Initial Thoughts on West Virginia's Dominating Win Over Oklahoma State
The West Virginia Mountaineers put on a show in Stillwater on Saturday, taking down the Oklahoma State Cowboys 38-14. Here are some of my initial thoughts on today's action.
Jahiem White...hello!
Coming into this one, Jahiem White was averaging just a little over 45 yards per game. Offensive coordinator and running backs coach Chad Scott said all week long that they need to get him going and cited this week as a great opportunity to uncork him, and boy did they. White looked like the freshman phenom we saw burst onto the scene last year, rushing for 158 yards and a score on 19 carries. CJ Donaldson had a fine day to rushing for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
How about that defense?
Sure, Oklahoma State has not been able to get Ollie Gordon II going all season long, but you still have to go out and get the job done. West Virginia limited him to just 50 yards on 13 carries before leaving the game with an injury. The one thing the Cowboys have been able to do is pass it. Alan Bowman never got into a rhythm and you have to give credit to the WVU secondary for winning their matchups and covering really well. By far the best the back end has played to this point in the season. Bowman finished the game 10-of-19 for 116 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Following his second interception, he was pulled for Garret Rangel.
Confidence building
The bye week came at a perfect time and the energy both on the field and on the sideline looked night and day from what we saw the last time the Mountaineers were on the road. As battle-tested as this team is, they still believe they can do big things, as they should. They're now sitting at 2-0 in league play with a dominating conference road win under their belt with a pair of home games on deck. If they can somehow find a way to sweep those two games, the rest of the schedule sets up pretty nice for them to make a run at a Big 12 title, or at worst, a spot in the Big 12 title game.
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