Oklahoma State Searching for 11th Win in West Virginia Series
Saturday's matchup between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Oklahoma State Cowboys will mark the 16th meeting between the two Big 12 foes. The Cowboys hold the edge over the Mountaineers, having won 10 of the 15 previous meetings on the football field.
In order to look at the history of the series between Oklahoma State and West Virginia, we must first flash back nearly a century. The year was 1928 and the two teams were preparing for the first meeting. The Mountaineers pulled off the 32-6 victory over the Cowboys and that score would stand as the largest margin of victory between the universities.
They suited up again the following year in 1929 and West Virginia once again came away with a 9-6 victory. The three-point win by the Mountaineers still stands as the smallest margin of victory in the two programs’ history. They wouldn’t play again until 1987 when the Cowboys got their first win of the series.
Always a fun time when the Pokes and the Mountaineers meet 🤠 #TBT pic.twitter.com/wEM0fd6f5l
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) October 3, 2024
The series was once again put on hold until West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012. The two teams have faced off 12 times as conference opponents with the Cowboys holding the 9-3 series lead since the Mountaineers joined the conference. The largest winning streak in the series belongs to the Cowboys who won seven straight games between 2015 and 2021.
The Cowboys won a 48-34 shootout a season ago against the Mountaineers. OSU outscored West Virginia 28-10 in the fourth quarter to come away with the win and they received a monster rushing game from Ollie Gordon II. Gordon carried the ball 29 times for 282 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Ollie’s three rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter were a key component in the Cowboys overcoming a 24-20 West Virginia lead heading into the fourth.
Gordon’s 2023 season-high 282 rushing yards against the Mountaineers propelled him into the Heisman conversation a season ago, and fans of the Orange and Black are hoping Gordon once again puts his stamp on Saturday's meeting.
READ MORE: How to Watch Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia: Kickoff Time, TV, Streaming and Odds
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Taylor Skieens has been an avid sports journalist with the McCurtain Gazette in Idabel, Oklahoma for seven years. He holds the title of Sports Editor for one of the oldest remaining print publications in the state of Oklahoma. Taylor grew up in the small lumber town of Wright City Oklahoma where he played baseball and basketball for the Lumberjax.