WVSports – Observations: West Virginia football vs. Oklahoma State

Each week WVSports.com Managing Editor Keenan Cummings provides a look at some of the things that stood out to him during the course of the game and on the stat sheet.

These observations are a snapshot of what unfolded in the West Virginia 48-34 loss to Oklahoma State and what could happen next for the Mountaineers.

–For the second straight week, West Virginia did everything in its power to not only refuse to seize momentum but win this football game. And for the second straight week, the Mountaineers have lost a game that they very likely should have won. West Virginia just isn’t good enough to continue to try to win these one possession games without creating any distance between themselves and opponents. I wish I could point to one issue, but over the course of the last five years it’s a number of them that seemingly crop up at the worst possible times. Through five games West Virginia still had some luck on their side but still didn’t do anything to beat themselves. That just hasn’t been the case the past two weeks with inexcusable turnovers, penalties and just mistakes that will lose you football games. Ultimately head coach Neal Brown isn’t the one out there making the miscues, but it ultimately falls at his feet and some of the things that happen to this team are almost impossible to believe at times.

–West Virginia’s defense was able to keep Oklahoma State in check for large stretches in this game and were able to hold in the red zone, but looking at the final numbers it didn’t seem that way. The Mountaineers allowed 491 yards, 48 points and the Pokes were 8-14 on third down. Of course when you consider 28 points and 171 yards came in the fourth quarter. Missed tackles were a major issue at times in this game and some of that is credit to Ollie Gordon, but other times the Mountaineers simply missed plays where they had opportunities to get ball carriers to the ground. After allowing 40 points over a three game span against FBS teams, the Mountaineers have now allowed 89 points over the last two games. This team isn’t built to win shootouts and it’s shown.

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