Oklahoma vs. West Virginia: No. 6 Sooners survives wild shootout to prepare for rematch against Texas



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This has not been easy for several weeks for Oklahoma No. 6, but the Sooners still seem to find a way. Kyler Murray, the Oklahoma quarterback, met catcher CeeDee Lamb for a first-round review in fourth and fifth position, allowing him to win a 59-56 win over No. 13 Virginia in the US. Where is. The win puts the Sooners in a rematch against Texas at Arlington next Saturday. And although Oklahoma probably does not control its fate in the college football playoffs, it is still in the running and could slip into 4th place if two matches are going well. In particular: Michigan-Ohio State and Notre Dame-USC Saturday will be of immediate interest.

It's also a tough defeat for the Mountaineers, who felt this year was their best chance of winning the Big 12 title with the return of quarterback Will Grier, who has indeed racked up huge numbers against the Sooners defense with 539 yards and four touchdowns.

It was the most lucrative business that everyone had imagined. With this game in the books, here's what we learned …

Yes, the defenses were really so bad: The Big 12 gets an unfair blow – sometimes – that he does not play in defense. This is not always the case, and sometimes the mistakes are simply good. That's the case when Oklahoma does things like hanging 48 points in Georgia in the Rose Bowl. However, the defenses in this game? Horrible. The combined 1,372 offensive yards and more than 100 points were not very tradable. It was not a question of a quarter that the NFL throws itself into narrow windows, although the game was excellent. It was a good game, a bad angle, a bad angle … a bad thing. It was certainly not a comparison with the Monday Night Football Chiefs-Rams game last week. Yes, this game was fun, but it was painfully predictable.

Nevertheless, the Oklahoma defense has won two big games: Let us be clear in saying that the defense of Oklahoma is appalling. That has not changed since defensive coordinator Mike Stoops was fired in the middle of the season, and that will not change anytime soon (this season or maybe the next). They have won despite this for some time. It's a totally separate issue. But, well, Oklahoma got some key pieces of this defense when she absolutely needed it in the form of two draw bags that resulted in scoop scores.

The first arrived in the second quarter when linebacker Caleb Kelly recorded a pancake on the offensive tackle from West Virginia, he sacked Grier and recovered the ball for 10 yards. It was a perfect combination of physical play on the line, closing speed to retrieve the bag and awareness to place the ball in the end zone. The second scoop-and-score came in the fourth quarter when Curtis Bolton returned a Grier fumble 48 yards for the touchdown to put the Sooners up 59-49. In both cases, Oklahoma was able to extend its lead by two scores. The Mountaineers have always found a way to fight back, but in a game as close as this one, these two non-offensive touchdowns made all the difference.

Oklahoma dropped 704 yards to nearly 8 yards per game. They did not cover the field well, at least steadily, and were thrust into the running. It will be a problem for the rest of the season – but when Oklahoma absolutely needs a room, he got two.

Empty goods will haunt West Virginia: It was a theme of the Mountaineers' defeat in Oklahoma State a week ago, and it was again raised Friday night. The first empty possession of West Virginia arrived in the red zone in the second quarter when the offensive could not score a fourth and six. Another empty possession came a lap later when, as a result of a Kyler Murray fumble, the Eers quickly scored three goals and Oklahoma scored two games later to get a 21-point advantage. -14.

West Virginia has done much better in the second half to make the most of its possessions, but the only exception will haunt it for a long time. When it appeared, running back Kennedy McKoy had broken a long course to place the offense inside the 5-yard line, with a penalty for personal foul inflicted on receiver TJ Simmons brought back the race. In short, Simmons has blocked a defender from Oklahoma way Out of bounds on the game. Normally, having your lunch eaten will hardly ever give rise to a penalty in your favor, but Oklahoma was saved from a possible hit of the Mountaineer. The second of two striptease bags from the OU in the night came three games later.

As a rule, charging the referee the result of a match is low. They are not perfect, but they do their best. and for the record, the penalties were even (Oklahoma had six for 60 yards and West Virginia had five for 60 yards). But this is going to be a West Virginia will wonder why he was called. In any case, West Virginia would still have been able to score, but the Oklahoma defense changed the course of the match.

Grier may have played until New York: If there is anything that can reassure West Virginia a little bit about its participation in the shortest part of this match, it is that Grier may have managed to get return to New York for the Heisman ceremony. He will not win, of course. It will be either Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa or Murray. But there are three places on a Heisman ballot and voters can be creatures of the moment. Grier's 539 yards and four touchdowns far outstripped figures from Washington State's Gardner Minshew, who, in a defeat against the Apple Cup against Washington in the middle of a snowstorm, rushed for 152 yards in the air. at 4.2 yards per attempt with two interceptions.

Bad weather is not Minshew's fault, and yes, voters should watch the entire season before filling out their ballots. However, even in a defeat, Grier had a big game on a national stage. He played pretty well so that the voters share this 3rd place. This should make it at least at the finalist ceremony.

CBS Sports was with you throughout the process to update this story with the latest scores, highlights, and analyzes from Oklahoma Vs. West Virginia. If you can not see the live updates below, please click here.

Thank you for being past.

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