Early in the fourth quarter, West Virginia’s Anthony Wilson made a hard hit on Oklahoma wide receiver Drake Stoops. As the lights went out in celebration for the touchdown, the next picture that could be seen was a scuffle between the Mountaineers and Sooners.
Wilson would originally be called for targeting, but after a review, the flag would be picked up and the hit was ruled clean. On the ensuing extra-point, Oklahoma’s McKade Mettauer went directly after Wilson, trying to get revenge. Mettauer would be given two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and was ejected from the game. On his way to the locker room, Mettauer would fist bump the Oklahoma University President.
“Had a couple moments where we didn’t represent ourselves the right way from an emotional standpoint and there’s some regret there,” Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said after the game. “How we do what we do is really important to me. A lot of people counting on us to represent Oklahoma the right way and theres’ a couple moments we’re not real proud of. We got to learn from, grow up, it’s emotional, tense, game but we can’t lose our poise in those moments.”
From West Virginia’s point of view, the main message was the hit from Wilson on Stoops was clean, but the extracurricular activities after the play were unnecessary.
“There’s a reason he got kicked out of the game,” West Virginia defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said of Mettauer.
“You get him over there and you calm him down,” Lesley said of his his response to the altercation. “At the end of the day, kid (Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel) throws a dart across the middle and Anthony (Wilson) does exactly what he’s coached to do and that’s dislodge ball from body. How they feel about the kid (Stoops) getting hit, I can’t answer for that.”
Lesley said he agreed with the referees’ decision to throw the flag when the play occurred, saying due to the physical nature of the hit, he understands why the flag initially came out.
“It goes to review, comes back, we pick the flag up because it was a clean hit. How they laid there and the quarterback running there and doing what he did, that’s on them. I can’t control it. All I know it was a clean hit,” Lesley said.
“However the game is going, where you’re at, time of game is, what logo you got on your helmet, doesn’t keep you from being hit… It’s what he’s coached to do. How they reacted to that, that’s not my issue.”
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said him and Venables had a conversation on the scuffle after the game and that the scuffle was “unfortunate.”
“That wasn’t smart and Brent (Venables) and I talked about it after the game. Neither their group or our group we haven’t done that, I don’t really know where that came from. The hit was clean in the end zone there,” Brown said. .
“Anthony (Wilson) shouldn’t [have] stood over him, he should’ve gotten out of the way. And then they came out and they shouldn’t have done what they done. Unfortunate, but we got it cleaned up.”
