Oklahoma Sooners football: Scouting the West Virginia Mountaineers offense

From one ‘Eers to the next, the Oklahoma Sooners will begin its Big 12 slate with the West Virginia Mountaineers.

The fourth-ranked Sooners will travel to Morgantown for their second visit in program history and their first since 2012.

Oklahoma has the weapons on offense, but so does West Virginia. Oklahoma’s defense won’t get any weeks off in the Big 12 Conference, and the Mountaineers have a great shot at creating problems for Mike Stoops’ defense.

Oklahoma and West Virginia won’t kick off for another five days, but here’s our early look at WVU’s offense:

Clink Trickett can throw.

There’s no doubt the Big 12 has some of the country’s best quarterbacks yet again. Clint Trickett is proof of that.

After three games, the Mountaineers are 2-1, but Trickett is shaping up to be one of the conference’s better signal callers.

He currently leads the conference in passing yards with 1,224 and a 75.4% pass completion percentage. He’s only thrown one pick and he boasts seven touchdowns through the air so far this season.

With Zack Sanchez intercepting everything he can get his hands on, Trickett won’t make it easy for the Sooners to force turnovers. He is a seasoned quarterback, who has a lot of experienced receivers.

His offensive line only brings back two starters, but they’ve held up well enough to make Trickett one of the most dangerous passers in the league. The Sooners defense can’t afford any lapses against the Mountaineer offense.

Trickett has options.

Not only does Trickett have the arm, but he has the options at receiver. The West Virginia Mountaineers return their top three receivers from last season and they’ll look to punish the Oklahoma secondary.

Seniors Mario Alford and Kevin White, in particular, have put up big numbers to start the year. Alford already has three touchdown receptions and White has two.

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West Virginia will look to involves sophomores Wendell Smallwood and Daikiel Shorts as well; but the big, 6-foot-3 Kevin White and the speedy Mario Alford should be Trickett’s main targets.

The Mountaineers can let it fly, and while Oklahoma won’t have to deal with anyone of Tavon Austin’s talent, this should be a good challenge for Stoops’ team.

Respect the run?

Oklahoma’s run defense stopped Tennessee’s Jalen Hurd and the Vols from making use of their ground game. However, Rushel Sell will look to change that.

The sophomore may not be Charles Sims quite yet, but Oklahoma will need to find a way to stop Sell, who’s been a workhorse for the Mountaineer offense.

West Virginia’s line is a little more experienced than Tennessee’s o-line, but if the Sooners run defense can hold up yet again, Oklahoma could benefit from a reshuffled WVU line.

We’ve yet to see how this team will respond to its first rowdy, hostile road environment. The Sooners and Mountaineers kick off at 6:30 p.m. CST this Saturday on FOX.

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