The [autotag]West Virginia Mountaineers[/autotag] started with the ball on Saturday against the Oklahoma Sooners. Fans waited in anticipation to see what Oklahoma team would show up.
Was it the team from the first seven games or the team from the last two? It took the Mountaineers four minutes and eight plays to go 75 yards and score a touchdown. They faced one third down on the entire drive, and it was a third and short.
Now, the anxiety grew. But the offense went right down the field to tie it up and the defense allowed 13 points and 255 yards the rest of the game. It was the team we saw earlier in the year as they routed the Mountaineers 59-20.
The defense was flying around and making plays. They only allowed 330 yards, had two interceptions, and held West Virginia to 4 of 14 on third down. A big reason for their success was getting their leader back. [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag] finished with a team high eight tackles.
He spoke with the media after the game about what changed after that first drive. “Really, just stop the run,” Stutsman said. “They have such a good o-line. We knew that going into it. They do a lot of motion and stuff. You really just want to keep that quarterback contained in the pocket. He’s a really big threat when he’s running the ball, so we had to cage the quarterback.”
They did just that, holding [autotag]Garrett Greene[/autotag] to 10 carries for 24 yards and no touchdowns. He only got free one time for a gain of 15 yards, otherwise the front seven shut Greene down.
Stutsman and [autotag]Kip Lewis[/autotag], who finished tied for second in tackles with seven, were the two who got the start at linebacker. Jaren Kanak still played quite a bit and finished with five tackles.
The Sooners righted their wrongs for at least one week. Now, they need to keep this momentum and finish the season strong.
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