MilanPuskarStadiumTrueBlue-Main.jpg
Hot Reads: Winning Ugly
November 17, 2016 02:34 PM | Football
Radio sideline reporter Jed Drenning provides periodic commentary on the Mountaineer football program for WVUsports.com. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @TheSignalCaller.
Winning ugly.
It’s a football term of art, more endearing than it might sound to the untrained ear, intended to describe a rough-around-the-edges style of victory that’s short on fashion but long on grit.
College football is littered with oxymoronic jargon. From offensive tackle and up back to forward lateral – the game is replete with contradictions in terms containing concealed points. But winning ugly might be the granddaddy of them all. It’s also the last one you would expect to see associated with Dana Holgorsen – an offensive maestro of the highest order, acclaimed through the years for producing 5,000-yard passers and high-flying, All-American receivers.
Winning ugly fits like a glove with names like Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz or even West Virginia’s own Don Nehlen. Such a depiction intuitively correlates to the style we identify with these coaches. But to include those two words in a sentence describing Dana Holgorsen – the same guy who dropped a 70-spot on Clemson in the Orange Bowl – somehow feels . . . unnatural, like mixing onions with birthday cake.
Well don’t look now but somewhere along the way to WVU’s 8-1 march into the AP Top 10, the chef slipped a handful of diced scallions into the Mountaineer cake pan. And guess what -- it tastes great.
Examine West Virginia’s journey to this Saturday’s showdown with Oklahoma week by week and you probably won’t find many performances worthy of the time capsule. Three times this year the Mountaineers have lost the turnover battle … but won the games. Three times West Virginia has averaged 3.5 yards per rush or worse … but won the games. Twice WVU has allowed 520-plus yards …. but won the games. West Virginia pulled out one contest in which it didn’t score in the first 33 minutes (K-State) and held on to win another (Texas) in which it scored just seven points in the final 10 possessions.
Like a jigsaw puzzle scattered across a hardwood floor, these individual games – misshapen and rough around the edges -- don’t tell the story of what’s been a magical run for West Virginia this year. Only in the collective, when these tessellating pieces are interlocked to reveal a larger picture, do we truly get a sense of what the Mountaineers have accomplished en route to their best ever start as a Big 12 member.
“I don’t worry about margin of victory,” Dana Holgorsen has said. “I worry about victory.”
The best part? Holgorsen’s team has feverishly bought into its coach’s bloody-knuckled, survive-and-advance mentality.
“I think everyone would agree with this, but the one thing this team has figured out is playing together wins games,” Holgorsen said, “and if you play together and you do it for four quarters, then your team is going to figure out a way to win."
Another team that knows a little something about winning is Bob Stoops’ Oklahoma Sooners. OU rolls into Morgantown as winners of 14 consecutive league games – the longest such streak in Big 12 play since the Vince Young/Colt McCoy-era Texas Longhorns won 20 straight.
So here we go.
Seven days after being tasked with corralling the country’s leading rusher (Texas’ D’Onta Foreman), Tony Gibson’s WVU defense will now try to solve college football’s most efficient passer, OU’s Baker Mayfield. Mayfield is equal parts accurate (72 percent completion rate, No. 2 nationally) and dynamic (18 completions of 40-plus yards, also No. 2 nationally). He paces the No. 3 ranked offense in the country and – with a passer rating of 195.2 through 10 games – Mayfield is on course to eclipse Russell Wilson’s NCAA single season efficiency mark of 191.8, set in 2011 at Wisconsin.
His unique talents aren’t lost on Gibson.
“He’s very confident, and he has a lot of weapons around him that help him,” the Mountaineers defensive coordinator said. “He’s a special kid, he’s a competitor, you can just tell by watching him on film how much he competes. His drive, distributes the ball well, takes care of it and doesn’t have a lot of turnovers. He’s a good player.”
