Game Primer: OU vs. West Virginia

Saturday, September 25

Norman

6:30 PM

University of Oklahoma

West Virginia

September 24, 2021 | Football

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^4/3 Oklahoma

West Virginia

Saturday, Sept. 25 / 6:30 p.m. CT / Owen Field

ABC / Radio / Live Stats / Game Notes

OPENING KICK

• In the Big 12 opener for both teams, No. 4/3 Oklahoma (3-0) hosts West Virginia (2-1) on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. CT at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman. The game will be televised nationally by ABC with Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe announcing.

• Oklahoma is 25-2 (.926) in home games under Lincoln Riley and the average score in those contests has been 48-22. The 48.0 points per game are the most nationally at home during the period (starting with the 2017 season).

• OU has won 11 games in a row, which represents the 14th winning streak of at least 10 games in program history and the Sooners' longest since winning 14 straight over the 2016 and '17 seasons (last 10 games of 2016 and first four of '17). The 11-game streak is also tied with Texas A&M for the second-longest in the country, with only Alabama (17) owning a longer current streak. Just one other Power Five program (Iowa at nine) has a winning streak longer than seven games. OU has registered winning streaks of at least seven games in each of the past six seasons.

• The Sooners have as many Big 12 titles the last six seasons (six) as they have lost games against Big 12 opponents (51-6 record; includes four Big 12 Championship games).

• Come Saturday, Oklahoma will have been Big 12 champion for 2,123 consecutive days.

• OU is 146-31 (.825) in regular season Big 12 play since the start of the 2000 season. That's 26 more wins than the program with the next most victories during that period (Texas; 120-57) and 46 more than the program with the third most (Oklahoma State; 100-78).

• Last season's scheduled Oklahoma at West Virginia game did not occur. The matchup was originally scheduled for Nov. 28 but was postponed when OU temporarily paused organized team activities due to COVID-19 tests and contact tracing. The Dec. 12 rematch was canceled after WVU shut down its football operations for seven days.

• OU has won seven of its last eight Big 12 openers and 11 of its last 13. Its two Big 12-opening defeats in the last 13 years both came to Kansas State in Norman in (24-19 in 2012 and 38-35 last season).

• Saturday's game will mark OU's fourth straight at home to begin the season. The last time the Sooners opened a campaign with four home games was in 2004 when they beat Bowling Green (40-24), Houston (63-13), Oregon (31-17) and Texas Tech (28-13). They were ranked No. 2 in the AP poll in all four contests. OU plays at Kansas State next week.

• Oklahoma is scheduled to play nine games to start the season before its bye week. That's OU's longest stretch at the beginning of a season without a bye since 1995 when it played 10 games before a week off.

• OU is 44-10-1 all-time as the No.4-ranked team in the AP poll, and 22-2 at home. The Sooners' only contest against West Virginia as the No. 4-ranked team was in 2014 (a 45-33 win in Morgantown).

• After a 30-24 season-opening loss at Maryland, West Virginia responded with 66-0 and 27-21 home wins over Long Island and No. 15 Virginia Tech, respectively.

KEY STORYLINES

• In Oklahoma's three games against West Virginia with Lincoln Riley as head coach, the Sooners have averaged 56.7 points and 624.7 yards (271.7 rushing/353.3 passing) per game. They've scored 10 touchdowns via rush and 10 via pass, and have averaged 7.3 yards per carry, 19.6 yards per completion, 15.8 yards per pass attempt and 10.5 yards per play (12.0 in 2017, 10.3 in 2018 and 9.5 in 2019). Their 1,874 yards equate to 1.06 miles.

• OU is the only program West Virginia has not defeated since joining the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season. The Sooners are 8-0 against the Mountaineers during that span and have scored at least 44 points in seven of those contests (average score of 48-30 in the eight games), including each of the last six meetings (average score of 53-31).

