An Epic QB Duel Brewing on Friday Night in Morgantown
November 19, 2018 05:25 PM | Football, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Milan Puskar Stadium has seen many great quarterback duels through the years.
Who can ever forget the great game Jeff Hostetler and Boomer Esiason treated us to in 1982 when Hostetler's Mountaineers held on for a 19-18 victory over Esiason's Maryland Terrapins after Esiason's two-point conversion pass to win the game sailed high?
Or the Marc Bulger-Donovan McNabb classic in 1998 when Bulger's 43-yard touchdown pass to David Saunders with three minutes left in the game snapped a 28-all tie to give the Mountaineers a 35-28, come-from-behind victory?
McNabb was once again as good as advertised that night, the senior passing for 281 yards and three scores.
A year later, Bulger wasn't able to hang around long enough to battle Virginia Tech freshman quarterback Michael Vick head-to-head for four full quarters, but his replacement, Brad Lewis, nearly led WVU to the biggest upset victory in school history.
That is until Vick worked his magic up the far sideline to get the third-ranked Hokies in position to kick a game-winning field goal and preserve their march to the national championship game.
Or how about the game West Virginia's Geno Smith and Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater treated us to in 2011?
Smith passed for 410 yards and three touchdowns, but that wasn't enough to offset Bridgewater's passing and running in Louisville's 38-35 victory.
Six years ago, Smith and Oklahoma's Landry Jones served up another Milan Puskar Stadium classic when Jones' 5-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills with 24 seconds left gave the Sooners a 50-49, come-from-behind win.
Jones threw for an astonishing 554 yards and six touchdowns that night while Smith wasn't too far off, completing 20-of-35 for 320 yards and four scores.
Last year's Oklahoma State game here featuring Mason Rudolph and West Virginia's Will Grier produced 89 points and a combined 809 yards of offense, but Rudolph's Cowboys got the upper hand in that one in an 11-point victory.
Well, this Friday night is shaping up to be another epic Milan Puskar Stadium quarterback duel pitting two of college football's top three Heisman Trophy contenders – West Virginia's Will Grier and Oklahoma's Kyler Murray.
Both took the transfer route to find their current homes. Murray started his career at Texas A&M before moving on to Oklahoma, and Grier began at Florida before making his way to West Virginia.
And both are piecing together fantastic 2018 seasons.
Murray is beating people with his arm and his feet. The junior has passed for 3,310 yards and 34 touchdowns and rushed 104 times for 739 yards and 10 scores.
He is averaging an eye-opening 368.1 total yards per game.
Most of Grier's damage has come from his right arm as he's completing 67.2 percent of his pass attempts for 3,325 yards and 33 touchdowns, but his two-point conversion run three weeks ago rallied West Virginia to a 42-41 victory at Texas.
Grier also ran for a late touchdown in last Saturday's 45-41 loss at Oklahoma State that put the Mountaineers ahead by 10 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has been involved in a number of these games during his eight seasons in Morgantown, and he is aware that he probably will be involved in another one this Friday night.
"I think you have to ride the wave out," he said Monday morning during his weekly teleconference with Big 12 media. "Although these games are typically high scoring, anything that involves Oklahoma or Oklahoma State in particular, we've got to be prepared for that. I thought we handled it really well against Texas and probably could have handled it a little bit better against Oklahoma State."
West Virginia got a little taste of what Murray can do last year when OU starting quarterback Baker Mayfield sat out the opening series of the game while serving a disciplinary suspension for his sideline antics at Kansas the week prior.
All Murray did against the Mountaineers was run the ball three times for 80 yards – one going for a 66-yard gainer – to lead the Sooners into the end zone on their first offensive possession of the afternoon.
He also completed both of his pass attempts, the second one going for 46 yards to Myles Tease for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put OU ahead 59-24. His five offensive plays against West Virginia's defense produced 132 total yards, which averages out to 26.4 yards per play.
If he averages anywhere close to that for a full game this Friday … look out!
"OU recruits at a very high level so when guys graduate they typically plug them in with more four- and five-star guys that play at a high level," Holgorsen said.
Grier, meanwhile, had to sit out last year's Oklahoma game after breaking the Northern Panhandle finger on his passing hand in the Texas loss, forcing the Mountaineers to predominantly go to a Wildcat formation with running back Kennedy McKoy taking direct snaps from center to help out first-time starting quarterback Chris Chugunov.
Therefore, Friday will be the first time the Sooners will get to see Mr. Grier throw the football in person.
"I haven't really thought about that, but that was the one game he wasn't able to participate or start," Holgorsen said. "Obviously, he started against Texas and played a little bit against them prior to the injury.
"This will be his last regular season game, and he's meant a lot, obviously, to myself and our program – as have all of our seniors," he added. "What a way to end the regular season being able to play such a high-profile game here Friday night - it doesn't get any better than this."
Both defenses have their vulnerabilities. Oklahoma, with all of those four- and five-star players, is giving up an average of 425.8 yards and 30.7 points per game, while West Virginia is coming off a disappointing 45-point, 604-yard performance in Stillwater last Saturday.
