All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

38

winner

West Virginia
WVU

3:2, 2:0

14

Oklahoma St.
OSU

3-3, 0-3

winner

West Virginia
WVU

3:2, 2:0

38

14

Oklahoma St.
OSU

3-3, 0-3

Points by quarters

team	1	2	3	4	F
WVU West Virginia	10	21	0	7	38
OSU Oklahoma St.	0	7	0	7	14

Match Review: Football | October 5, 2024 7:37 p.m | John Antonik

West Virginia took advantage of Oklahoma State’s struggling defense and posted a 38-14 victory over the Cowboys today at sold-out Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The Mountaineers (3-2 and 2-0 in the Big 12) looked like a team on two weeks off, facing an opponent playing its sixth straight game, including two losses to nationally ranked teams Utah and Kansas State.

Today’s loss falls to 17th-ranked Oklahoma State^Th in the preseason to 3-3 overall and 0-3 in Big 12 play. It’s the first time since the 2014 season that the Cowboys have lost three straight games under veteran coach Mike Gundy. That year, WVU defeated OSU 34-10 in Stillwater, one of four Mountaineers wins here.

This afternoon, WVU utilized a tough ground attack that managed 389 yards against an OSU defense without its two best players, Nick Martin and Collin Oliver.

Jahiem White As a quarterback, he ran for a season-high 158 yards on 19 carries Garrett Greene added 86 for 10 runs and CJ Donaldson Jr. contributed 77 yards on his 20 rushing attempts.

Greene connected on 9 of his 15 pass attempts for 159 yards while serving as a backup Nicco Marchiol completed his only pass for a 10-yard touchdown Traylon Ray.

The Mountaineers totaled a season-high 589 yards of offense, the most by one Neal Brown-Coached WVU team since rushing for 634 yards in win over Cincinnati last year.

Not to be outdone, the Mountaineer defense held the Cowboys to just 227 yards of total offense with just 36 yards on the ground. Leading rusher Ollie Gordon II, who rushed for 282 yards for the Mountaineers in last year’s 48-34 OSU win, managed just 50 yards on 13 carries before leaving in the third quarter due to injury. The Mountaineer’s pass defense intercepted Alan Bowman twice and limited him to just 116 yards through the air before giving way to Garret Rangel in the third quarter.


“It was definitely our most complete game this year,” Brown said afterwards. “And what makes it special is that we’re going out there to win because this is a tough venue and now we’ve won the last two times we’ve been here.”


“We had a lot of injuries today and it was really hot, but our guys answered the alarm and it was just a huge win for us,” Brown added.


WVU scored on all five attacks in the first half and took a 31-7 halftime lead.


Oklahoma State’s only score in the first half came with 1:54 left in the second quarter when Bowman threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Rashod Owens, but the Mountaineers needed just 1:26 to answer.


Greene completed a 12-yard pass to the other side of the field Hudson Clementand then two Donaldson runs brought the football to midfield.


WVU stayed on the floor as Greene made a two-play effort to get to the OSU 40 before finding a tight end Cole Taylor for 21 yards to the Cowboy 19. Two plays later, Donaldson broke free up the middle for a 15-yard touchdown run.



Michael Hayes II got WVU on the scoreboard with a 39-yard field goal on the Mountaineers’ first drive of the game, but on their second possession, Greene injured his shoulder at the end of his 39-yard scramble to the OSU 12. Marchiol came in and two plays later, on third-and-8 from the 10, he fired a rushing touchdown pass to Ray.


Marchiol remained on the field for West Virginia’s next offensive possession, which also ended in the OSU end zone as White capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.


Greene returned as the Mountaineers regained possession Jaheem Josephs Interception return to the WVU 13. After an incomplete pass, the Mountaineers marched the length of the field on runs of 7, 7, 20, 6, 6, 26 before Greene scored on a 15-yard touchdown run.


WVU finished the first half with 259 rushing yards against an Oklahoma State defense that ranked 117th in today’s game^Th against the run, giving up 204.2 yards per game and 129^Th in total defense, allowing 480.6 yards per contest.


After the break, both teams played a scoreless third quarter. Oklahoma State’s first drive ended with a Hudson Kaak punt and the second ended with a linebacker punt Josiah Trotters Nice, quick interception down the Mountaineer sideline.


Despite moving the football into Oklahoma State territory on both possessions, West Virginia was unable to move the chains on fourth down. WVU’s first attempt at the OSU 28 failed by just one yard when Donaldson was stopped at the 27.


WVU’s next fourth-down attempt was actually successful as Greene went for what appeared to be enough yardage for a first down, but the replay officer overruled the on-field call after determining that Greene had missed his slide one yard started before the marking.


The ball was spotted at the 28, where the Cowboys took over on downs with backup quarterback Rangel now in the game. He completed an 11-yard pass to De’Zhaun Stribling, but the drive stalled at the 41, where Haak hit the ball back to West Virginia and Preston Fox Fairly caught on the Mountaineer 12.


Brown opted to leave the ball on the ground, and White responded with a swirling 14-yard burst on third-and-2 to the WVU 34. Another White carry of 18 yards brought the football to the OSU 44, setting up Greene’s pretty one 40-yard advance pass down the other sideline to Clement, who made a one-handed sliding catch at the 4 before going out of bounds.


Two plays later, Donaldson scored from the 1.


OSU needed just 31 seconds to answer when Rangel completed a 43-yard touchdown pass to Stribling, one play after the Cowboys had taken over their own 35-yard line after Hayes’ kickoff went out of bounds.


The game ended with West Virginia kneeling at the OSU 11 with time running out.


Now the Mountaineers look ahead to next week’s game against 16^ThSecond-ranked Iowa State, which faces Baylor later tonight.


Next Saturday’s game has been dubbed the “Coal Rush” and will begin at 8 p.m. FOX will televise the competition nationally.


“We would have liked to have played better in the non-conference, but we didn’t. So now it’s about the league and treating it 1-0 every week,” Brown said. “We will enjoy this. We’re going to have a great time in the locker room and there’s nothing better than a flight home after a big win. We land in Clarksburg, sleep well and then we’re done.” All about Iowa State tomorrow.


Tickets are available through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased by logging onto WVUGAME.com.