We need to look and evaluate," he said. "I don’t want to make a decision and say something now and then it maybe not be true. But we’ll need to look and see where we’re at.”

Oklahoma State's Ollie Gordon II, last year's Doak Walker Award winner for the nation's best running back, left the game in the third quarter with a leg injury and did not return. He finished with 50 yards on 13 carries. Last year at West Virginia, he ran for 282 yards and four touchdowns and led the Cowboys to a 48-34 victory. Gundy said Gordon was just dinged up, and he doesn't expect him to be out long term.

West Virginia took control early. Greene temporarily left the game at the end of a 39-yard run in the first quarter, and Nicco Marchiol stepped in a threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Traylon Ray to give the Mountaineers a 10-0 edge.

The Mountaineers went up 24-0 before Oklahoma State got on the board. West Virginia's final score of the second quarter, an 8-yard touchdown run by Donaldson with 28 seconds left in the first half, put the Mountaineers up 31-7 at the break.

West Virginia outgained Oklahoma State 345 yards to 115 before the break, with 259 yards coming on the ground.

Brown said the Mountaineers should enjoy getting a road win against a program with a good reputation.

“I think sometimes we don’t take enough in this profession to really celebrate," he said. “Like this is a really big deal. We came into a tough venue versus a program that’s won ten games a lot of times against a head coach that’s going to be in the Hall of Fame at some point. And we played a complete game. And so that’s a big deal. So we want to enjoy that.”

The Takeaway West Virginia: The Mountaineers looked motivated and ready from the outset. They overpowered Oklahoma State the old-fashioned way — they ran 65 times and threw just 16 passes.

Oklahoma State: The Cowboys didn't just get beat, they looked flat in a game they needed to keep their already faint hopes of reaching the Big 12 title game alive. Now, the Cowboys could struggle to keep their string of consecutive winning seasons that dates back to 2006 alive.

Stat lines West Virginia's offense held the ball for nearly 44 minutes, and the Mountaineers ran 81 plays to Oklahoma State's 45.

Quotable Gundy, on keeping the players motivated now that their highest goals are out of reach: “Keeping them motivated — that’s really my job. But, these are grown men. They need to motivate themselves. This has to be important to them. And, do, I think it’s an issue? I don’t. I think they’ll come back and practice really well.”

Up next West Virginia: Hosts No. 16 Iowa State on Saturday.

Oklahoma State: Visits No. 17 BYU on Friday, Oct. 18.

How To Watch

How can I watch West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys?
  • TV Channel: Mountaineers at Cowboys 2021 College Football, week 6, is broadcasted on ESPN2.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Cowboys: 65.4%
Mountaineers: 34.6%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

WVU FG 1st Period 9:20 Michael Hayes II 39 Yd Field Goal
WVU TD 1st Period 0:55 Traylon Ray 10 Yd pass from Nicco Marchiol (Michael Hayes II Kick)
WVU TD 2nd Period 11:16 Jahiem White 10 Yd Run (Michael Hayes II Kick)
WVU TD 2nd Period 5:55 Garrett Greene 15 Yd Run (Michael Hayes II Kick)
OKST TD 2nd Period 1:54 Rashod Owens 8 Yd pass from Alan Bowman (Logan Ward Kick)
WVU TD 2nd Period 0:28 CJ Donaldson Jr. 15 Yd Run (Michael Hayes II Kick)
WVU TD 4th Period 9:01 CJ Donaldson Jr. 1 Yd Run (Michael Hayes II Kick)
OKST TD 4th Period 8:30 De'Zhaun Stribling 43 Yd pass from Garret Rangel (Logan Ward Kick)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/277.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWVU https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/197.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOKST
31 1st Downs 11
9-15 3rd down efficiency 3-10
2-4 4th down efficiency 1-2
558 Total Yards 227
169 Passing 191
10/16 Comp/Att 14/24
10.6 Yards per pass 8.0
389 Rushing 36
65 Rushing Attempts 21
6.0 Yards per rush 1.7
2-5 Penalties 3-30
0 Turnovers 2
0 Fumbles lost 0
0 Interceptions thrown 2
42:40 Possession 17:20

Game Information

Boone Pickens Stadium

Location: Stillwater, OK
Attendance: 52,202 · Capacity:
Full Standings

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