West Virginia made a significant change Saturday…just not the one some people have been anticipating. Neal Brown is still the coach, at least for another week, as the Mountaineers upset Oklahoma, 23-20 in Morgantown Saturday.
Casey Legg hit a 25-yard field goal as time ran out to give the Mountaineers the win. They now move to 4-6 overall and 2-5 in Big 12 play.
A Change At QB
The notable change was the benching of starting quarterback J.T. Daniels for part of the second quarter and all of the second half. The fifth-year senior was seven of 12 for 65 yards and an interception when he was replaced by Garrett Greene for the final two series of the first half and all of the second half.
Daniels has now thrown seven interceptions over the last five games.
Greene finished the game 12 of 21 passing for 138 yards and a touchdown. But he also ran for another 120 yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries.
Ball Control
In the closing moments of the game, the Mountaineers had the ball at their own 29-yard line. Greene engineered a 15-play drive that burned most of the remaining 6:24 off the game clock, getting WVU into field goal range for Legg. Greene picked up 18 of the yards on his own with four carries. With the game-winner today, Legg is now 13 for 13 on field goals for the season.
After the game, Greene said, “My thought process, as always, was to stay ready. I was just happy to be on the field and be a factor in the game.” He said that his confidence built as he was not just in the game to burn some clock and let Daniels settle down, but instead run the schemed offense. “Getting into a rhythm as a quarterback is huge,” Greene said. “I’m just thankful to be on the field, whether it’s for a play or a series or for the second half like it was today.”
Still, even with leading the winning scoring drive, Greene gave credit to his teammates. “My guys really did a great job because I didn’t play all too great today,” Greene said. “But they did a great job and helped me out when things didn’t go my way.”
No Pressure
Legg said he was more relaxed than might usually be the case with the game-winning field goal in front of him. Oklahoma had no timeouts left, so they had no chance to freeze the kicker. “I hit it. Then I blacked out for a second or two. Then a bunch of teammates were surrounding me,” he said with a wry grin. “I think that’s part of what’s different about hitting a walk-off. As soon as you hit it, you’re getting swamped by people.”
Brown has quite publicly been on the hot seat in Morgantown for most of the season. The subpar record has only served to ramp up the heat. But the rhetoric will surely settle down for maybe all of 24 hours. It is the first time the Mountaineers have beaten the Sooners since joining the Big 12 in 2012. “I’m proud of the players, proud of the staff for getting it done,” Brown said after the game. “We owed them. We really felt like we outplayed them last year.”
The Game Plan
Brown called it a “Three-phase win.” He said he didn’t think the team could up a lot of explosive plays up against the Sooners’ defense. So, the game plan was ball control and burn as much of the clock as possible.
He characterized the final drive as one of mental toughness. He acknowledged that the offensive staff had given Greene more snaps during the week, not in anticipation of replacing Daniels, but because Greene had played well last week, in Brown’s estimation. “They started bringing a lot of edge pressure,” he said referring to Oklahoma’s defense. “A running quarterback is a much better answer for that.”
Brown also said the steady rain throughout the game played a factor in relying more on the run game, and a running quarterback. “Hey, the weather was shi**y, but the outcome was pretty good,” he joked.
The win also keeps WVU alive for potential post season play, although they must win out to get a bowl bid.
Oklahoma drops to 5-5 overall and 2-5 in conference play. The Sooners will have to wait another week to try to get bowl eligible. This is the most losses they have had in a season since 2014. This also marks the first time since 1998-99 that Oklahoma will not have back-to-back seasons of at least 10 wins.
West Virginia hosts Kansas State next weekend in the home finale of the 2022 season.
Main Image courtesy: Sports Illustrated
