Fifth-Ranked Sooners Too Much For WVU

Saturday, October 19

Norman, Okla.

12:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

3-4 , 1-3

Oklahoma

7-0 , 4-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

West Virginia

Oklahoma

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

October 19, 2019 03:40 PM | Football

Box Score Oklahoma-WVU Game Book Oklahoma-WVU Postgame Notes Game Photos Neal Brown Postgame DC Vic Koenning Postgame Co-OC Matt Moore Postgame QB Austin Kendall Postgame WR T.J. Simmons Postgame

By: John Antonik

Jalen Hurts threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more to lead fifth-ranked Oklahoma to a 52-14 victory over West Virginia here at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.

Hurts' immense talents were on display this afternoon, the Houston resident completing 16-of-17 passes for 316 yards and running 10 times for 75 yards before giving way to backup Tanner Mordercai on the Sooners' second offensive possession of the fourth quarter and the game well in hand.

Hurts led OU to touchdowns on four straight possessions in the first and second quarters to take a 28-14 lead into the locker room at halftime, and then directed a 21-point third quarter outburst to blow the game open.

Eight of Hurts' 16 completions went for at least 20 yards as the Sooner offense got yardage in large chunks. All six Oklahoma touchdowns from the offense came on possessions lasting 3:39 or shorter, including three in two minutes or fewer.

Hurts' touchdown passes covered distances of 20 yards to running back Jeremiah Hall, 6 yards to Charleston Rambo and 46 yards to Lee Morris.

His two touchdown runs were from distances of 2 and 22 yards.

OU's other touchdowns came from running back Kennedy Brooks, a 9-yarder, and a blocked punt by Braden Willis that was recovered in the back of the end zone by reserve tight end Austin Stogner late in the third quarter.

One possession later at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Sooners broke the 50-point barrier for the 25^thtime since 2015 when Gabe Brkic punched through a 29-yard field goal.

The Sooners had the ball at the WVU 1, but Hurts bobbled the third-down snap from Creed Humphrey and was hauled down by Josh Norwood for an 11-yard loss.

The only other misplay by Oklahoma came in the first half when the Sooner Schooner took a wide turn and the wagon carrying some of the Oklahoma cheerleaders fell over and the wheels came off. Fortunately, no one appeared to be seriously injured.

West Virginia's two touchdowns came in the second quarter and were the result of Austin Kendall passes to T.J. Simmons.

The first touchdown followed Josh Growden's successful fake punt when he completed a pass to Dante Bonamico for 7 yards to the WVU 38. Five plays later, on fourth and 6, Kendall hit Simmons in stride to the near side of the field and he broke a tackle at the 25 to run 38 yards for a touchdown.

That score trimmed Oklahoma's lead to 14-7.

Simmons' second score came right before the end of the second quarter to reduce OU's lead to 28-14. A Kendall 19-yard pass to freshman Bryce Wheaton moved the football to the Sooner 32. Another Kendall pass to Sam James for 7 yards gave the Mountaineers a first down at the Sooner 19.

Oklahoma was penalized for pass interference on the next play, putting the ball at the 4 with the game clock winding inside of a minute remaining in the half. A Leddie Brown run for a loss of 3 and an incomplete Kendall pass forced Brown to use a timeout with 29 seconds left.

Kendall's next pass went to Simmons, who worked himself free in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. Kendall was able to buy some extra time in the pocket to allow Simmons to get open. Simmons finished the game with a team-best six catches for 74 yards.

West Virginia played the entire second half without leading tackler Josh Chandler, who suffered what appeared to be a leg injury while attempting to tackle CeeDee Lamb during a second quarter punt.

"We're playing a lot of young kids right now and we've got a lot of people hurt," Brown said. "If you look at it, Josh Chandler, arguably our best defensive player, goes out (in the first half) today. We played the whole second quarter with a walk-on at corner (Devan Wade) and it's kind of where we're at.

"We've just got to take positive strides," Brown added. "The third quarter was about as bad as it gets and we've just got to get better."

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Oklahoma outgained West Virginia 560 to 242 and had 25 first downs to the Mountaineers' 15. OU gained 363 yards through the air and 197 on the ground.

Kendall, returning to Oklahoma where he spent three years backing up Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, completed 15-of-31 passes for 182 yards before giving way to redshirt freshman Trey Lowe III in the fourth quarter.

Lowe completed both of his pass attempts for 2 yards and also ran three times for 12 yards.

West Virginia once again had great difficulty getting anything at all from its run game. Brown, making his first career start, carried the ball 16 times for 28 yards and his longest run from scrimmage was just 7 yards. Lowe's 13-yard run in the fourth quarter with mostly backups in the game at that time was WVU's longest carry from scrimmage.

"I don't think we had an effort issue, this is just kind of where we're at right now," Brown said.

The loss drops West Virginia's record to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12. It was the Mountaineers' eighth straight defeat at the hands of the Sooners since West Virginia began playing Big 12 football games in 2012; WVU is now 2-10 all-time against Oklahoma in a series that dates back to 1958.

The victory boosts Oklahoma's record to 7-0 with a meeting at Kansas State on the horizon next Saturday.

West Virginia does not play again until Thursday, Oct. 31, at 18^th-ranked Baylor in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPN.

"We've had an extremely tough last three weeks and we get a little break here before we play these last five," Brown said. "We're going to get a couple of these guys back hopefully and then we've got to finish the season in the right way. We've got to make steady improvement as we go."

The Bears are playing at Oklahoma State later today.