Stormin in Norman
Fansided

Oklahoma football: OU unloads best offensive output of season in rout of West Virginia

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma's Nic Anderson (4) runs after a reception as West Virginia's Malachi Ruffin (14) chases him in the first half of a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Nov., 11, 2023.
Oklahoma's Nic Anderson (4) runs after a reception as West Virginia's Malachi Ruffin (14) chases him in the first half of a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the West Virginia Mountaineers at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Nov., 11, 2023. /
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The Oklahoma football win over West Virginia on Saturday night was a strong sign that this team is not finished for the season, as some had feared.

It may have taken nine games, but the 14th-ranked Sooners may have played their best game of the season against a solid opponent from both an offensive and defensive perspective. The offense produced 644 yards of total offense, while the defense held a potent West Virginia offense to no points and just 118 yards of offense in the second half and 330 overall about half of the OU output.

Those are just a couple of the notable numbers that tell the story of the Sooners’ 59-20 shellacking of the visiting Mountaineers, who entered the contest tied with Oklahoma and three other teams for third place in the conference standings, all with 4-2 conference records.

OU has its eyes set on a double-digit win season. To accomplish that, though, the Sooners will have to win at BYU on Saturday and finish off the regular season with a win at home over TCU the day after Thanksgiving. Very doable, but far from guaranteed.

Here are some of the more notable numbers from the Saturday massacre at the Palace on the Prairie:

4 of 16 — West Virginia’s third-down conversion rate on offense against the Sooners. Oklahoma ranks 11th nationally in third-down conversion percentage defense this season.

5.3 — Yards per rushing attempt by the Sooners vs. West Virginia, the seventh-best rushing offense in the country. The Mountaineers were held to 4.3 yards per carry on Saturday.

8 — Touchdowns accounted for by Dillon Gabriel against West Virginia. That is the most by any player in OU program history.

14 — As part of Oklahoma’s season-best 644 yards of offense on Saturday were 14 plays of 20 or more yards, the most in any Sooner game this season.

15 — Fifteen different Sooners have scored an offensive touchdown for Oklahoma this season.

17 — Oklahoma recorded two interceptions against West Virginia giving the Sooners 17 for the 2023 season. That is tied for the most this season among FBS teams.

60 — Oklahoma had two passing plays of at least 60 yards on Saturday (63-yard reception by Nic Anderson and a 60-yard touchdown catch by Drake Stoops).

135 — Rushing yards by OU’s Gavin Sawchuk against West Virginia, a season and career best. Sawchuk averaged 6.1 yards per carry. It was the second straight week he exceeded 100 yards rushing.

186-0 — OU’s record when scoring 50 or more points in a game.

83,525 — Attendance for the West Virginia game, Oklahoma’s 151st consecutive sellout of an officially scheduled home game since the start of the 1999 season.

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