The Oklahoma State Cowboys needed a big victory to keep pace in the Big 12 standings and a 55-34 win on Saturday over the West Virginia Mountaineers was exactly what they needed. the Cowboys scored early and often and were led by Clint Chelf, who threw for four touchdowns in his first collegiate start:
As far as the defense goes, they played another admirable game. Giving up 27 points to West Virginia (the TD after the interception is not on them) is a decent performance, and I will argue just another in a long line of performances this season that were good enough for OSU to win the game (and yes, I'm counting Arizona). The caveat here is that Geno Smith has suddenly figured out how to miss wide open receivers. He whiffed on a number of throws to the sideline, and missed badly on two wide open deep throws.
The Oklahoma State defense also played a major role in slowing down a West Virginia offense that was incredibly potent earlier in the season. Geno Smith was once a Heisman Trophy candidate earlier in the year when West Virginia was rolling up points and yards, but the Cowboys held him to only two touchdown passes despite 364 yards passing. The defense also recovered a pair of fumbles to end scoring drives.
Josh Stewart caught 13 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns and added a 46-yard touchdown run on the ground. His efforts helped to keep the Mountaineers off balance defensively.