West Virginia defeated Oklahoma State 38-14 in an impressive performance on Saturday.
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown shared his thoughts post-game on what went well for the Mountaineers and the outlook for the team going forward.
“Starting on defense, I thought P and 10 (Possession and 10) was huge,” Brown said. “We got them behind the chains early. And thought we did a good job, the best we’ve done all year, getting off the field. And we got them in some third and longs, which is always helpful.”
Oklahoma State was three of 10 on third down. In terms of time of possession, the Cowboys had the ball for only 17:24 throughout the game, compared to WVU’s over 42 minutes.
Brown also touched upon Ollie Gordon III’s performance.
“I know Oklahoma State’s fans are going to talk about Ollie Gordon. Like that dude’s a player, man, but he’s a player, and for us to hold him to that (many) yards, I think, says a lot about just the will of our guys.”
Before being an early exit in the game due to being taken down awkwardly. Gordon had just 50 yards on 13 attempts after having 282 and four touchdowns against West Virginia last season.
“Offensively, we talked about we had not ran the ball up till today, I think how we’re capable of,” Brown said. “To come in here and to run for 389 (yards) is special. This will be something that we remember. And we were really good on third down.”
As Brown mentioned, the Mountaineers rushed for 389 yards. They averaged six yards per carry and have four touchdowns on the ground. After being one of the top rushing teams in the FBS last season, the Mountaineers struggled running early in the season but may have found their footing going forward.
Now, after improving to 2-0 in conference play, Brown wants his team to enjoy the win but quickly shift their focus to Iowa State, whom they’ll play next week.
“I think that this [conference] is really hard. And each week’s a new challenge,” Brown said. “We played a complete game and that’s a big deal. So, we want to enjoy that, enjoy the plane ride home. We want to watch the game tomorrow and then when we flip it over to Iowa State. I know that’s a huge challenge and it’s going to be completely different.”
Now 3-2 on the season, West Virginia will host Iowa State in a nighttime ‘Coal Rush’ game next week.
