MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Perhaps bounce-back games do come in pairs for Neal Brown's West Virginia University football team.
 
Earlier this year in September, West Virginia overcame its disappointing 38-7 loss at Missouri by upsetting NC State at home and continuing with a 29-24 win at Kansas.
 
Two months later, WVU once again rebounded from a poor performance against Texas Tech to stun two-touchdown favorite Kansas State last Saturday afternoon in Manhattan, Kansas.
 
So, can West Virginia maintain the pattern this Saturday against touchdown-favorite Oklahoma State?
 
Beating the Cowboys (7-3, 4-3)  will be a much tougher chore than beating Kansas, but you can never count out a Neal Brown football team, even against a team West Virginia has struggled to beat through the years.
 
Last year, the Mountaineers blew a 17-point halftime lead in Stillwater that cost them a Big 12 Championship Game berth and at least a Sugar Bowl appearance.
 
Two years ago, the Cowboys jumped out to an early 23-3 lead and cruised to a 50-39 win at Milan Puskar Stadium.
 
A year prior to that in Stillwater, Oklahoma State sacked West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard four times and Cowboy quarterback Mason Rudolph fired three touchdown passes in a 17-point win.
 
In 2015, OSU came here and knocked off West Virginia in overtime and in 2012, the Cowboys put 55 points on the scoreboard in 21-point victory.
 
West Virginia upset Oklahoma State in 2013 and 2014 and victory on Saturday would also be considered an upset.
 
Veteran coach Mike Gundy has the Cowboys playing their best football of the season riding into Morgantown on a three-game winning streak. After an 18-point loss to Baylor on Oct. 19, Oklahoma State shows victories over Iowa State (34-27), TCU (34-27) and Kansas (31-13) heading into Saturday.
 
"They are playing their best football of the year," Brown said. "Coach Gundy has really built a consistent program and one of the top programs in the Big 12 over the last 10 years. They have averaged nine-plus wins a year going back to 2010 so the consistency of what he's built there is what we're working toward every day.
 
OSU has the best running back in the country in 6-1, 207-pound sophomore Chuba Hubbard from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
 
Hubbard ran for 296 yards earlier this year against Kansas State and has three other 200-yard performances this season. Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor may have a bigger reputation, but Hubbard has been far more productive, averaging 26.3 yards more per game than Taylor.
 
Hubbard is averaging 172.6 yards per game and has a great shot of eclipsing the 2,000-yard mark this season with two regular season games and a bowl game remaining.
 
'He's the complete package," Brown said. "He runs for power, he's got speed and he's been incredibly durable. He just wears you out. I agree with coach Gundy that he should be a Heisman (Trophy) candidate, and I wish him well, just not on Saturday. 
 
"After that I hope he goes straight to the NFL."
 
Hubbard's success running the football has allowed redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Sanders room to grow. Since the Baylor loss, when Sanders threw an interception and his fumble resulted in a game-changing touchdown for the Bears, Gundy has reduced Sanders' pass attempts and relied more on the Cowboys' powerful ground game.
 
Sanders tried just 15 passes in the TCU win and attempted 18 last week against Kansas, but he has been a part of the ground game with 88 yards rushing against the Horned Frogs and 625 net yards rushing in 10 games this season.
 
"I think they lead the country in explosive plays, and he's the reason why because you have to defend the entire field," Brown said. "He's got great speed, a quick release and he can throw the deep ball."
 
Overall, the Cowboys are averaging 265.2 yards per game on the ground and will be facing a WVU defense that given up 167.1 yards per contest on the ground.
 
Last week against Kansas State, another good rushing team, veteran defensive coordinator Vic Koenning switched to a four-down front that limited the Wildcats to only 122 yards on 38 carries.  
 
Since he's been at Oklahoma State, Gundy has always had downfield threats in the passing game and that is no different this year with Tylan Wallace catching 53 passes for 903 yards and eight touchdowns through the first eight games of the season.
 
But Wallace tore his ACL during practice leading up to the TCU game and was lost for the season. Dillon Stoner has since picked up some of the slack with 33 catches for 475 yards and four touchdowns. He has also been a factor this year in the return game.
 
Defensively, Oklahoma State gave up yardage earlier this year but has stiffened during its recent three-game winning streak. Iowa State rushed for just 86 yards and last week Kansas managed just 39 yards on 24 attempts.
 
The Cowboys have 13 sacks in their last four games since switching to a three-down front. Oklahoma State has experienced corners in senior A.J. Green and redshirt junior Rodarius Williams, a pair of fast linebackers in Amen Ogbongbemiga and Malcolm Rodriguez, and another impressive edge rusher in true freshman Trace Ford. 
 
Brown singled out those players during his Tuesday afternoon press conference.
 
"They are long and physical so we will have to be ready for those guys," Brown said.
 
Meanwhile, West Virginia (4-6) is coming off an eye-opening 24-20 win at 24^th-ranked Kansas State with first-time starter Jarret Doege at quarterback.
 
The Bowling Green transfer was inserted into the starting lineup in place of Austin Kendall and completed 20-of-30 passes for 234 yards and three touchdowns, two going to Florida State transfer George Campbell and the other to freshman Bryce Wheaton.
 
Overall, Brown was pleased with Doege's performance against Kansas State, but he pointed out some areas where Doege could have been better.
 
"He missed a couple of progressions on third down in the second half where if he makes them we extend drives," Brown explained. "We had two missed assignments on the last possession where we had the ball with a chance to run out the clock. They weren't necessarily his missed assignments, but he should have fixed them and he didn't do that.
 
"His screen mechanics have got to be better," Brown added. "We left some plays out there, but overall for a first game, especially on the road, I thought he handled himself well."
 
WVU managed to squeeze little bit more out of its running game with sophomore Leddie Brown averaging 4.8 yards per rush on 13 carries and Kennedy McKoy contributing 41 yards on 12 attempts. Junior Chase Behrndt was reinserted into the starting lineup at center with Michael Brown and James Gmiter lining up at guard and Colton McKivitz and Kelby Wickline the tackles.
 
Campbell was WVU's top receiver with five catches for 92 yards as Kansas State focused more attention on redshirt freshman Sam James, who caught 14 passes for 223 yards two weeks ago in the Texas Tech loss.
 
Other than the opening play of the game and Kansas State's first drive of the second half, the Mountaineer defense played outstanding. 
 
However, senior safety Josh Norwood broke his collarbone while making an interception last Saturday and will miss the remainder of the season, Brown said Tuesday.
 
Brown was also pleased with his special teams that limited the Wildcats in their return games and produced the game-deciding points on Casey Legg's 51-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
West Virginia will recognize its 22 senior players prior to Saturday's noon kickoff.
 
"We need to redeem ourselves from the last time we were in that stadium," Brown said. "We did not perform very well so we owe it to our fans to be ready to play and put a better product on the field. I hope everybody turns out for our last home game. We won't be there again until next September."
 
ESPN2 (Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman) will televise the game nationally while MSN's radio coverage will begin at 8:30 a.m. on stations throughout West Virginia leading into regular network coverage at 11 a.m. with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning.
 
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.