Bluefield, West Virginia, native Sean Martin alluded to some internal frustration after a tough loss to Oklahoma State on Saturday.
“Just us shooting ourself in the foot. Really isn’t the other team actually beating us,” Martin, said on Monday.
Since his arrival on campus, Martin has worked his way up to being one of the leaders on the Mountaineer defense.
The Mountaineer defense has struggled significantly since an impressive showing and win in Fort Worth on Sept. 30th against TCU. They have given up over 40 points in both of their last two games with a total of 884 yards allowed.
“I believe they’re correctable. We just gotta focus on doing our job, doing our 1 [of] 11,” Martin said of the mistakes.
So far this season, the junior defensive lineman has compiled 17 total tackles, including three tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and a blocked kick. Last season Martin finished with four sacks, but he has yet to claim one this season.
“Feel like we had the game won,” Martin said about the three and out prior to the miscue on the punt return against Oklahoma State. “Just got to put your helmet on, play defense again. Nothing much you can do.”
From that point on, it would all go downhill for the Mountaineers, specifically their run defense. Cowboy running back Ollie Gordon III had a field day rushing for 282 yards and four touchdowns all while averaging 9.7 yards a carry. He also had rushes for 53 yards and 46 yards in the fourth quarter which went for touchdowns.
Oklahoma State quarterback Alan Bowman was also efficient for the Cowboys completing 24/36 passes, throwing for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
As for Martin and the Mountaineer defense, they know they need to step it up this Saturday against UCF if the team wants to get back in the win column.
“We just got to focus on the little things, just focus on us. We beat ourselves, so we focus on us, we’ll be successful,” Martin said.