Running quarterbacks have seemed to be the antidote to West Virginia's aggressive, blitzing style of play, and the Sooners have probably the best running quarterback in the country right now in Murray with Alabama's Tua Tagavailoa dealing with a bum knee.
On the other side, OU's secondary is giving up huge chunks of real estate through the air, including 18 touchdown passes, and nobody in the country is more accurate throwing the football than Grier.
He's got two of the best touchdown makers in the country to throw to in David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr., and he's also got a 275-pound tight end in Trevon Wesco who is capable of making one-handed grabs over the middle as he did last week at Oklahoma State.
It's a game tailor-made for lots of big plays and touchdowns.
So buckle up your seatbelts because this Black Friday in Morgantown could be even more unpredictable than your credit card statement at the end of next month when the wife is done Christmas shopping.
Briefly:
* West Virginia dropped five spots in this week's top 25 rankings to No. 12 in both polls. The Sooners are holding steady at No. 6 following last Saturday's 55-40 victory over Kansas.
* Eric Single's latest bowl projections for Sports Illustrated has West Virginia playing NC State in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 28, which would be a makeup for the canceled game in Raleigh back on Sept. 15.
However, there is still lots of football left to be played.
* Holgorsen on his weekly Monday morning teleconference took a moment to compliment the play of Oklahoma State fifth-year senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius, who accounted for all six Cowboy touchdowns during last Saturday's 45-41 win over West Virginia.
Cornelius completed 30-of-46 passes for 338 yards with five touchdowns, and ran 13 times for 106 yards and another score. He was coming off a 501-yard passing performance the week prior against Oklahoma in the Bedlam game.
"That kid improved more than any quarterback I've seen improve throughout the course of his senior year," Holgorsen said. "He really played good against us last week. Good for him. He sat there and he waited his turn for four years and is making the most of his senior year."
* I ran into former Mountaineer defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap this afternoon when he stopped by the Coliseum to pick up some Mountaineer basketball tickets. Dunlap had lots of experience in the past dealing with running quarterbacks such as Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick during his long tenure running West Virginia's defense.
With the Mountaineers facing Mr. Murray this Friday night, I thought I would ask him what he did against those other great running quarterbacks he faced.
His answer?
"Lose," he laughed.
Perhaps, but he didn't lose to McNabb in '98, though.
Maybe Tony Gibson can come up with something to slow down Murray, and Grier can deliver a performance similar to Marc Bulger's against the Sooners later this week.
We'll see.
Monday Sound
Who can ever forget the great game Jeff Hostetler and Boomer Esiason treated us to in 1982 when Hostetler's Mountaineers held on for a 19-18 victory over Esiason's Maryland Terrapins after Esiason's two-point conversion pass to win the game sailed high?
Or the Marc Bulger-Donovan McNabb classic in 1998 when Bulger's 43-yard touchdown pass to David Saunders with three minutes left in the game snapped a 28-all tie to give the Mountaineers a 35-28, come-from-behind victory?
McNabb was once again as good as advertised that night, the senior passing for 281 yards and three scores.
A year later, Bulger wasn't able to hang around long enough to battle Virginia Tech freshman quarterback Michael Vick head-to-head for four full quarters, but his replacement, Brad Lewis, nearly led WVU to the biggest upset victory in school history.
That is until Vick worked his magic up the far sideline to get the third-ranked Hokies in position to kick a game-winning field goal and preserve their march to the national championship game.
Or how about the game West Virginia's Geno Smith and Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater treated us to in 2011?
Smith passed for 410 yards and three touchdowns, but that wasn't enough to offset Bridgewater's passing and running in Louisville's 38-35 victory.
Six years ago, Smith and Oklahoma's Landry Jones served up another Milan Puskar Stadium classic when Jones' 5-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills with 24 seconds left gave the Sooners a 50-49, come-from-behind win.Jones threw for an astonishing 554 yards and six touchdowns that night while Smith wasn't too far off, completing 20-of-35 for 320 yards and four scores.
Last year's Oklahoma State game here featuring Mason Rudolph and West Virginia's Will Grier produced 89 points and a combined 809 yards of offense, but Rudolph's Cowboys got the upper hand in that one in an 11-point victory.
Well, this Friday night is shaping up to be another epic Milan Puskar Stadium quarterback duel pitting two of college football's top three Heisman Trophy contenders – West Virginia's Will Grier and Oklahoma's Kyler Murray.
Both took the transfer route to find their current homes. Murray started his career at Texas A&M before moving on to Oklahoma, and Grier began at Florida before making his way to West Virginia.
And both are piecing together fantastic 2018 seasons.
Murray is beating people with his arm and his feet. The junior has passed for 3,310 yards and 34 touchdowns and rushed 104 times for 739 yards and 10 scores.
He is averaging an eye-opening 368.1 total yards per game.
