West Virginia defeated Oklahoma State 38-14 on Saturday, improving to 2-0 in conference play.
The Mountaineers got off to a strong start and never looked back. Despite a Garrett Greene injury scare early, they scored on every drive of the first half, rushing for 259 yards, and were up 31-7 heading into the locker room at halftime.
WVU finished with 389 rushing yards led by Jahiem White with 158 yards and a touchdown. Greene had 86 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Donaldson had 77 yards and two touchdowns.
In the game, Greene threw for 159 yards, completing 60% of his passes (9-15). When Greene was out for a short period and when the second team was in, Nicco Marchiol helped West Virginia to two touchdown drives. He completed one pass on one attempt for 10 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 46 yards on seven attempts.
West Virginia’s defense also contributed to the victory; they had two interceptions and two sacks. OSU starter Alan Bowman threw for 116 yards, two interceptions, and a touchdown, completing 11 passes on 19 attempts before being replaced later in the contest. After his big game against WVU last year, Ollie Gordon was held to 50 yards on 13 attempts before leaving the game due to injury.
The Mountaineers won the toss and elected to receive. On their first drive, they drove it down around Oklahoma State’s 20-yard line. Michael Hayes hit a 39-yard field goal to get WVU on the board first. It was a 12-play 55-yard drive in just over five and a half minutes.
Oklahoma State’s first drive started with five straight Ollie Gordon rushes. On his fifth rush, the Cowboys were called for holding setting them back 10 yards. On the second down following they opted for Sesi Vailahi, who was stopped for a loss. Bowman had plenty of time on third down but saw no options and threw it away after being forced out of the pocket with little rushing room before punting it away on fourth and 14 in their own territory.
On their next drive, West Virginia had a third and medium and converted with a big Greene run. On the play, Greene appeared to suffer an injury grabbing around his shoulder area. Marchiol came in for the Mountaineers and delivered a 10-yard touchdown to Traylon Ray to put them up by two scores early.
After forcing another Oklahoma State punt, Marchiol was back under center for WVU as they aimed to build their lead. West Virginia opted for strictly rushing plays as they capped off the drive with a Jahiem White touchdown to go up by 17 after the PAT.
Looking to get back into the game, Oklahoma State had a slight shift of momentum with a 55-yard return on the kickoff following the White touchdown. They were stringing together a promising drive, but Bowman was picked off by West Virginia safety Jaheem Joseph.
Greene was back in at quarterback and orchestrated another scoring drive for the Mountaineers. It was an eight-play 87-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard Greene rushing touchdown as WVU capitalized off the turnover and led 24-0.
Needing an answer Oklahoma State got on the board during their next possession. They went 75 yards on 11 plays, scoring on an eight-yard passing touchdown as they cut the deficit to 17, 24-7.
It didn’t take West Virginia long to come back from the OSU score. With under two minutes to go, they drove down the field, and CJ Donaldson scored a 15-yard touchdown to put them back up by 24.
Oklahoma State was set to receive at halftime, trailing 31-7. They went three and out, punting the ball back to West Virginia. The Mountaineers failed to score for the first time in the game, turning the ball over on downs.
On the ensuing OSU drive, the Mountaineers applied the pressure, coming up with two sacks. Needing to get something going, Oklahoma State attempted a fourth and 17, but Bowman was picked off by a toe-tapping Josiah Trotter.
After a scoreless third quarter by both teams, Donaldson added his second touchdown of the game to put West Virginia up 38-7 in the fourth. With Garret Rangel in at quarterback, Oklahoma State scored a 43-yard touchdown on a De’Zhaun Stribling catch.
WVU ran out the clock with the second team in and would ultimately will leave Stillwater with a big win.
Oklahoma State falls to 3-3, 0-3 in the Big 12. They have a bye week upcoming then will play at BYU on Sept. 18.
West Virginia improves to 3-2 on the season and will host Iowa State in a night ‘Coal Rush’ game next week.
