West Virginia and Oklahoma State enter Saturday night’s Big 12 opener in Morgantown with a lot more than conference standings on the line. Both teams are hanging around the Top 25 conversation, both are scoring in bunches, and both arrive with enough offensive firepower to turn this into a track meet.
The Cowboys bring the league’s top offense into the game, averaging 528.0 yards per outing and 306.3 through the air. West Virginia counters with a rushing attack that leads the Big 12 at 281.3 yards per game. On paper, it’s strength against strength, and both teams are putting up more than 35 points a game.
West Virginia, third among teams also receiving votes in this week’s Associated Press poll, is off to its best start since 2018, when it opened 5-0. The Mountaineers handled then-No.
25 Virginia 38-27 last Saturday in Charlotte, N.C., and Michael Hawkins Jr. was at the center of everything. The former Oklahoma quarterback accounted for all five touchdowns, throwing for two scores and going 10-for-17 for 190 yards while adding three more on the ground.
He finished with a career-best 123 rushing yards on 18 carries.
Cam Cook also delivered a big day for West Virginia, running 30 times for 123 yards.
Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris knows the challenge his defense is facing, especially against a Mountaineers backfield that can hit in multiple ways.
"Missed tackles will kill you, and when you're fitting this run game up, and it's not just Hawkins," he said. "Cook's a really, really dynamic back."
The Cowboys, who received the fifth-most votes among unranked teams, are trying to stop two ugly streaks at once. They have dropped 18 straight conference games and 11 straight road games, their longest road skid since a run of 15 consecutive losses from October 1934 to November 1936.
Still, Oklahoma State has shown some life after opening with a loss at Tulsa. The Cowboys stunned Oregon and then followed that up by rolling past Murray State 59-0 last Saturday. Drew Mestemaker was sharp before sitting in the third quarter, completing 20 of 22 passes for 324 yards and five touchdowns.
West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said Oklahoma State’s response after that early setback has been telling.
"The first game is always the hardest, especially if you got like they did a whole bunch of new players. ... They come out the next game and just from the jump, jump all over Oregon, it tells you a lot about how they've turned that program into where it is," Rodriguez said.
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Oklahoma State Faces A New Defensive Problem In Big 12 Opener
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For the Cowboys, the concern is not just a quarterback who can extend plays, but an offense built to lean into that versatility and keep a defense guessing snap after snap. Morris and his staff are facing the sort of early conference problem that can force a team to rethink how it fits against the run and how much help it needs up front. Against West Virginia, Oklahoma State will find out quickly whether its front can survive the stress Hawkins puts on it. [Read more 🡒]