Most of Grier's damage has come from his right arm as he's completing 67.2 percent of his pass attempts for 3,325 yards and 33 touchdowns, but his two-point conversion run three weeks ago rallied West Virginia to a 42-41 victory at Texas.
Grier also ran for a late touchdown in last Saturday's 45-41 loss at Oklahoma State that put the Mountaineers ahead by 10 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen has been involved in a number of these games during his eight seasons in Morgantown, and he is aware that he probably will be involved in another one this Friday night.
"I think you have to ride the wave out," he said Monday morning during his weekly teleconference with Big 12 media. "Although these games are typically high scoring, anything that involves Oklahoma or Oklahoma State in particular, we've got to be prepared for that. I thought we handled it really well against Texas and probably could have handled it a little bit better against Oklahoma State."
West Virginia got a little taste of what Murray can do last year when OU starting quarterback Baker Mayfield sat out the opening series of the game while serving a disciplinary suspension for his sideline antics at Kansas the week prior.
All Murray did against the Mountaineers was run the ball three times for 80 yards – one going for a 66-yard gainer – to lead the Sooners into the end zone on their first offensive possession of the afternoon.
He also completed both of his pass attempts, the second one going for 46 yards to Myles Tease for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put OU ahead 59-24. His five offensive plays against West Virginia's defense produced 132 total yards, which averages out to 26.4 yards per play.
If he averages anywhere close to that for a full game this Friday … look out!
"OU recruits at a very high level so when guys graduate they typically plug them in with more four- and five-star guys that play at a high level," Holgorsen said.
Grier, meanwhile, had to sit out last year's Oklahoma game after breaking the Northern Panhandle finger on his passing hand in the Texas loss, forcing the Mountaineers to predominantly go to a Wildcat formation with running back Kennedy McKoy taking direct snaps from center to help out first-time starting quarterback Chris Chugunov.
Therefore, Friday will be the first time the Sooners will get to see Mr. Grier throw the football in person.
"I haven't really thought about that, but that was the one game he wasn't able to participate or start," Holgorsen said. "Obviously, he started against Texas and played a little bit against them prior to the injury.
"This will be his last regular season game, and he's meant a lot, obviously, to myself and our program – as have all of our seniors," he added. "What a way to end the regular season being able to play such a high-profile game here Friday night - it doesn't get any better than this."
Both defenses have their vulnerabilities. Oklahoma, with all of those four- and five-star players, is giving up an average of 425.8 yards and 30.7 points per game, while West Virginia is coming off a disappointing 45-point, 604-yard performance in Stillwater last Saturday.
Running quarterbacks have seemed to be the antidote to West Virginia's aggressive, blitzing style of play, and the Sooners have probably the best running quarterback in the country right now in Murray with Alabama's Tua Tagavailoa dealing with a bum knee.
On the other side, OU's secondary is giving up huge chunks of real estate through the air, including 18 touchdown passes, and nobody in the country is more accurate throwing the football than Grier.
He's got two of the best touchdown makers in the country to throw to in David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr., and he's also got a 275-pound tight end in Trevon Wesco who is capable of making one-handed grabs over the middle as he did last week at Oklahoma State.
It's a game tailor-made for lots of big plays and touchdowns.
So buckle up your seatbelts because this Black Friday in Morgantown could be even more unpredictable than your credit card statement at the end of next month when the wife is done Christmas shopping.
Briefly:
* West Virginia dropped five spots in this week's top 25 rankings to No. 12 in both polls. The Sooners are holding steady at No. 6 following last Saturday's 55-40 victory over Kansas.
* Eric Single's latest bowl projections for Sports Illustrated has West Virginia playing NC State in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando on Dec. 28, which would be a makeup for the canceled game in Raleigh back on Sept. 15.
However, there is still lots of football left to be played.
* Holgorsen on his weekly Monday morning teleconference took a moment to compliment the play of Oklahoma State fifth-year senior quarterback Taylor Cornelius, who accounted for all six Cowboy touchdowns during last Saturday's 45-41 win over West Virginia.
Cornelius completed 30-of-46 passes for 338 yards with five touchdowns, and ran 13 times for 106 yards and another score. He was coming off a 501-yard passing performance the week prior against Oklahoma in the Bedlam game.
"That kid improved more than any quarterback I've seen improve throughout the course of his senior year," Holgorsen said. "He really played good against us last week. Good for him. He sat there and he waited his turn for four years and is making the most of his senior year."
* I ran into former Mountaineer defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap this afternoon when he stopped by the Coliseum to pick up some Mountaineer basketball tickets. Dunlap had lots of experience in the past dealing with running quarterbacks such as Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick during his long tenure running West Virginia's defense.
With the Mountaineers facing Mr. Murray this Friday night, I thought I would ask him what he did against those other great running quarterbacks he faced.
His answer?
"Lose," he laughed.
Perhaps, but he didn't lose to McNabb in '98, though.
Maybe Tony Gibson can come up with something to slow down Murray, and Grier can deliver a performance similar to Marc Bulger's against the Sooners later this week.
We'll see.
Monday Sound
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