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Freshman running back Jaheem White opened eyes on Saturday with a breakout performance helping lead West Virginia to a comfortable 37-7 thrashing of BYU.
White gained 146 yards on just 16 carries and showed lightning speed. CJ Donaldson also looked more like his old self and had a 100-yard day with two touchdowns. They gave the offense a thunder and lightning look and led the Mountaineers to their most productive game of the 2023 season.
Although Garrett Greene did miss some open looks, the WVU receivers stepped up and made some outstanding contested catches. As head coach Neal Brown has noted, the Mountaineer offense is beginning to look like what the coaching staff envisioned when the season started. West Virginia has now averaged over 37 points over the last four games after only putting up 19 points per game against the first four Power 5 opponents. The Mountaineers amassed 568 yards Saturday, with 336 coming on the ground.
WVU fans have become accustomed to nailbiters in Big 12 conference games, with the last six league wins being by one score, but this time were able to enjoy a less stressful one sided outcome. It was the biggest margin of victory in a Big 12 game since a 47-10 win over TCU in 2018. As we have mentioned here before, the drive home across Route 50 after a night game seems a lot shorter following a win.
The Mountaineers were solid defensively as well, holding BYU to just 277 total yards and 7 points scored late in the game against backups.
Special teams showed some vulnerability against kickoff returns, including a touchdown return by the Cougars fortunately waived off by a holding penalty.
On the positive side placekicker Michael Hayes continued to show reliability on field goal attempts. West Virginia struggled with penalties (10 for 71 yards), but did not commit a turnover.
THIS SATURDAY: It has been a tough two weeks for the Oklahoma Sooners, thinking they were competing for a Big 12 title and a playoff berth a couple weeks ago on their way out the door to the SEC, all of which has been derailed by two close losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State.
No one knows what the state of mind is now within the Oklahoma locker room, as their fans whine about the officiating in their loss on Saturday. But the Mountaineers have to be prepared for an angry squad. Last season WVU finally broke through with their first win over the Sooners since joining the Big 12 and will be primed for another upset. The game will be played at 7 pm.
Oklahoma will be a strong favorite, but as a matter of principle I can't pick a team heading out the door bolting for another conference.
WEST VIRGINIA 30, OKLAHOMA 28.