• Saturday's game will feature an OU run defense that has held all three opponents this season to 100 or fewer ground yards (83.3 average). Meanwhile, West Virginia running back Leddie Brown is averaging 88.3 rushing yards per contest this year and has a Big 12-high-tying five rushing touchdowns. He is coming off a 19-carry, 161-yard, one-TD effort in a win over No. 15 Virginia Tech. Going back to the 2019 campaign, only one running back has rushed for 100 yards in a game against the Sooners (Iowa State's Breece Hall had 139 yards in the third game of last season). OU ranked 19th nationally last year by allowing 3.45 yards per rush and this year is permitting just 2.6 per carry.

• In two home games against the Mountaineers under Riley, the Sooners have averaged 55.5 points, 603.0 yards of total offense, 348.0 passing yards, 255.0 rushing yards, 7.0 yards per rush and 10.1 yards per play. They have completed 34 of 40 pass attempts (85.0%). In 2017, Riley's first year as head coach, OU set the single-game program record by averaging 12.0 yards per play (646 yards on 54 plays) in a 59-31 win over West Virginia.

• Oklahoma's defense has spent a lot of time in the opponent backfield this season. OU ranks fifth nationally with its 4.3 sacks per game and is ninth in the country with 9.0 tackles for loss per contest. Outside linebacker Nik Bonitto and defensive linemen Isaiah Thomas and Perrion Winfrey all have 2.5 sacks to rank third in the Big 12. West Virginia is tied for last in the league by permitting 2.3 sacks per outing.

Nik Bonitto

TWO YEARS AGO VS. WEST VIRGINIA

• In Oklahoma's last meeting against West Virginia two seasons ago, Jalen Hurts completed 16 of 17 pass attempts for 316 yards and three touchdowns and rushed 10 times for 75 yards and two scores as No. 5/5 OU won by a 52-14 count in Norman for the Sooners' first 7-0 start since 2004. It was OU's fourth straight game against the Mountaineers to score more than 50 points.

• OU posted a 318-yard advantage in total offense (560-242) and averaged 9.5 yards per play to WVU's 3.8.

• Hurts became the third OU quarterback (first against a conference opponent) to complete at least 90% of his passes and throw for over 300 yards and for at least three touchdowns. He recorded a career-high passing efficiency rating of 308.5, the best mark nationally in 2019 and second best in school history (minimum 15 attempts).

• Hurts' TD passes went to H-back Jeremiah Hall (20 yards), Charleston Rambo (6 yards) and Lee Morris (46 yards). Kennedy Brooks gained 70 yards on 10 carries and accounted for OU's third rushing touchdown.

• Linebacker Kenneth Murray led the OU defense with nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, while safety Delarrin Turner-Yell added seven stops. The Sooners forced 10 punts.

• Oklahoma scored its last touchdown when H-back Brayden Willis blocked a punt that was recovered in the end zone by tight end Austin Stogner (was Stogner's first career score). Prior to the 2018 season, OU had not recorded a blocked punt for a touchdown since 2002.

HOME IS WHERE THE "W" IS

• Oklahoma has won three more Big 12 championships over the last 22 years (14) than it has lost home games. OU is 126-11 (.920) at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium since the start of the 1999 season (Bob Stoops' first as head coach). It is the best home winning percentage among Power Five schools over the last 23 seasons (Ohio State is next at .889). OU has outscored its opponents by an average of 43-17 in those games.

• Saturday will mark OU's 137th straight sellout of an originally scheduled home game, dating back to the start of the 1999 campaign. Only Nebraska (FBS-record 377) has a longer current streak nationally.

OU'S BIG 12 DOMINATION

• With Saturday marking the start of Big 12 Conference play, following are notes on Oklahoma's domination of the league (the Big 12 began playing football in 1996):

• OU's win over Iowa State in the 2020 Big 12 Championship resulted in the Sooners' sixth straight Big 12 title and 14th since 2000 (no other program has won more than two during the span). For perspective, the two Power Five programs with the next most conference titles this millennium are Ohio State (11 in Big Ten) and Oregon (eight in Pac-10/Pac-12).

