Coming off a bye week, West Virginia will travel to Stillwater to take on Oklahoma State.
The Mountaineers are 2-2 on the season and looking to continue getting off to a promising start in conference play after already defeating Kansas. On the United Bank Playbook, WVU head coach Neal Brown broke down what he expects from the Cowboys.
“Starts on offense, they’re going to try to run the football. They’re really good in RPO (run-pass option) game,” Brown said.
So far this season, OSU has rushed for 568 yards and seven touchdowns. Last season, running back Ollie Gordon led the nation in rushing yards with 1,732; against WVU, he rushed for 282 yards and four touchdowns in 2023.
“They throw the go ball more than anybody in college football. That’s been the case for a really long time,” Brown said.
Oklahoma State has thrown for 1,603 yards this season on 124 completions, averaging just under 13 yards a completion. Quarterback Alan Bowman’s longest completion is 78 yards so far this season.
“Defensively, they’re always good in the red zone. And that’s where our struggles with them are in the red zone,” Brown said.
Oklahoma State’s red zone defense is ranked No. 24 this season among FBS teams. They’ve allowed opponents to score 13 times in 18 red zone attempts, nine touchdowns and four field goals.
“They’re always one of the top takeaway teams in the country and they’re really good on third down,” Brown said.
So far this season, Oklahoma State has intercepted six passes and recovered three fumbles. Against West Virginia, they recovered two fumbles and had one interception.
As a defense, they are ranked No. 49 in the country on third down, allowing opponents to successfully convert third downs 34.9% of the time (27/78). West Virginia was 8 for 15 on third downs against them last year.
Saturday’s kickoff is at 4 p.m. EST from Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
