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West Virginia had an early 14-3 lead over Oklahoma State Saturday night, and the raucous home crowd at Mountaineer Field was in high spirits.
But reality soon set in as the Cowboys dominated and outscored the Mountaineers 38-10 the rest of the way, amassing over 350 yards in the second half in what was an embarrassing performance on the defensive side of the ball by WVU.
In retrospect it was apparent that no lead would have been safe but a key turnaround occurred late in the second quarter. The West Virginia offense was having its way and had driven to the Cowboys 18-yard line with a chance to extend its 14-6 lead but a pass was intercepted and Oklahoma State converted with a scoring drive to cut the halftime lead to just a single point.
The Mountaineers did have a brief momentum swing early in the third quarter when they had their own interception deep in their territory and responded by driving 82 yards for a TD to take a 21-13 lead. The brief swing in fortunes had virtually no effect, however, as Oklahoma State unleashed a tsunami on offense, scoring on two consecutive 75-yard drives on just three and four plays, respectively.
The West Virginia defense had shown some improvement the previous week against Virginia but facing a quarterback who will likely be a first round pick in next year's NFL draft completely collapsed. Drew Mestemaker passed the ball only 27 times, but had an average of 14.4 yards gained every time he threw the ball. The Mountaineers were unable to generate any pressure and he stood comfortably in the pocket and passed for an incredible 296 yards in the second half alone.
It was noted on the postgame show that the WVU offense had 29 first downs and 335 rushing yards, which would be a winning formula in almost any game played, yet they lost by three scores. Unfortunately the offense lost some steam in the second half, having to settle for a field goal after getting inside the 10 and on the next possession turned the ball over on downs after having second-and-2 in Oklahoma State territory.
The Mountaineers have a solid offense and excellent special teams play, but the porous defense is difficult to overcome. One wonders if playing at a fast pace when they have the ball is a good strategy. It seems that slowing down play on offense would shorten the number of possessions in the game. The fewer times the West Virginia defense is on the field the better.
THIS SATURDAY: The last three trips to Iowa State have resulted in three one-sided losses by an average of 16 points, so recent history is not on the side of the Mountaineers. But the Cyclones have a first year coach with a huge player turnover and do not have a prolific offense such as we saw on Saturday night. In their most recent game vs Utah they showed weakness against the run which is a WVU strength. WEST VIRGINIA 23 IOWA STATE 20.