Oklahoma State 37 – West Virginia 20 | Rapid Recap

Zachary LowOctober 29, 2016 No Comments

Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy earned his 100th win at Oklahoma State as the Cowboys downed the 10th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers 37-20. Oklahoma State held the lead for most of the game, and despite West Virginia’s best attempt at a comeback, the Cowboys held continued to pour on the points and seal the Homecoming win.

Defense Leads to Offense

Despite moving the ball into the redzone on their first two possessions, the Cowboys were unable to punch it in for a touchdown, settling for 32 and 25-yard field goals.

Early in the second quarter, Defensive Tackle Vincent Taylor found his way into the backfield and forced West Virginia quarterback Skyler Clark to fumble, which was quickly recovered by Cole Walterscheid on the West Virginia 8-yard line. Two plays later, Mason Rudolph found Chris Lacy for a 5-yard touchdown pass to put the Cowboys up 13-10, a lead that the Cowboys would hold until the end of the game.

Near the end of the third quarter, the Mountaineers found themselves down 20-10 and desperate for some points when Skyler Clark threw an interception on the first play of the drive. Cowboy CB Ramon Richards was in the right place at the right time as he picked off the tipped pass and returned it 59 yards to the West Virginia 9-yard line.

It took only three plays for the Cowboys as Mason Rudolph ran a QB sneak for a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Cowboys up 27-10.

West Virginia pulled to within in 7 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but Oklahoma State answered to go back up by two touchdowns 34-20. The Mountaineers were prepared to march down the field again to try to bring the game within reach, but Oklahoma State Freshman LB Kevin Henry read Skyler Clark’s eyes perfectly to grab an interception and run it back to the Mountaineer 10-yard line.

The Oklahoma State offense played conservative to run some time off the clock and kicked a field go to pull ahead 37-20, a score that would stand until the end of the game.

Mason Rudolph Has Another Solid Outing

Mason Rudolph’s success throwing the ball was a huge contribution that led to the Cowboy win. Rudolph threw to seven different receivers on 26/36 passes for 273 yard and three touchdowns. He also added 10 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Another important stat to note is that Rudolph did not turn over the ball, and he was only sacked once.

Special Team is Special

Senior Kicker Ben Grogan extended his Oklahoma State scoring record to 406 points as he successfully kicked three of his four field attempts while tacking on four extra point attempts. Grogan has turned into a consistent kicker that the Cowboys can rely on, and he proved that again on several occasions today.

Sophomore Punter Zach Sinor did an extraordinary job punting the ball. Sinor punted the ball four times with a long of 59 yards and a 44.8 yard average. Of his four punts, Sinor was able to kick inside of the 20-yard line three times, which made the Cowboy defense’s job a lot easier.

As far as returns go, Barry J. Sanders was only able to return two kickoffs, but he managed returns of 21 and 30 yards. The 30-yard return was good enough to setup the Cowboys with good enough field position that led to a touchdown.

Win #100 = Dancing

Once again, I’ll just leave this here for your viewing enjoyment.

More recaps coming later.

Leave a Reply