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Oklahoma Notebook: Sooners Make the Critical Plays
October 04, 2015 11:22 AM | Football
NORMAN, Okla. - Of the 144 plays run in Saturday’s West Virginia-Oklahoma game, the three that made the biggest difference happened late in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers had fought back from a 24-7 halftime deficit to reduce Oklahoma’s lead to three, 27-24, when quarterback Skyler Howard beautifully executed a zone-read fake and ran 50 yards for a touchdown.
Then, on the ensuing kickoff, the Sooners were called for using an illegal wedge on Alex Ross’s 10-yard return – something the game hasn’t seen since the days of Pudge Heffelfinger more than 100 years ago – and West Virginia appeared to be in great shape.
That infraction, one of 23 issued to both teams on Saturday, put Oklahoma in a deep hole at their own five.
Old Uncle Mo, a frequent companion of the Sooners in Memorial Stadium, had just switched sidelines. And the knowledgeable 84,834 Oklahoma fans sitting in their seats – and they were sitting by then – could sense it.
This was an opportunity for West Virginia’s defense to take control of the game, force a Sooner punt deep in their own territory and give the ball back to a Mountaineer offense that was having some success running the football between the tackles.
“We made them adjust to us, we didn’t have to adjust to them in the run game,” noted running backs coach JaJuan Seider. “I thought our game plan was sound – try to get the ball inside between the tackles because that was where they were vulnerable with the front they were playing against us. We knew those guys wanted to rush up field so we thought we could run at them.”
Therefore, play good, sound, fundamental defense, don’t give up a big play and get the football back to a probing Mountaineer offense that had finally discovered some areas in Oklahoma’s defense to exploit.
But immediately Baker Mayfield completed a 12-yard pass to Michiah Quick that took the ball to the OU 17, and Samaje Perine, who finished the day with a very pedestrian 65 yards on 16 carries, had his best run of the afternoon with a 12-yard burst to the 29.
That gave Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley the space he needed to look for a whole lot more downfield.
Riley called a screen and go – a play West Virginia was aware of and had prepared for all week - and the Sooners executed it perfectly.
Unfortunately, the Mountaineers did not.
Durron Neal got behind everyone and all Mayfield had to do was not overthrow him. He didn’t, and Neal was able to jog into the end zone to complete a back-breaking, 71-yard touchdown.
“We were in a cover three and they ran a screen and go and we had our eyes in the wrong place and they executed and we didn’t, so give credit to them,” said West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson.
Two possessions after Neal’s touchdown, with the Mountaineers now trying to make up a two-score deficit, Howard was caught holding the football too long; he didn’t feel the backside pressure put on by Eric Striker and the linebacker was able to strip-sack him from behind.
Jordan Evans scooped up Howard's fumble and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.
Game over.
That is what Oklahoma has been able to do for the last 17 seasons under Bob Stoops - execute at critical moments in football games. That’s why the Sooners are now 93-8 in games played at Memorial Stadium since 1999, and that’s what West Virginia is still trying to learn how to do since joining the Big 12 – consistently execute at critical moments in hotly contested football games.
West Virginia has had plenty of opportunities against the Sooners since the Mountaineers began facing them on a yearly basis. In 2012, WVU watched quarterback Landry Jones march his team right down the field to score the winning touchdown in a 50-49 Sooner victory.
Two years ago in Norman, Oklahoma needed a suffocating defensive performance and three Mike Hunnicutt field goals to hold off the Mountaineers 16-7.
Last year in Morgantown, West Virginia had a 24-17 lead over Oklahoma with 1:20 left in the second quarter before Ross took a kickoff 100 yards to the house to tie the game. After that, Perine ran over people in the third quarter and Oklahoma left Morgantown with a 45-33 victory.
Yesterday, it was some confusion in the West Virginia secondary that led to Neal’s long touchdown reception and the game’s biggest play.
Four Oklahoma victories in four years against West Virginia, all of them achieved in different ways - much like Penn State used to do to the Mountaineers back in the day.
Again, that’s what winning football programs do.
“It’s hard for us because we know we could have done better looking back on it,” said senior linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski, involved in all four Oklahoma defeats. “We’ve just got to take everything we can from this game, watch film, and move on to next week.”
“We can’t stay too busy with this loss,” added Smallwood, who continued his outstanding play with a game-high 111 yards rushing against the Sooners. “We’ve got to get the film out of the way because we’ve got a new team coming with Oklahoma State. We’ve got to get ready for them and not let this bring our season down.”
Yes, it’s back to the drawing board for the Mountaineers this week facing an undefeated Oklahoma State team that found a way to beat Kansas State yesterday in Stillwater.
The Cowboys will likely arrive in Morgantown next Saturday with a top 20 national ranking – something West Virginia is going to see a lot of this month.
“Our job is to not let this game affect the next game,” Seider concluded.
Indeed, and to make sure their players understand that tough football games quite often are decided at a moment's notice.
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