The Mountaineers (3-2, 2-0 Big 12) scored on all five first-half possessions and survived an injury scare to quarterback Garrett Greene to build rhythm offensively.

Michael Hayes’ 39-yard field goal provided the game’s first points as WVU received the opening kickoff for the fifth time in as many contests. Saturday marked the first instance that opening possession amounted to points against FBS competition.

Following the first of Oklahoma State’s four punts, the Mountaineers drove 65 yards in nine plays for the first touchdown, which came on Nicco Marchiol’s 10-yard pass to Traylon Ray.

“He threw a strike,” Brown said. “Traylon Ray ran a great route, not a good route — and he put it right on him. Proud of both those guys.”

It was Marchiol’s third play behind center after he took over for Garrett Greene, who exited momentarily due to an injury suffered  on his 39-yard run.

Greene was out for the Mountaineers’ next series, which featured six rushes for 63 yards, including tailback Jahiem White’s 10-yard scamper into the end zone that allowed the visitors to hold a 17-0 lead with 11:16 left in the first half.

“We knew they were going to play a lot of man this week and that gave us an advantage with the safeties,” White said. “We had to take advantage in 1-on-1 situations.”

Cale Cabbiness returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to the West Virginia 39, but the Cowboys’ scoring threat ended four plays later when safety Jaheem Joseph intercepted Alan Bowman on second-and-8 from the Mountaineers’ 23-yard line.

Greene then returned to action and showed no ill effects, leading an 87-yard drive that he finished off with a 15-yard touchdown run up the middle. Greene threw an incomplete pass on the first play of that series, before the Mountaineers rushed seven consecutive times, including CJ Donaldson’s 20-yard dash and White’s 26-yard burst that came one play before the score.

“He tackled me at a weird angle and landed on top of me,” Greene said. “The training staff did a good job getting out there, getting me checked out and getting me back on the field.

“It’s still a little sore, but I’m going to enjoy the plane ride home and deal with it tomorrow.” 

At the time the Mountaineers led 24-0 with 5:55 left in the half, WVU had 270 total yards to the Cowboys’ 32.

Bowman’s 25-yard pass to Brennan Pressley on fourth-and-7 of the ensuing possession led to the Cowboys (3-3, 0-3) scoring their first touchdown courtesy of Bowman’s 8-yard pass to Rashod Owens.

Any momentum garnered from cutting its deficit to 17, however, was short-lived for Oklahoma State.

The Mountaineers got the ball back with 1:54 to play in the half, and after crossing midfield, Greene connected with tight end Kole Taylor for 21 yards. Two plays later, Donaldson reached the end zone for the first time on a 15-yard run 28 seconds before halftime, and the Mountaineers took a 31-7 lead into the intermission. 

WVU had 345 total yards on 8 yards per play through the first two quarters.

After OSU punted on the opening second-half series, the Cowboys generated their first defensive stop when Donaldson was stopped near the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-2 run.

The Mountaineer defense continued to thrive and redshirt freshman linebacker Josiah Trotter intercepted Bowman on fourth-and-17 to get WVU the ball back. 

“They’ve been able to put up points against some really good teams and for us to be able to come out like that and play the way we did for a full 60 minutes, that’s a lot of confidence,” Trotter said. “Not only for the defense, but also the offense to trust us that we can get stops.”

WVU had a chance to add to its lead on its next series and Greene had plenty of room to convert a fourth-and-5 run from the OSU 32, but after the play was reviewed, it was determined WVU’s quarterback began his slide just short of the first down stick, allowing the Cowboys to take over at their 28.

That meant a scoreless third quarter, though WVU forced another punt early in the fourth after Garret Rangel had replaced Bowman at quarterback.

Donaldson’s 1-yard touchdown run 5:59 into the fourth capped off an 88-yard drive that featured a 40-yard one-handed reception from wideout Hudson Clement.

Only 31 seconds later, the Cowboys countered with a 43-yard TD pass from Rangel to De’Zhaun Stribling.

Oklahoma State never got the ball back despite forcing what would’ve been the Mountaineers first punt, only for a roughing the punter call allowing WVU to maintain possession and run out the remainder of the clock.

West Virginia finished with 389 rushing yards on 65 attempts. 

“To come here and run for 389 is special,” Brown said. “This will be something we remember.”

White’s 158 yards on 19 carries were a game high. Greene aded 86 yards, Donaldson 77 and Marchiol 46 while running behind an offensive line that was dominant.

“We were really good. Best we played. It starts with Brandon Yates,” Brown said. “He’s the one that directs traffic up there and he did a really nice job. It’s a lot easier to evaluate those guys when I watch the tape. My assumption would be if you run for 389 yards, your o-line played pretty well.”

Greene completed 9-of-15 passes for 159 yards. Marchiol’s only throw was the touchdown pass.

West Virginia finished with a 558-227 advantage in total yardage. 

Bowman completed 10-of-19 passes for 116 yards and Ollie Gordon was limited to 13 carries for 50 yards, before leaving the game for good early into the third quarter as a result of an injury.

“We were coming here to stop the run. They were throwing for 300-plus yards and if they did that today against us, I wasn’t going to be overly concerned, but I wanted to make them one dimensional and stop the run,” Brown said. “From a coverage structure, we were better in our drop zones and we’re getting better at that. We have to continue to work on it.”

Oklahoma State has lost three straight regular season games for the first time since 2014 when the Cowboys suffered through a five-game skid.

Oklahoma State’s defense has had major issues throughout the first month of the season and hasn’t had the best of luck with health either. Saturday afternoon, McClain Baxley of 247 Sports reported that star linebacker Nick Martin has been ruled out for today’s game against West Virginia with a knee injury.

Martin is Oklahoma State’s second-leading tackler with 47 stops to go along with two passes defended, one fumble recovery, and one forced fumble. Last season, Martin led the entire Big 12 Conference with 140 tackles and earned first-team All-Big 12 honors. Fellow linebacker Collin Oliver and defensive lineman Kody Walterscheid each went down earlier this season, really putting a dent in the Cowboys’ front seven.

Entering this evening’s game, Oklahoma State ranks 15th out of 16 teams in the Big 12 in pass defense, allowing 276.4. yards per game and sits dead last in rushing defense, giving up 204.2 yards per game.

West Virginia and Oklahoma State will kick things off at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN2.

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