• The Sooners' 14 Big 12 titles are 11 more than the program with the next most. Texas has won three Big 12 championships and is followed by Baylor, Kansas State and Nebraska (two each), and Colorado, Oklahoma State, TCU and Texas A&M (one each). Colorado and Nebraska left the Big 12 after the 2010 season and Texas A&M departed after the 2011 campaign.

• Since 2010, OU has won eight Big 12 titles and is followed by Baylor (two) and Kansas State, Oklahoma State and TCU (one each).

• Oklahoma is the only program to win at least three straight Big 12 titles, and it has done so twice (2006-08 and 2015-20). Baylor (2013-14) is the only other program to win two Big 12 championships in a row.

• At 11-1, the Sooners are the only program with a winning record in Big 12 Championship games. Texas has the next best mark at 3-3.

• Since Lincoln Riley came to Norman as offensive coordinator in 2015, OU has posted a 47-6 (.887) record in regular season Big 12 play. The next best mark during the period is 34-20 (.630) by Oklahoma State.

MORE CONFERENCE TITLE TIDBITS

• Oklahoma and Clemson are each riding streaks of six outright conference championships. The last current Power Five program to win at least six straight outright league titles was OU when it claimed 12 Big Six/Seven crowns in a row under legendary head coach Bud Wilkinson (1948-59).

• Every OU freshman class from 1999-2019 has won at least one Big 12 championship and all but the 2011 freshman class have won at least two. The 2015, 2016 and 2017 freshman classes each won four Big 12 titles.

• OU leads the nation with its 50 all-time conference titles and is followed by Nebraska (46), Michigan (42), Ohio State (39) and USC (37).

DEFENSE PLAYS BIG HAND IN 11-GAME WINNING STREAK

• Oklahoma's defense has figured prominently in the program's 11-game winning streak that started on Oct. 10, 2020, against Texas. Here are some notes:

• OU has held its last 11 opponents below a 50% third-down conversion rate (highest during that period was 43% by Nebraska on Saturday while the next highest was 36% by Texas Tech last year). Seven of the Sooners' last eight opponents have failed to convert more than 31% of third downs. OU ranks third nationally during the time period with its 29.09 opponent third-down conversion rate, trailing only Wisconsin (27.02%) and UAB (29.05%). In fact, OU ranks third nationally in the category since the start of the 2019 season (defensive coordinator Alex Grinch's first year in Norman) with its 30.21% figure.

• The Sooners have totaled 44 sacks over their last 11 games for a nation-leading 4.0 per contest since Oct. 10, 2020, and a total of 274 lost yards. In the same timeframe, OU has registered 88 tackles for loss for an average of 8.0 per game and a total of 383 lost yards.

• Oklahoma has registered at least one takeaway in nine straight games and in 10 of the last 11. It has multiple takeaways in eight of the last 11. OU is plus-14 in turnover margin (24 takeaways to 10 turnovers) during the 11-game winning streak and is plus-9 over its last six contests.

• OU has 17 interceptions over its last 11 games. The 1.5 interceptions per contest since Oct. 10, 2020, are tied for second most in the country.

QUICK 2021 OFFENSIVE NOTES

• The Sooners rank sixth nationally with their 46.3 points per game and rank second in the Big 12 with their 487.3 yards per contest.

• Among teams with at least 15 red zone trips this season, Oklahoma ranks first nationally with its 94.4% score rate (17 scores on 18 trips). Sixteen of its 17 red zone scores (94.1%) have been touchdowns.

• Redshirt sophomore quarterback Spencer Rattler enters Saturday's game ranked first in the Big 12 in total offense (277.3 yards per game), total touchdowns (nine), passing touchdowns (seven) and completions (74; next most is 55), and ranks second in completion percentage (career-best 74.7). Rattler tied an OU record for TD passes in a half with five vs. Western Carolina and did not play in the second half. He has thrown at least one TD pass in all 14 of his career starts.

