• The Road Warrior Report - September 21, 2014 - West Virginia Review

      MORGANTOWN, WV – For half the game, it seemed almost like Geno Smith and crew had never left, like we were watching a movie we had seen before. The Sooners and West Virginia were tied at 24, and we were only hoping that the ending of this movie wasn’t as thrilling as the last time we saw it here, when it took a final minute fourth-down TD pass to squeak out a 50-49 win that felt more like a loss.

      But some masterful Mike Stoops halftime adjustments held West Virginia to only three second-half points, at least until it was too late to matter. Just as importantly, a human wrecking ball by the name of Samaje Perine pounded the Mountaineer defense for four touchdowns and 242 yards on 34 carries, as the Sooners dominated the second half en route to a 45-33 victory.


      We figured before the game that it would either be a comfortable Sooner win or a shootout much like last time. We were right on both counts. The first half was the shootout, and the second half was the comfortable Sooner win.

      It certainly didn’t feel comfortable when, in the first quarter, WVU QB Clint Trickett, last seen running the Florida State offense
      against the Sooners in Tallahassee three years ago after EJ Manuel was knocked out of that game, went over the top for 68 yards to Kevin White, who had beaten Zack Sanchez on the play, to give WVU a 7-3 lead. The Mountaineers extended the lead to 10-3 before the Sooners answered back.

      A 31-yard pass from Trevor Knight to Sterling Shepard, immediately followed by a 38-yard run from Perine, moved the Sooners from their own 25 to the WVU 6. Three plays later, on third and goal from the four, Josh Heupel dialed up the same double reverse pass to the quarterback that Nate Hybl flubbed in Nebraska in 2001. This time, though, Knight kept his feet and was wide open to receive Durron Neal’s pass to tie the game at 10 with 7:45 to play in the first half.

      That was when the game went nuts, as each team would tally two more touchdowns before the half. He teams traded 75-yard TD drives before Big Game Bob took a chance. Just like the ill-fated Fiesta Bowl against WVU, Stoops tried to seize momentum with a surprise onside kick. It was a dribbler right down the middle that was designed to be recovered by kicker Nick Hodgson. It was perfectly executed, and Hodgson was in position to recover it, but another Sooner inadvertently touched the ball before it went 10 yards, and WVU took over on the Sooner 45. And also just like the Fiesta Bowl, the Mountaineers took advantage, assisted by 30 yards worth of Sooner penalties. Their 55-yard TD drive took two minutes even, and WVU led 24-17 with 1:20 to go in the first half. They would lead for exactly 12 more seconds the rest of the night.


      On the ensuing kickoff, Alex Ross took the ball on the goal line, angled right, and rocketed down the right sideline for an electrifying 100-yard TD return that tied the game at 24. That gave the Sooners 100-yard plays in consecutive weeks, and sent the game to the half even.

      The Sooners would take control in the second half. They took the opening kickoff for a 75-yard TD drive, sparked by a 37-yard completion from Knight to Shepard, and capped by a nine-yard Perine TD run. After WVU tallied a field goal, another Perine run put the Sooners up 38-27 with a minute to go in the third quarter. The teams would then trade punts and turnovers before the dagger came.

      Taking over with 8:51 to play in the game, the Sooners rode Perine to the clinching touchdown. The freshman carried the ball seven straight times for 65 yards and a TD to put the Sooners up 45-27, and it was all over but the shouting, and the locals headed for the exits. WVU would add a garbage time touchdown to close the scoring.

      We scored a prime parking spot about two blocks from the stadium in a permit-only lot at a church. They were only parking season pass holders but someone had left (huh?) and they sold me that spot, which was right by the exit, for $30. America, where everything is for sale. The parking lot guy was pretty cool, and I kept him updated on scores while we sat in the parking lot for a while before heading for the stadium.

      The WVU fans were nice again, although not universally so as they were on our first visit to Morgantown two years ago. We were personally booed as we walked by a pregame tailgate, and were treated to a rousing chant of “F--- THE SOONERS!!” again, personally directed at us, which was particularly pleasant given the presence of our eight-year-old son. Not that our son has not heard such language before, but still. We prefer that he hears it from someone who loves him. The locals were much quieter after the game, however.

      The same guy who was in Norman taking that panorama pic was in Morgantown last night, and they did the same stadium striping thing. We think the whole thing is that photo guy’s idea. If he is at TCU in two weeks, we are filing stalking charges.

      We are not in the gigapixel photo this week, however, as we were taking the eight-year-old to the bathroom, as we did at every quarter break, which resulted in us only missing one play of the entire game for bathroom purposes. Fortunately, there was a bathroom right outside the entrance to our section.

