Jordan Evans scored after Eric Striker caused the Mountaineers to fumble the ball in the 4th quarter. Out of rhythm from the jump, Howard struggled with accuracy and decision making throughout.
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The Sooners’ freshman running back ran over, around and through the WVU defenders on his way to 242 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
CCM: With all the positives surrounding the Mountaineer defense, opponents are still averaging 4 yards per carry.
No. 15 Oklahoma rolled past the 23rd-ranked Mountaineers 44-24 in the conference opener for both teams.
With all the talk of Air Raid offenses in the conference, West Virginia is keeping pace with its 543 offensive yards per game, but it’s the defense that’s turning heads.
After the Sooners took a 27-17 lead, West Virginia went for it on fourth-and-2, and Howard kept on the read option and strolled 50 yards for a touchdown. West Virginia already employs a 3-3-5 defensive set. West Virginia then pulled to within a touchdown after Dede Westbrook’s fumble on the next possession gave the Mountaineers the ball inside the Sooners 40.
The Sooners allowed West Virginia to claw back to within three points after taking a 24-7 lead into halftime, but Mayfield quickly found Duron Neal 71 yards down the field to nudge their lead back to 10.
Striker was all over the field against West Virginia. “That’s on me, not having the guys ready to go”. The win at Tennessee was a ideal example of how strong OU has come out in the second half.
On the first play of the second quarter, Shell followed the blocks of his offensive line and fullback Elijah Wellman to walk into the end zone from the five yard line on third and four to even the score at 7-all.
The Sooners travel to Dallas-Fort Worth to play their hated rival Texas. He’s gone over 300 yards in three of the first four games of 2015 and has been stellar in two straight contests after his poor outing against Tennessee.
TURNOVER BATTLE: West Virginia leads the nation in turnover margin (+3.0 per game) while Oklahoma ranks 117th out of 127 FBS schools. “The Perine kid is experienced and they, like us, have one of the most efficient passers in the country in Baker Mayfield”. He’s playing against an Oklahoma secondary Tulsa exploited for 427 yards passing. Although both teams are known better for their high-powered offenses, its the Mountaineers’ defense that has raised eyebrows so far during a 3-0 start. A spectacular touchdown grab by Jovon Durante cut Oklahoma’s lead to 24-14.
After this victory, Oklahoma has put themselves in the Big 12 title conversation with Baylor and TCU.
Between the first and second quarter of the game, OU and the National Football Foundation will honor linebacker Brian Bosworth, who was recently inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Mountaineers held OU quarterback Trevor Knight in check, forcing him into a 37.7 quarterback rating as he threw for just 205 yards. West Virginia is 22/43 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 12/49.
West Virginia no longer has time to savor a solid September.
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West Virginia’s special teams had more than one miscue including miscommunication issues on kick returns. Now the betting odds for the game have the Sooners favored by a touchdown to pick up the win. He had one blunder when he threw it right to Karl Joseph for an interception that put West Virginia in a position to get right back in the game, but was really good other than that.