• Redshirt sophomore receiver Jadon Haselwood, who missed all but three games last season due to injury, has made his first three career starts this year and leads the team (is tied for third in Big 12) with 14 receptions. The consensus No. 1 national receiver in the 2019 recruiting class is tied for second in the Big 12 with two receiving TDs this season (both vs. Western Carolina).

• Freshman receiver Mario Williams ranks second on the team and is tied for fifth in the league with 13 catches. ESPN's No. 1 receiver in the 2021 class, Williams caught a TD pass in each of his first two career games.

• Preseason second-team All-America receiver Marvin Mims has eight catches for a team-high 168 receiving yards. Last year, Mims set the OU freshman record for receiving touchdowns with nine, besting the former record of seven shared by Mark Andrews (2015) and CeeDee Lamb (2017). Mims has yet to catch a TD pass this season.

• Redshirt junior Kennedy Brooks and junior Eric Gray are OU's only scholarship running backs and have shared the bulk of the rushing workload this season. Gray, a transfer from Tennessee, has started all three games and has rushed 33 times for 185 yards (5.6 per carry; 61.7 yards per game) and has three catches for 16 yards and a touchdown. Brooks has 34 carries for 210 yards (6.2 per carry; 70.0 yards per game) and three touchdowns. Walk-ons Jaden Knowles and Todd Hudson earned carries against Western Carolina and each scored two TDs.

Marvin Mims

OU FOOT NOTES

• During Lincoln Riley's four-plus-year head coaching career, Oklahoma ranks first in the Big 12 and seventh nationally with its 83.5% success rate on field goal attempts (81 for 97). Kansas State is the next best Big 12 school in the category during the span, ranking 19th at 79.5%.

• During the same period, the Sooners rank third nationally in PAT conversion percentage among teams with at least 150 attempts, converting 318 of 319 tries (99.7%). Only Georgia (227 for 227) and Virginia Tech (182 of 182) have a higher success rate.

• Redshirt junior kicker Gabe Brkic, who was a 2020 first-team All-Big 12 selection (coaches and AP) and a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, is 42 for 50 (.840) on career field goal attempts and has made all 115 of his PAT tries. The OU career record for field goal percentage is .833 (75 for 90) by Michael Hunnicutt (2011-14). Brkic ranked third nationally last season by averaging 2.0 field goal makes per game.

• Brkic is 5 for 7 on field goal attempts this season and is 4 for 5 on tries from over 50 yards. The longest field goal made this season nationally is 56 yards and Brkic has two of the three makes from that distance (LSU's Cade York has the other). He is tied for first nationally with his eight makes from 50-plus yards since the start of the 2020 season (he and York are 8 for 11 while no other player has made more than four 50-yarders). Brkic's nine career makes from 50 or farther are the most in OU history (next highest total is four). He also sits atop the Sooners' career chart with 15 makes from at least 40 yards.

• Redshirt senior punter Michael Turk transferred to OU from Arizona State in August and earned the starting job. The 2019 and '20 first-team All-Pac-12 selection averaged 46.2 yards per punt over the last two seasons and totaled 28 boots that went at least 50 yards. He has only punted five times this season (four vs. Nebraska) and is averaging 42.8 yards per punt (long of 57).

FIRST TIME STARTERS

• Nine players have made their first Oklahoma starts this season. Against Tulane, first-time OU starters were senior Chris Murray (OL; started 24 games at UCLA), senior Michael Woods II (WR; started 29 games at Arkansas), redshirt junior transfer Robert Congel (OL; started 13 games at Arizona), junior transfer Eric Gray (RB; started five games at Tennessee), redshirt sophomore Jadon Haselwood (WR), sophomores Reggie Grimes (DE) and Anton Harrison (OL) and freshman Billy Bowman (DB).

• Freshman Latrell McCutchin (CB) earned his first starting nod Sept. 11 vs. Western Carolina.

• Redshirt senior Justin Broiles started at nickelback Saturday against Nebraska. It was his sixth career start but first since 2018.

