Box Score NORMAN, Okla. - Baker Mayfield passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns and No. 15 Oklahoma's defense came up with five critical turnovers to turn away No. 23 West Virginia, 44-24, here at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma, this afternoon.
 
After the Mountaineers pulled to within three, 27-24, with 1:36 remaining in the third quarter, the Sooners erupted for 17 unanswered points to turn the game into a rout.
 
"I thought we played well in the third quarter after a bad first half, but their defense was better than us in the fourth quarter," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen.
 
West Virginia's defense did a good job this afternoon of bottling up Samaje Perine, the sophomore gaining just 65 yards on 16 carries after gouging the Mountaineers for 242 yards in Morgantown last year. However, WVU had a much tougher time stopping Mayfield in the passing game or handling Oklahoma's backside pressure on defense.
 
Sooner blitzing resulted in five West Virginia turnovers, all of them coming from quarterback Skyler Howard on fumbles or interceptions.
 
Howard finished the afternoon completing 17-of-32 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown, but WVU had much better success moving the ball on the ground. Wendell Smallwood (108 yards) and Rushel Shell (72 yards) helped the Mountaineers churn out 196 yards rushing on 54 attempts.
 
"We forced some things in the fourth quarter and you can't do that against a defense like this," said Holgorsen.
 
Following an exchange of possessions to begin the game, Oklahoma took over at its own 17 and immediately went to the air.
 
Mayfield found Michiah Quick wide open along the near sideline for a 34-yard gain to the WVU 40. He hooked up once again with Quick along the Sooner sideline for a 23-yard pass play that was upheld by replay, giving Oklahoma a first down at the Mountaineer 17. Two plays later, Mark Andrews got behind linebacker Shaq Petteway for a 17-yard touchdown.
 
West Virginia tied the game early in the second quarter when the Mountaineers drove the ball 86 yards in seven plays - all of them coming either on the ground or from Oklahoma penalties. Shell had 26 of those rushing yards on the scoring drive, including a 15-yarder to the OU 26, before he bounced in from the five on third and four.
 
It took Oklahoma only four plays to retake the lead, however. Mayfield hooked up with Dede Westbrook for a 42-yard pass to the WVU 33 before the junior quarterback burned the WVU secondary with a 28-yard scoring toss to a wide-open Sterling Shepard.
 
West Virginia came on an all-out blitz, didn't get close to Mayfield, and consequently, didn't have anyone close to Shepard when he caught the ball at the 10 and jogged into the end zone.
 
Oklahoma got three more points on an Austin Seibert 40-yard field goal after West Virginia penalties forced the Mountaineers to punt from their own four. Nick O'Toole's 37-yard boot sailed out of bounds at the Mountaineer 41. After a scrambling Mayfield hooked up with Westbrook along the sideline for a 17-yard gain on third and 12, Oklahoma's drive bogged down at the 23. Mayfield had Jeffrey Mead open on a quick slant, but Mead was unable to hold onto the ball on a third-and-seven pass play.
 
After once again stopping West Virginia, the Sooner scoring continued. A roughing the passer penalty on linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski gave Oklahoma a first down at the Sooner 34, giving Mayfield more space to operate. He completed passes of 11 and 16 yards to set up Joe Mixon's 35-yard jaunt into the end zone. Seibert's point-after-kick made it 24-7, heading to the locker room.
 
The second half began with West Virginia's defense stopping Oklahoma on its opening possession, and then the offense going back to the ground to cross OU's goal line for a second time this afternoon.
 
Holgorsen rolled the dice on fourth and one from his own 32 and got a four-yard run from Shell; then, two plays later, he kept it on the ground once again on a third-and-seven play that resulted in Smallwood's 21-yard run to the Sooner 40. Howard's first completed pass of the drive to Shelton Gibson resulted in a first down to the OU 14 before he hooked up with Gibson once again to the Sooner one for an 11-yard gain.
 
Howard kept it in the air with his one-yard fade pass to Jovon Durante in the corner of the end zone, the true freshman making a leaping grab for the score.
 
Immediately, West Virginia got the football back when Westbrook fumbled at the Oklahoma 39 on an 18-yard pass play. Daryl Worley stripped the football as Westbrook was attempting to get around him, and Kwiatkoski was there to recover the ball along the Oklahoma sideline.
 
Howard went back to work, completing a 34-yard aerial to Durante to the Sooner five. Had Durante been able to keep his feet underneath him he could have easily walked into the end zone because the Oklahoma defensive back Zack Sanchez had fallen down on the play. Therefore, all West Virginia could get out of that was three on Josh Lambert's 23-yard field goal.
 
A West Virginia turnover gave those three points right back to Oklahoma when Howard was sacked from behind by Matt Dimon from behind and his fumble was recovered by D.J. Ward at the seven.
 
West Virginia's defense was able to take down Mayfield on third down play from the four, forcing Seibart's 25-yard field goal.
 
And the scoring continued.
 
West Virginia pulled to within a field goal when Howard perfectly read a zone play at midfield on fourth and two, faked out the entire Oklahoma defense and took off down the near sideline for a 50-yard touchdown – the longest scoring rush of the season for the Mountaineers.
 
Oklahoma answered with a 96-yard scoring drive that came with very little resistance. Back-to-back Mayfield passes moved the ball from the four to the 29, and then he got big help from some confusion in the West Virginia secondary.
 
Safety KJ Dillon was expecting help over top but didn't get it, and when he released Durron Neal nobody was there to pick him up. All Mayfield had to do was not overthrow Neal; he didn't, and Neal glided into the end zone to complete a 71-yard scoring play.
 
That Sooner touchdown put Oklahoma ahead by a double-digit margin once again, and Eric Striker made it a three-score advantage two possessions later when he got past Elijah Wellman's block and strip-sacked Howard from behind. Jordan Evans scooped up Howard's fumble and raced 41 yards for a touchdown.
 
Evans's return put the Sooners ahead 41-24.
 
Oklahoma got three more on a Seibart 44-yard field goal that was set up by Jordan Thomas's 38-yard interception return of a Howard pass that took the ball to the Mountaineer 20.
 
Just about everyone chewed up substantial chunks of yardage this afternoon – Oklahoma's offense, which finished today's game with 427 yards, Oklahoma's defense, which forced two fumbles and picked off a pair of passes that accounted for 143 yards in returns, West Virginia's offense, which accumulated 369 yards, and the refs, who walked off a combined 245 yards in penalties.
 
West Virginia (3-1) continues Big 12 play next weekend when 20th-ranked Oklahoma State comes to Morgantown for a homecoming game at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Cowboys came back to defeat Kansas State in Stillwater on Saturday to remain undefeated.
 
Oklahoma (4-0) plays rival Texas in Dallas.