Mayfield directs what might be the most complete offense in the nation. The Sooners average 44 points per game and lead all FBS teams with 26 plays from scrimmage of 40-plus yards. A massive Oklahoma offensive line (average size of 6’4”, 315 pounds) paves the way for one of college football’s most versatile running back combinations. Plow horse Samaje Perine has churned out 3,637 career yards – just 481 away from Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims’ school record -- while the explosive Joe Mixon has posted a Big 12-best six runs of 40-plus yards and leads the nation with 193.9 all-purpose yards per game this year.
But the Sooners X-factor offensively might be Biletnikoff Award semifinalist Dede Westbrook -- the complete package at wide receiver. He’s a nimble difference maker with soft hands, fluid hips and the kind of lethal speed that can blow the top off a coverage. What makes Westbrook particularly dangerous is his burgeoning relationship with Mayfield and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley’s knack for utilizing his skill set – most notably, his speed.
The results have been record-breaking. Westbrook is the only player in school history to score more than five TDs (rushing or receiving) of 40-plus yards in one season. He has 10. Considering Oklahoma’s storied track record of producing offensive play makers – from Adrian Peterson, Ryan Broyles and the aforementioned Sims to Sterling Shepard, Greg Pruitt, Steve Owens and countless others – that feat doesn’t speak to Westbrook’s aptitude for the big play. It shouts it from the highest rooftop in Norman.
Throw in the game tape and No. 11 in crimson and cream quickly jumps off the screen. With Texas leading 10-7 in the second quarter of this year’s Red River Showdown, Oklahoma – from an 11 personnel group (1 RB/1 TE/3 WRs) – offered up a pro twins look with two receivers left, tight end Mark Andrews to the right and Westbrook flanked out wide to the same side. The Longhorns responded with man-free coverage as the Texas secondary matched heads underneath and sophomore free safety Deshon Elliott parked up high in centerfield. Mayfield took the shotgun snap and made a quick play fake to Joe Mixon before breaking contain to the left and setting up shop a few yards outside the tackle box.
Andrews charged up field then broke on a post move across the face of the free safety, providing enough of a threat to that deep area of the field to demand that safety’s attention. Meanwhile, out wide, Westbrook was having his way with Texas cornerback DaVante Davis. Westbrook sprinted past Davis 10 steps into his route then turned on the jets, exploding into a deep post move of his own behind the preoccupied free safety Elliott. Westbrook’s raw speed overwhelmed Davis who, isolated in single coverage without safety help over top, was beaten soundly.
With plenty of time to scan the field from his secure position outside the pocket, Mayfield spotted the snitch in the defense and used his eyes to lock the safety down before launching a perfect strike over his head, 60 yards in the air. Westbrook hauled in the catch without breaking stride and raced across the goal line for a 71-yard score.
The touchdown featured three critical elements of the Sooners passing attack: 1) a well-crafted package that maximized the pressure on the defense’s backend; 2) a basic but effective route assignment on the perimeter that put Westbrook in position to showcase his burst and athleticism; and 3) Mayfield’s accuracy on the deep ball.
The play was elegant in its simplicity, demonstrating that the OU offense isn’t always trying to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes, they’re simply making that wheel spin a whole lot faster.
Three times in their four wins over West Virginia since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 the Sooners have scored 44 or more points. Apparently that’s true to form for OU. According to updated information first posted by Brian Fremeau of Football Outsiders (@bcfremeau -- a hidden gem for those of you on Twitter), Oklahoma is 65-0 since 2007 against FBS teams when scoring 40-plus points. Not all that surprising, right? The revealing part comes when you consider that the Sooners are a very pedestrian 32-29 over that same time when they fail to hit that 40-point threshold.
A few odds and ends as kickoff approaches:
* In this classic sword-against-the-shield match up, Oklahoma enters Saturday night with the Big 12’s top offense in league play (591 yards and 48 points per game) while West Virginia comes in wielding the conference’s top defense in league play (383 yards and 20 points allowed per game).
* Has there been a more consistent Mountaineer this season than Billy Kinney? West Virginia has averaged more than 40 yards per punt in all nine games this year. The last time WVU finished a season averaging more than 40 yards per punt in every game was all the way back in 2008 when Pat McAfee earned CBSSports.com All-America honors. So far so good.
