West Virginia hosts Oklahoma with Big 12 title implications on the line
MORGANTOWN — West Virginia will be challenged by another dynamic offense this Saturday in front of a national television audience in primetime as coach Dana Holgorsen’s squad meets Big 12 leader Oklahoma on Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium.
“This is the same Bob Stoops coached Oklahoma team this year as any of the past 16 years I’ve coached against them,” Holgorsen said. “They are a top-10 team with a lot of talent that plays tough and with a chip on its shoulder.”
The No. 8 Sooners defeated the No. 10 Mountaineers, 44-24, last season, and hold a 4-0 series advantage since Holgorsen took over at WVU.
“Everybody is excited about this matchup and I know our guys will prepare hard this week to give themselves a chance to beat the mighty Sooners,” Holgorsen said.
Oklahoma opened the season with a 33-23 setback to Houston, and after a 59-17 win over ULM, lost to Ohio State, 45-24, in its third game. The Sooners held on to defeat TCU, 52-46, in their Big 12 opener, and won the next six games for a 7-0 start in the Big 12.
“Offensively, they are playing as good as anyone in the country,” Holgorsen said.
The Mountaineers enter Saturday’s game with their only blemish being a 37-20 loss to Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Oct. 29. WVU is 5-1 in league play and 8-1 overall, riding high on the strengths of a 24-20 road win at Texas.
Coach Bob Stoops’ Sooners feature Heisman hopeful junior quarterback Baker Mayfield. Mayfield was the Sporting News’ 2015 national player of the year and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy balloting a year ago.
Mayfield is well above his pace of last season and leads the country in pass efficiency (195.2) and pass yards per attempt (10.9). Mayfield’s 72.0 completion percentage is second in the nation and his 33 touchdown passes are fifth among Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools.
“They have an outstanding quarterback in Mayfield that continues to get better,” Holgorsen said. “He plays with grit, makes plays, takes care of the football, scrambles around, does a great job in the run game and is accurate with his passes.”
The junior signal caller has thrown for 3,212 yards with a per game average of 321.2 and 37 total touchdowns.
“It will be fun, and he (Mayfield) is kind of impressive,” WVU defensive back Jeremy Tyler said. “He is a solid quarterback and makes plays. I really haven’t seen any weakness from him. We will have to bring our A game.”
Mayfield’s favorite target is wide receiver Dede Westbrook, who has 68 receptions for 1,254 yards and 14 touchdowns with a long of 88. Westbrook has been the Sooners’ top receiver in eight of 10 games this season.
“What Mayfield has done with the Westbrook dude is impressive,” Holgorsen said. “I haven’t seen a combo put these kind of numbers in a long time. They didn’t have the start they wanted, but over the last six games, what they’ve done is really impressive, so that will be a challenge. He (Westbrook) is the best receiver we’ve went against so far.”
Joe Mixon, who also leads Oklahoma in rushing with 937 yards on 133 carries and six touchdowns, is a reliable receiver out of the backfield who has caught 29 passes for 420 yards and four touchdowns with a long of 60. Tight end Mark Andrews has 412 yards on 27 receptions and six touchdowns.
“This Andrews kid out of Arizona is really a talented guy,” Holgorsen said. “He is big, can block and is a huge receiving threat.”
The Sooners use a two-back system with Samaje Perine backing up Mixon. Perine has 575 yards on 111 carries and eight touchdowns.
“OU is always going to try to run the ball,” Holgorsen said. “They are averaging 42 runs a game. They are going to get their run game running. They have two of the best running backs in the country, and they are going to put both of them back together.”
Holgorsen knows his team is in for a challenge defensively, but is happy with the progress the defense has made this season, and credits the younger players for stepping up and defensive coordinator Tony Gibson for coaching the players up since Week 1 against Missouri when the Mountaineers had eight first-time starters on defense.
“The biggest thing we got defensively is that we have an identity and Tony (Gibson) is doing a great job,” Holgorsen said. “He believes in the scheme and understands the scheme. We got older players that understand what to do and go out there and play. A group that believes in what they are doing.”
WVU’s defense allows 20.6 points per game and 409.8 yards per game. Gibson was glad to see his unit limit the Longhorns to 20 points and hold them out of the end zone in a last-minute drive.
“I never thought one time they were going to score a touchdown on that last drive,” Gibson said. “I told the guys that I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else before that final drive.”
Gibson always had belief in his defense, even when they allowed 21 points to Football Championship Subdivsion (FCS) Youngstown State and 32 to BYU.
“I have really had confidence in this unit all season long,” Gibson said. “We made a big stop against BYU earlier in the season.”
The Mountaineers’ offense was out of sync against Texas with quarterback Skyler Howard being intercepted three times. In addition, WVU had to deal with injuries to Rushel Shell III and Justin Crawford, who saw minimal playing time against the Longhorns.
“We need to play better,” Holgorsen said. “We play good in spurts. We are very inconsistent. If we want to win, we have to play better consistently. I don’t know how else to put it.”
True freshman Kennedy McCoy filled in admirably for his fallen teammates with 73 yards on 25 carries and two touchdowns.
“Kennedy (McCoy) played well and that is why he was our player of the week,” Holgorsen said.
Westbrook and Mixon are Oklahoma’s top two returners on kickoffs and punts. Westbrook averages 19.8 yards per punt return with a long of 71 and one touchdown, and has a 28.4 average per kickoff return with a long of 63. Mixon has a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and his average per return is 25.9.
WVU punter Billy Kinney knows that he will need to be precise in his kicks and make sure there is plenty of hang time to allow the coverage unit to get downfield to make plays.
“You have to have good placement with the ball and good hang time to let our coverage guys get downfield to make the stop,” Kinney said. “We are excited to play in front of all our home fans on a Saturday night on national TV.”
Austin Seibert does the punting for the Sooners. Seibert averages 41.5 per punt with a long of 53 and has placed 16 punts inside the 20. He also handles the kickoffs and field goals. He has made 10 of 14 field goal attempts with a long of 39.
WVU kicker Mike Molina made his field goal beyond 40 yards when he connected on a 44-yarder against Texas. Molina has struggled at times this season kicking field goals, but never let himself get down, and the Hurricane, West Virginia, native gives a lot of credit to his friend and teammate, Kinney, and special teams coach Mark Scott.
“Billy (Kinney) is always there to congratulate me after I make a kick,” Molina said. “Coach Scott has been wonderful all year. He is a hard-working guy and everyday we watch film. He helps me out a lot.
“Being a kicker, you know how it is, and nobody really loves the kicker. This whole season, I’ve looked at how I need to get better and everything stays the same, regardless of whether it is here, Texas or on the practice field.”