YEAR THREE OF "SPEED D"

• Hired in January 2019, coordinator and safeties coach Alex Grinch, who was a 2019 Broyles Award semifinalist, has overseen major improvement on the defensive side of the ball in his two-plus seasons in Norman.

• Oklahoma ranked third nationally last season in interceptions (16), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (27.9), sixth in sacks per game (3.6), ninth in rushing defense (105.1 ypg) and passing defense efficiency rating (112.9), 16th in tackles for loss per game (7.5) and 29th in total defense (350.6 ypg) and scoring defense (21.7 ppg).

• Grinch's unit was particularly stingy down the stretch in 2020. After Nov. 1 (five games), OU led the nation in interceptions per game (2.2) and ranked second in sacks per game (4.0) and passing defense efficiency rating (94.5), fourth in opponent third-down conversion percentage (25.0), sixth in scoring defense (15.4 ppg), eighth in passing yards per attempt (5.4), ninth in opponent passing completion percentage (51.4), 14th in rushing yards per game (112.2) and 18th in rushing yards per carry (3.4).

• Oklahoma's 1.45 interceptions per game last season were its second most in the last 17 years (1.53 in 2015). The team's 16 interceptions were its most in a season since registering 20 in 2015 (13 games) and were three more than it registered over the 2018 (six) and 2019 (seven) seasons combined. And from the second quarter of the Dec. 5 game vs. Baylor through the first quarter of the Dec. 30 Cotton Bowl vs. Florida, the Sooners registered eight interceptions over an eight-quarter stretch (two vs. Baylor, three vs. Iowa State and three vs. Florida).

• OU has allowed opponents to score on their opening drive of a game just six times in its 28 contests under Grinch (Oklahoma State and LSU touchdowns in 2019; Iowa State field goal [first meeting] and Texas Tech touchdown last year; Tulane TD and Nebraska FG this year). Eighteen of the 28 opponent opening drives have lasted five plays or less.

• Since the start of the 2019 season, Oklahoma has allowed only three opponent wide receivers to register at least 100 receiving yards in a game (Kansas' Stephon Robinson and LSU's Justin Jefferson in 2019; Iowa State's Xavier Hutchinson in last season's Big 12 Championship).

Pat Fields

OFFENSE HAS ROLLED UNDER RILEY

• Oklahoma owns the nation's most productive offense since the start of the 2015 season, which was Lincoln Riley's first year as OU's offensive coordinator. Riley still calls plays in his fifth year as head coach.

• Since the start of the 2015 campaign, OU ranks first nationally in scoring (44.5 ppg; next most is 41.8), total offense (544.3; next most is 501.8), yards per play (7.7), TDs from scrimmage (456), pass efficiency rating (185.1; next best is 173.2) and completion percentage (69.2). It ranks third in passing offense (321.2) and ninth in rushing offense (224.8). No other program during the span ranks in the top 15 in passing and rushing offense.

• In 82 games since the start of the 2015 season, OU has registered at least 500 yards of total offense 55 times (next most is 46), including in 45 of the last 65 outings, topped the 600-yard mark on 27 occasions and gone over 700 yards seven times. Similarly, OU has scored at least 30 points in 71 of 82 games since Riley's arrival, at least 40 points 52 times, at least 50 points 30 times and at least 60 points 11 times.

• OU has registered at least 700 yards of offense 13 times in its history, and seven of those occasions have come since the start of the 2015 season: 854 at Texas Tech in 2016, 785 at Oklahoma State in 2017, 773 vs. Tulsa in 2015, 733 vs. South Dakota in 2019, 710 at Kansas in 2015, 702 vs. Kansas State in 2018 and 702 vs. Oklahoma State in 2018.

