The Oklahoma Sooners and West Virginia Mountaineers have met 12 times, with the Sooners holding a 11-2 lead in the series. OU’s won the last nine matchups, each of which has occurred in Big 12 play.
West Virginia last beat Oklahoma in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl when Pat White and Noel Devine gave the Sooners’ defense fits. On that day Pat White threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 150 yards in the two-score win.
The Sooners have won by nine or more points in six of the nine conference matchups. Oklahoma quarterbacks had made a habit out of having huge performances against the Mountaineers prior to the 2021 contest.
In Baker Mayfield’s three games against West Virginia, he completed 65% of his passes for an average of 256.7 yards per game and 10 total touchdowns. The Sooners won by an average margin of 25.33 points.
Kyler Murray was 20 of 27 for 364 yards and three touchdowns and added 114 yards rushing and a touchdown in the Sooners 59-56 win in their last trip to Morgantown.
In 2019, Jalen Hurts was near perfect going 16 of 17 for 316 yards passing and adding 75 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Oklahoma dominated, winning 52-14.
After COVID canceled the 2020 contest, the Sooners hosted the Mountaineers in 2021. It was the game that would end up being the beginning of the end for Spencer Rattler at quarterback.
After Oklahoma’s offense struggled in their win over Nebraska, the Sooners were unable to solve West Virginia’s stout defensive front. Oklahoma was ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time but trailed at half 10-7 to West Virginia in another defensive game. Rattler wasn’t terrible in the game. He completed 72% of his passes for 256 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per attempt, and the Sooners scored on their opening drive.
But then Oklahoma followed that up with punts on their next two drives, and Spencer Rattler threw an interception. After the pick, Rattler returned to the sidelines to a chorus of “we want Caleb” chants from the student section.
Oklahoma went on to win the game, and Rattler orchestrated a drive in the final minutes to set up a Gabe Brkic game-winning field goal as time expired.
With Dillon Gabriel at the helm heading into this contest, we can expect to see some fireworks against a defense allowing 34.2 points per game on the season.
Let’s take a look back at the Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers in stunning images.