      The child, meanwhile, consumed his own weight in popcorn, then wore the empty movie theater-sized plastic bucket on his head in triumph. In the fourth quarter, and way past his bedtime, he dissolved into tears when we could not fulfill our promise of another drink because all the concession stands closed at the end of the third quarter. However, games on our iPhone made him happy again, at the expense of our fourth-quarter tweeting, and a Taco Bell Dr. Pepper slush and our iPad made him happy all the way back to the hotel.

      The really crappy thing about East Coast night games is that you don’t get back to the hotel until like 2 in the morning, depending on traffic. We normally book an early-afternoon return flight as a result. However, that would have resulted in us returning to OKC very late on Sunday night, which was no good either. So, we took the 8:10 a.m. out of Pittsburgh, which will result in a landing in OKC before noon, at the expense of about four hours sleep. We have all afternoon to nap, however.

      While finishing this report up on the plane back home, we had a cup of ice water accidentally dumped down our back. This did not qualify as the worst flight experience of the weekend, by a long shot. On Friday morning, fog in OKC resulted in a three-hour delay, resulting in us missing our connection in Baltimore. On top of that, there was only one other flight to Pittsburgh from Baltimore that day, and it would have required a six-hour layover, and was sold out anyway. So, Southwest Airlines told us before we left OKC that we were not getting to Pittsburgh on one of their planes that day. They also told us that our bags would be waiting for us at baggage claim in Baltimore. So, we changed our rental car reservation from Pittsburgh to a one-way rental from BWI to Pittsburgh, and resolved to drive the four hours and be done with it.

      We had tickets for the Pirates game in Pittsburgh Friday night, and figured we might be an inning or two late, but could still make it. That was before the bag was a no-show at the Baltimore baggage claim. At one point, Southwest told us it had gone ahead to Pittsburgh on the flight that we missed, which of course was impossible, since we didn’t arrive in Baltimore until an hour after the connection had already left. An hour-plus later, it was determined that they didn’t know where the bag was, but they suspected it had been sent by an alternate route from OKC to Pittsburgh and would arrive on that late night flight that had no seats for us. Apparently, those tracking numbers on the bags can’t actually be used to track bags, because they only scan them if they show up unclaimed at a baggage office.

      It became clear at that point that the Pirates game was going to be a no-go, which we figured would guarantee that there would be a no-hitter thrown there or something similar. However, on a marathon call on the drive from Baltimore to our hotel in Washington, PA, we recounted our crappy day to Southwest customer service, who without complaint refunded the entirety of our outbound flights and ensured that our return flights were not auto-cancelled because we missed our connection, which has happened to us before.

      So, the longest road trip of the season has ended quite successfully. We are 1/3 of the way through the campaign, and 4-0/1-0 is the best we could have hoped for. We think you saw, like we did, that this team is different than some of our past teams. Some of those teams would not have been able to do what this team did, which was take control and dominate the second half after a somewhat shaky first half. Knight was not particularly sharp on the evening, but with the punishing running game this team has, he basically just needs to avoid directly losing the game himself. The defense righted the ship in the second half, and Perine had a breakout game. There is much for which to look forward in 2014. This team has a chance to do something special.

      In the meantime, however, it’s time for a well-deserved and much-needed off week. We shall be reclining in the TV room perusing our three screens of football from 11 a.m. until late into the night next Saturday, a luxury which we are afforded all too seldom. The Frogs are next up. See you in Fort Worth.
      Comments 5 Comments
      1. Sooner95's Avatar
        Sooner95 -
        It indeed was an entertaining game to watch and my son and I really enjoyed seeing some of the running game return.
      1. Sooner24's Avatar
        Sooner24 -
        To bad you missed the baseball game. It was a lot of fun. Shook hands with Manny Sanguillen and had my picture taken with John Candelaria.

        Early morning WV fans were very friendly, while the late afternoon drunk 20 something's not so much. We were invited to more tailgates and offers of food and drink than anywhere I have ever been. Good thing they don't sell pepperoni rolls in Oklahoma or I would need to have my arteries rotor rootered out. First trip to Pittsburgh and it was nothing like I had imagined it. Much cleaner and modern.
      1. ouduckhunter's Avatar
        ouduckhunter -
        Thanks for the report! Sorry you had so many travel delays, but glad you got to see a great game, and that the kid got to wear a popcorn bucket! Boomer!
      1. 8timechamps's Avatar
        8timechamps -
        Ah, the best RW report I can remember. The travel tales are my personal favorite, and adding kids to the equation always make for an entertaining experience (later of course, not at the time it's happening).

        My hat is off to you (and Mrs. RW). At least we got the "W". Had my weekend started off that way, I would have assumed the loss was to follow.
      1. King Crimson's Avatar
        King Crimson -
        john candelaria, horse face.

        my travel trip went the other direction....from Boulder to Ponca City for a wedding....Aggie territory and since i didn't see many pokes checking their iphones for scores and they weren't playing until thursday....i figgered we won. watched the dvr at my dad's in norman next day.

        thanks phil.
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