Even in a winter wonderland-type setting, the #9 Oklahoma Sooners (9-2, 8-0 Big 12) were unable to be cooled off.
In a Big 12 conference battle between two top-15 teams that also including a pregame scuffle at midfield between the two teams, the #9 Sooners throttled the #14 West Virginia Mountaineers, 56-28. The win gives the Sooners their eighth straight victory after starting 1-2 on the season as all eight victories came against conference opponents.
As if the Sooners were attempting to make a clear statement to the College Football Playoff committee, the game got out of hand very quickly as the Sooners hopped out to a 34-0 lead late in the second quarter. Majority of that blazing start was to the credit of their biggest stars as running back Samaje Perine scored the second of his two touchdowns to give the Sooners a commanding 34-point lead during the second quarter and receiver Dede Westbrook scored on a 75-yard score in the middle of the first quarter.
Perine totaled 160 rushing yards on 31 carries and his running mate, Joe Mixon, ran for 147 yards and a touchdown. Starting quarterback Baker Mayfield did not have much work to do on the night as the team totaled 316 yards via the run game and 465 total offensive yards. An 80-yard interception by Sooners linebacker Jordan Evans just two minutes into the second half gave the Sooners a 41-7 lead with very little hope in sight for West Virginia.
West Virginia (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) helped as much as they could as the team totaled four turnovers including two first-half fumbles coming inside the Sooners 5-yard line as the Mountaineers were knocking on the door to score.
Mountaineers running back Justin Crawford singlehandedly wrecked the run defense for the Sooners as he totaled 331 rushing yards in the game, averaging 13.8 yards per carry. The Mountaineers did manage to accumulated 579 total yards of offense but a chunk of those yards came in garbage time late in the game.
The snowstorm before the game gave the contest a unique setting but by the time the locals were able to gather some snow and make a few snowballs, Oklahoma already jumped out to an enormous lead that left most of the crowd stunned and West Virginia head coach Dana Holgersen searching for answers at halftime.
The win sets up a winner-take all next week as the Sooners take on their arch rival Oklahoma State Cowboys for the Big 12 conference title. The Mountaineers will look to put this crushing loss behind them and focus on a road contest next week at Iowa State.