* Speaking of consistency . . . If it seems like Daikiel Shorts Jr. has transformed into a first-down machine for West Virginia, that’s because he has. In third-down situations in particular, Shorts has been more dependable than a German train schedule. All 17 of Shorts’ grabs on third down have moved the chains for WVU. Not only is that the sixth highest total in the country but Shorts is the only player ranked in the top 10 in this category who has seen 100 percent of his third-down catches (17 for 17) result in a first down. (CFBstats.com)
* Ten defensive players who were on Oklahoma's week one depth chart have combined to miss 42 games due to injury this season. No fewer than 22 different Sooners have started on that side of the ball in 2016.
* Keep an eye on Oklahoma middle linebacker Jordan Evans. In two games against West Virginia, Evans has racked up 20 tackles and in last week’s win over Baylor, he stole the show with two interceptions, two sacks, nine tackles and two pass breakups. Evans became the first Sooner in school history to record two interceptions and two sacks in one game and the effort earned him Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors.
* The Sooners offense has reached the end zone on its first possession six times in 10 games.
* Hostile environments don’t fluster Baker Mayfield – at least not yet. In 12 career games on the road and/or at neutral sites, Mayfield has thrown 37 TDs against a mere eight interceptions. In five such games this season Mayfield is averaging a robust 11.3 yards per pass attempt – the highest total by an FBS QB since at least 2008.
* In Road/Neutral site contests this year, OU's Dede Westbrook is averaging 158.6 Receiving Yards/Game. That’s the most by an FBS receiver since Missouri's Danario Alexander (167.9) in 2009.
* Oklahoma has won its last 10 true road games – the longest streak of Bob Stoops career and the fourth longest in OU history. However …
* Take a look at the W/L record of these West Virginia QBs after their first dozen starts at Mountaineer Field:
- Pat White 11-1
- Skyler Howard 11-1
- Geno Smith 10-2
- Geno Smith 10-2
Put down your Twitter account and back away slowly, Pat White fans. This isn’t a comparison of QBs. It’s merely an observation that Howard – who by contrast has posted a 6-6 mark as a starter on the road and/or at neutral sites -- has played some of his best football on Ira Errett Rodgers Drive in Suncrest over the last couple of years. In his 12 starts at Mountaineer Field, Howard has tossed 26 TDs against just 9 interception while completing 62 percent of his throws.
* Pass completions of 50-plus yards since the start of last year: Skyler Howard 18, Baker Mayfield 17. (CFBstats.com)
* Something has to give … Oklahoma has won eight straight games in November. WVU has won seven straight.
And there you have it.
Last week West Virginia marched into the house of Bevo and – to the dismay of nearly 100,000 Texas fans -- knocked off the Longhorns. On Saturday night at 8 p.m. they get a nationally televised shot at the Oklahoma Sooners, the highest scoring program in college football history; winners of seven national titles and 45 league championships.
Knee-deep in a potential conference title run of their own, there’s no place WVU would rather be than trading punches with the two biggest brands in the Big 12 in consecutive weeks down the stretch – piling up as many ugly wins as possible along the way.
A pivotal November showdown against Oklahoma under the lights. This is bucket list stuff, folks. The greatness of college football is defined by rare opportunities like this one as WVU fans will be treated to a tilt between top-10 AP teams for just the third time since Milan Puskar Stadium opened in 1980. For crying out loud, the cicadas have visited Morgantown that many times since 1980.
A West Virginia win would be a moment for the ages. Watching Dana Holgorsen’s Mountaineers stand on a snow-blown field to serenade the ‘True Blue’ crowd with “Take Me Home, Country Roads” as the witching hour approaches Saturday night would indeed be a thing of beauty.
Even if it’s ugly.
I’ll see you at the 50.
Gold-Blue Spring Festival Fan Recap
Sunday, April 19
John Neider | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Zac Alley | April 18
Saturday, April 18
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 18
Saturday, April 18
