MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When push came to shove, there wasn’t much of either displayed by West Virginia.
Riding a two-game win streak and looking to snap a six-game skid against Oklahoma State, the Mountaineers were manhandled by the 11th-ranked Cowboys, who left Saturday’s contest at Milan Puskar Stadium with a 24-3 victory.
“They beat us soundly today,” said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, who fell to 15-16 in his Mountaineer tenure. “It was easily seen by everybody in this room. The game’s hard and this league’s hard. What a difference a week makes. We played probably our best football game a week ago and this was a struggle all day. It was a field position game that we lost badly.”
WVU (4-5, 2-4) finished with 133 total yards — its lowest yardage output in 27 years. Nearly half of the yards (64) came on the game’s opening drive, which ended with Casey Legg’s 30-yard field goal for the Mountaineers’ only points.
“They were doing a couple different things playing man and dropping into certain coverages,” WVU quarterback Jarret Doege said. “We couldn’t seem to get anything going. I put that on myself. When things are going bad, I have to figure out a way to get things going in the right direction.”
That 3-0 lasted through the opening quarter, but West Virginia missed out on a prime opportunity to add to its lead. On the second series for Oklahoma State (8-1, 5-1), Mountaineer defensive lineman Dante Stills played a screen pass perfectly, tipping and intercepting a throw from Spencer Sanders that positioned WVU at the Cowboys’ 40.
But on the second play of the series, Garrett Greene was sacked by Jason Taylor, and although Tony Mathis recovered a fumble that allowed the Mountaineers to maintain possession, they lost 26 yards.
“They just consumed us,” Brown said. “They got us into a one-on-one battle up front by a couple different ways. They played more bear front than they’ve shown at any point. They got into a fifth rusher.
“[Tackles for loss], sacks, I’m not sure if we’ve ever had a game with that many. We had too many negative plays. They won at the line of scrimmage — that’s clear.”
OSU broke through and went on top for good after flipping the field and starting on its own 47. The Cowboys covered the necessary 53 yards in seven plays and scored the game’s first touchdown on Sanders’ 6-yard pass to Tay Martin 8:32 before halftime.
After WVU punted on its fourth straight series, OSU marched 53 yards in 11 plays and got a 34-yard field goal from Tanner Brown for a 10-3 lead.
Following its opening drive, WVU’s next five series netted minus-1 yard, leaving the Mountaineers with 61 yards at the intermission. The Pokes recorded half of their eight sacks through the first two quarters.
“I expected our defense to play well, but I didn’t expect that,” veteran Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy said. “They dominated the game, and other than the first drive, West Virginia hit a few plays and never really could get off the ground again, because of how well our defense played.”
Yet even with the offense sputtering, West Virginia was squarely in the game and forced a three-and-out to start the second half.
After picking up two first downs, the Mountaineers were forced to punt it back as a result of Doege being sacked by Devin Harper on second down.
But the WVU defense remained up to the task and forced the Cowboys into their fourth punt just past the midway point of the third quarter. That punt, however, was muffed by Graeson Malashevich, who was handling that role in place of injured wideout Isaiah Esdale. OSU’s Korie Black recovered the loose ball, allowing the Cowboys to start at the Mountaineers’ 26.
OSU capitalized on the field position and doubled its lead when Sanders made a high level throw on a fade route, with Martin making the 12-yard reception for his second TD catch.
“The fumble on the punt was big,” Brown said.
Doege was sacked twice on WVU’s next series — the first of three consecutive three-and-outs.
OSU’s final scoring drive began at the Mountaineers’ 45 and ended with Jaylen Warren’s 13-yard touchdown run, giving the visitors a three-touchdown advantage with 13:20 remaining.
Up until its second-to-last possession, the Mountaineers gained 32 yards on nine series following their opening drive.
“It’s not a great matchup for us offense versus defense,” Brown said. “We knew going into the game the matchups aren’t great. We felt like we were going to have to take some shot plays, because it was going to be tough to drive the football against these guys. Nobody has really done it all year.
“We tried to open the game up with a shot play and they covered us. They do a good coverage with their man coverage and being physical. It’s not going to get called, so I don’t blame them.”
Harper and Brock Martin had a pair of sacks apiece, while the Pokes limited the Mountaineers to 2.3 yards per play.
The last time OSU held an opponent to a lower yard per play average was 2012 against FCS member Savannah State.
OSU’s eight sacks were its most since 2004 and its second-most in a game in school history.
“It’s a good win for us on the road against a team that I was concerned with after watching them last Sunday and Monday,” Gundy said. “I’m proud of our guys. Their focus, discipline, toughness and practice habits [showed today].”
Sanders completed 21-of-31 passes for 182 yards.
Warren rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries, and Martin led all players with seven receptions for 63 yards.
Doege was 15-of-22 for 109 yards, while Mathis led the Mountaineers with 25 rushing yards. Leddie Brown was limited to 24 yards on 10 carries, and with the sacks factored in, WVU rushed for a mere 17 yards.
“It makes it a lot easier when the run game is working,” Doege said. “Every person on our offense has to look in the mirror, own their mistakes and we’ll move on to Kansas State.”