"AIR RAID" A MISNOMER

• Fans and media have often referred to Oklahoma's offense under Lincoln Riley as the "Air Raid." The label is not exactly accurate, however, as the Sooners have rushed more than they've thrown in each of the six years since Riley arrived in Norman, and that's counting plays in which the quarterback was sacked as pass plays (officially they are recorded as rushes). OU's rushing play percentage was 52.6 in 2015, 57.7 in 2016, 53.1 in 2017, 54.7 in 2018, 57.3 in 2019 and 50.6 last year.

• Since Riley joined the OU program as offensive coordinator before the 2015 season, the Sooners rank first nationally in passing efficiency rating (185.1; next best is 173.2), second in yards per pass attempt (10.4) and third in passing yards per game (319.9). But during the same span, OU also paces the nation with eight individual 1,00-yard rushing seasons (Samaje Perine in 2015, Perine and Joe Mixon in 2016, Rodney Anderson in 2017, Kennedy Brooks and Kyler Murray in 2018 and Brooks and Jalen Hurts in 2019).

• OU also leads the country with 12 individual running back seasons of 6.0 or more yards per carry (min. 50 carries per season) during Riley's time in Norman.

RILEY'S FAST START

• The FBS's youngest head coach (33) at the time of his hiring, Lincoln Riley became just the fifth mentor in FBS history with no previous head-coaching experience at a four-year college to win at least 12 games in his debut season. At 24-4, 36-6 and 45-8, he also holds the OU record for most wins by a head coach in his first two, three and four seasons (Barry Switzer held the records of 21 and 32, and Bob Stoops held the record of 43). He needs eight more wins to set the outright record for most victories in the first five years of an OU coaching career (Stoops holds that standard with 55 [1999-03]).

• Riley is the only person to ever win an outright FBS conference title in each of his first four seasons as a collegiate head coach.

• No one in the previous 125 years won more games in their first three seasons as a college head coach than Riley did from 2017-19. Penn's George Woodruff (1892-94) was the last win more than 36 games in his first three seasons.

• Riley is the third-fastest OU head coach to reach 48 wins (56 games). Only College Football Hall of Famers Switzer (54 games) and Bud Wilkinson (55) did it faster.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S BEST

• During the modern era of college football (since the end of World War II), the Sooners are the nation's No. 1 team with more wins (676) than any other program (next most is 636 by Alabama).

• Oklahoma is the highest-scoring program in college football history with 36,995 points (in 1,302 games).

• OU leads all FBS programs with 50 all-time conference championships. The rest of the top five includes Nebraska (46), Michigan (42), Ohio State (39) and USC (37). The Sooners' 14 league titles since 2000 are the most among Power Five programs (Ohio State ranks second with 11).

• No program has more all-time 10-win seasons than Oklahoma, which is tied with Alabama with 40 (OU has a nation-leading 17 10-win campaigns since 2000). In addition, OU's 26 seasons with at least 11 wins are the most in college football history.

• Since former head coach Bob Stoops arrived in Norman in 1999, OU leads all Power Five conference programs in wins (238) and points scored (11,440).

EXTRA POINTS

• Oklahoma is tied for second nationally this season with its seven forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries. The Sooners had three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries all of last season.

• Redshirt senior defensive lineman Isaiah Thomas has recorded at least half a tackle for loss in 14 consecutive games going back to the start of the 2020 season. During the span he has OU highs of 15.5 tackles for loss and 11.0 sacks. He has 2.5 TFLs this season (all sacks) and is tied for third nationally with his two forced fumbles.

• The Sooners have outscored their opponents by a combined 51-0 margin in the second quarter this season.

• OU head coach Lincoln Riley turned 38 on Sept. 5. He was the youngest FBS head coach (33) at the time of his hiring in 2017 and is the seventh-youngest today.

• Co-offensive coordinator and inside receivers coach Cale Gundy is OU's all-time leader in victories (269) as a player (31) and/or coach (236). Barry Switzer ranks second with 215, all as an assistant or head coach.

• In 82 games since Riley arrived in Norman in 2015, OU has punted more than its opponent just 13 times.

• OU is the only program that has produced at least four NFL Draft picks each of the last 14 years.