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Mountaineers Out-Gun Cowboys
October 25, 2014 05:17 PM | Football
West Virginia’s defense totally shut down a struggling Cowboy offense in the second half and produced the deciding score with 4:44 left in the game when Dravon Henry picked off Daxx Garman and raced 52 yards for a touchdown.
Garman was trying to hit David Glidden out in the flat on third down and his pass sailed well over his head and into Henry’s arms.
The Mountaineer defense, which last week held Baylor to half of what it normally averages per game, picked off two passes, sacked Garman twice and held the Cowboys to just 2 of 15 on third down, both conversions coming late in the game.
"We won the turnover battle, which was good," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. "Our defense played well, third downs, once again was off the charts good."
Today’s defensive effort was a huge pick-me-up for a West Virginia offense that struggled at times sustaining drives and handling Oklahoma State’s impressive defensive front.
The Mountaineers finished with 448 total yards, including 210 on the ground, but quarterback Clint Trickett saw his eight-game streak of 300-yard passing games end, and Kevin White’s seven-game streak of 100-yard receiving games was also stopped.
"It was a lot more challenging than what the final score indicated, I think everybody agrees with that," noted Holgorsen. "They played a lot of cover two, which people are going to do to try to take (White) away. When you have games like that, you have to be able to run the ball. That's the difference between being able to win a game like this and not."
West Virginia was able to run the ball, in large part, because Oklahoma State double and triple teamed White for the entire afternoon. That opened things up for Wendell Smallwood to run for 132 yards while Dreamius Snith contributed 72, including the game-clinching 40-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers other two TDs came on their first two possessions of the game, one covering 62 yards and ending with Trickett hooking up with White in the middle of the end zone for a 19-yard score, and the other coming on a lightning strike to Mario Alford on a quick slant where he outran the Cowboy secondary for a 79-yard touchdown for WVU's longest scoring play from scrimmage this year.
After that, the game settled into a battle for field position with Oklahoma State stopping West Virginia on its final six possessions of the half. In the meantime, the Cowboys got a 40-yard field goal from Ben Grogan and an 8-yard, Garman-to-Teddy Johnson touchdown pass with 8:34 left in the second quarter.
Oklahoma State (5-3, 3-2) had a chance for more points late in the second quarter but Grogan’s 36-yard field goal try sailed wide right.
Josh Lambert’s 39-yard field goal accounted for the only points scored in the third quarter. He also booted a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to put West Virginia ahead, 20-10.
Trickett finished the afternoon completing 21 of 30 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Alford caught seven passes for 136 yards and a touchdown while White was limited to just three catches for 27 yards and a touchdown.
"The way (Trickett) managed the game, he knew what our mindset was and did a good job of getting our guys in the huddle and making sure our guys were on the same page," said Holgorsen. "He made some good decisions in the pass game, and took care of the ball. He managed the game extremely well and that's what he does best."
For Oklahoma State, Garman was 21 of 41 for 242 yards with two interceptions.
West Virginia (6-2, 4-1) becomes bowl eligible with the win today and also is right in the thick of the Big 12 race with a key conference game coming up this Saturday in Morgantown against TCU, which soundly defeated Texas Tech in Fort Worth today.
The last two games against these two teams weren’t decided until overtime; in 2012 TCU defeated West Virginia in double-overtime in Morgantown while the Mountaineers defeated TCU on a Lambert field goal in last year’s game.
A game time has yet to be announced because of television, but tickets still remain and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.
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