Game Grades: Oklahoma Sooners 45, West Virginia Mountaineers 33

The Oklahoma Sooners started conference play off with a hard-fought 45-33 win over West Virginia Saturday night in Morgantown.

The biggest question coming into the game—the running game—was emphatically laid to rest by true freshman running back Samaje Perine. Another big question—the uniforms—are still up for debate.

Here’s how the Sooners graded out in their first conference game of the season.

The Offense

Running Backs: A

Sep 20, 2014; Morgantown, WV, USA; Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine (32) runs the ball for a touchdown during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Is there a better grade than an A? The Sooners were facing questions about their rushing attack coming into the game with Keith Ford out for a few weeks. Perine was quick to answer that question gashing WVU’s defense for 242 yards on 34 carries. He also added four rushing touchdowns.

Perine was amazingly strong in the fourth quarter while the Mountaineers defense looked to wear down and definitely didn’t seem too excited to take on the big frosh late in the game.

The strength of Perine was to be expected, but his speed was on display this week as well. He proved to be more than just a short yardage back with a 38-yard run and a 19-yard run around the left edge for a game-clinching touchdown that put the Sooners up 45-27 late in the fourth quarter.

Overshadowed by Perine’s performance was sophomore Alex Ross with his 56 yards on eight carries. He had a big run for 34 yards that led to a touchdown and added 3 receptions for 19 yards.

Trevor Knight: B

If social media was any indication of how the Sooners sophomore quarterback played at West Virginia, then you would think Trevor Knight would get a D or an F. Most of those critics don’t realize how tough it is to play well on the road. Especially for a sophomore.

Knight finished the game with 205 yards in the air completing 16 of 29 attempts with an interception and zero passing touchdowns. Knight missed some open receivers early, but managed the game well and was even able to catch a touchdown pass.

The bright spot for Knight was his mental toughness and ability to not let a rough start spiral out of control. He kept his cool when the Mountaineers appeared to have taken control of the game in a hostile environment on the road.

One thing that seems to keep Knight from really shining seems to be Oklahoma’s stubbornness in trying to force him to be a pocket passer and not taking advantage of his ability to run. Knight has yet to be much of a factor in the running game this season.

Oklahoma was better on third down converting eight of 16 attempts. Four of those were on passes from Knight and another was his touchdown reception off a Durron Neal pitch-and-catch. Overall he was good, but needs to be better if he is to lead this team to a title. Being able to experience diversity and recover is a good sign for Knight.

Wide Receivers: A

Sterling Shepard was really good again with his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game. He ended up with six receptions for 101 yards.

Neal was only able to grab two receptions, but threw a touchdown pass to Knight when offensive coordinator Josh Heupel finally decided to open up the playbook with a little trickery.

It appears K.J. young has emerged as a third target for Knight. The freshman had five catches for 57 yards.

The one hiccup for the receivers was Neal’s personal foul early in the fourth quarter after the Sooners recovered a fumble a few plays earlier and looked to be taking control. Oklahoma eventually had to punt the ball away.