Oklahoma 50, West Virginia 49: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

What a strange game for the Oklahoma defense, but a great game by the OU offense. The run game defense meltdown was not unexpected, but the level of the problem was beyond imagination.

The Great

*The wide receiver foursome of Jalen Saunders, Sterling Shepard, Kenny Stills and Justin Brown is in the discussion now for best WR group of the Bob Stoops era. Nice play by Trey Metoyer when he was in the game as well. Damien Williams and Trey Millard also made got key catches to pick up first downs.

*Landry Jones had a great game even when factoring in that he was playing an awful West Virginia defense. Clutch throws, clutch play and excellent pocket management in terms of moving up and throwing the ball.

*Brennan Clay's kickoff return was pretty clutch, too. Getting OU to almost midfield provided a huge boost to that final scoring drive. It marked the third game in a row where Clay has made great returns to help the Sooner offense grab key touchdowns with limited time on the clock.

The Good

Despite having a hard time establishing the run lately – injuries and lack of depth are playing a role here; it's foolish to think it isn't – did a great job giving Landry time to throw and keeping pressure off him. No sacks on more than 50 pass attempts constitutes excellent pass blocking.

The Bad

Let's skip this.

The Ugly

In the last couple "What to Watch" articles, I've been hinting that the Sooner run defense when spread out was turning into a growing weakness.

Well, that weak point burst open completely against the Mountaineers. The defense was bleeding yards and touchdowns that created all the momentum that WVU needed to nearly pull off the upset.

Oklahoma State does not have the same personnel as WVU, but the Cowboys do have a mobile quarterback,
excellent running backs and a good passing game. Mike Stoops is going to have to gamble more that Franklin Shannon can provide some pass coverage while giving the run defense more of a boost.