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Nov. 13—MORGANTOWN — West Virginia is a team that is built from the inside out. The Mountaineers’ best units are the offensive and defensive lines.
When they’re at their best, WVU can look unstoppable, like they were against BYU two weeks ago. When an opponent can match them up front, however, the Mountaineers can look helpless, like they did last week against Oklahoma.
“They soundly beat us up front, ” WVU coach Neal Brown said of the Sooners. “The strength of our football team is up front and they did some things moving their defensive line that negated some things we did in the run game early. They got some penetration that nobody else really has and then their O-line did a nice job and got some movement.”
In the lopsided victory, Oklahoma’s offense put up 59 points and 644 yards, both season-highs for West Virginia’s defense. On defense, the Sooners held WVU’s offense to just 20 points on 330 yards, both the lowest since quarterback Garrett Greene returned to the starting lineup over a month ago.
“We didn’t perform nearly as well as we wanted to and that’s just something we’ve got to look back on and we can’t forget about it, ” offensive lineman Tomas Rimac said. “This week we’re really focusing on just putting our heads down and working.”
The Mountaineers still ran for 176 yards and did not allow a sack, but OU held them to just 10-of-31 passing and 4-of-16 on third down.
“We still ran the ball for 176 yards and we didn’t give up a sack—they just weren’t dominant, ” Brown said of the offensive line. “Oklahoma’s D-line got up for it and did a few different things than they had done in previous games. It took us a little while to settle down.
“It wasn’t that we played poorly, most teams would probably take 176 (rushing) yards and no sacks versus Oklahoma, but for us and the standard we’re setting of how we play…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/mountaineers-struggle-win-beat-front-033400170.html
Author : The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.
Publish date : 2023-11-14 03:34:00
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