STILLWATER, Okla. — In the third quarter, Jaylen Anderson shot out of a cannon.
The redshirt-freshman had a pair of rushes of 54 and 57 yards both going for touchdowns, as the Mountaineers defeated Oklahoma State 24-19 to close their 2022 season.
Anderson would rush 15 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns, while the West Virginia defense stepped up late to seal the win.
West Virginia got on the board in the first quarter with Garrett Greene rushing for a 36-yard touchdown. Greene would exit on West Virginia’s first drive of the third quarter after a helmet-to-helmet hit, as the Mountaineers would turn to true freshman Nicco Marchiol.
Greene would finish with 48 yards passing, and 47 yards rushing along with a touchdown.
Trailing 10-7, Marchiol would give the ball to Anderson to convert on a 4th and 1, before connecting with Sam James for 15 yards. On the next play, Anderson would go 54 yards untouched to put the Mountaineers ahead 14-10.
On the following drive, Oklahoma State would punt, before Anderson would take over once again.
On the first play of the ensuing West Virginia drive, Anderson ran for 15 yards and a first down, before breaking two tackles on his 57-yard touchdown rush to put West Virginia ahead 21-10 with 9:53 to play.
Trailing by 11, Oklahoma State would find success on the ground of their own. The Cowboys’ Ollie Gordon rushed for gains of five yards, 24 yards, and nine yards, leading to an Oklahoma State field goal.
On the next Oklahoma State drive, the Cowboys took over at the West Virginia 49 yard line after the Mountaineers could not convert on fourth down and would score a touchdown six plays later with Gordon rushing for a 23-yard touchdown.
On the two-point attempt, the Cowboys could not convert, putting West Virginia in front 21-19 with 24 seconds to play in the third quarter.
With 11:18 to play, the Mountaineers took over at their own 40 yard line and would end up kicking a 34-yard field goal to lead 24-19.
The Mountaineers would force a turnover on downs on the next possession, before the Cowboys would get one last chance at the WVU 46 yard line with 1:29 to play.
On the first play, Oklahoma State quarterback Garrett Rangel would attempt to Braydon Johnson on the first two plays, but would be covered well by Malachi Ruffin. On third down, Rangel threw an incomplete pass and then Rangel could not complete his fourth down attempt either, securing the win for West Virginia.
On the afternoon, West Virginia’s defense had four sacks, six pass breakups and a fumble recovery. They allowed the Cowboys to rush 180 yards on 42 rushing attempts, as the Mountaineers beat the Cowboys for the first time since 2014.
Photo by Dale Sparks, All Pro Photography
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