Bob McCarty Writes

Bob Stoops’ boys couldn’t keep pace with the wheels beneath the high-flying West Virginia Mountaineers offense. So much for my prediction of a 21-point Oklahoma Sooners win.

For more about the first half, see Sooners Trail Mountaineers 20-6 at Halftime.

For a third-quarter recap, see Mountaineers Lead Sooners 34-15 After Three.

More than anything else, penalties numbering in the double digits seemed to kill the Sooners’ momentum at every turn.

Trailing 34-15 after three quarters, Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford connected with #84 Quentin Chaney on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 13:21 on the clock and then went for two. For the second time in a row, the try came up short, leaving the score 34-21. On the first offensive play following the kickoff, Mountaineers quarterback Pat White threw a 79-yard strike to receiver Tito Gonzalez, bumping the score up to 41-21.

Five plays later, Oklahoma scored again — this time on a 17-yard pass from Bradford to wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias. With the extra point, the score narrowed to 41-28 with nearly 11 minutes to go.

The Mountaineers began their next drive at their own 30 and, in one 69-yard effort by Noel Divine, added another quick six-and-one score: 48-28 with less than 9 minutes to go.

Though the Sooners never gave up, back-to-back one-play scoring drives by the Mountaineers seemed to leave the Sooners drained as they mounted their last two drives, neither of which resulted in points.

Hats off to West Virginia’s interim head coach, Bill Stewart, for leading the Mountaineers to a Tostitos Fiesta Bowl victory. If the folks in Morgantown don’t make him their head coach, any of a dozen other schools around the country will.