NORMAN — After back-to-back tough losses, Oklahoma just needed a win. The Sooners did more than that on Saturday, scoring a much-needed win over West Virginia.
Here's a few notes from the victory:
— The OU defense held the Mountaineers to just 330 total yards, their second-lowest output of the season. Only 118 yards came in the second half. After the opening drive, when the Mountaineers scored on an eight-play, 75-yard drive, they gained just 13 yards and zero first downs on the next five possessions.
A big reason for that seemed to be the return of Danny Stutsman, who missed the Oklahoma State game with a leg injury. The junior linebacker led the team with eight tackles and added two tackles for loss.
"Danny, no matter what the coach says or how good the redshirt freshman does that’s coming in in his place, Danny, there’s a real emotional lift that you get when he’s out there," OU coach Brent Venables said. "The toughness — and he loves to play, loves his teammates, loves to compete. I think he brings out the best in people when he’s out there. But it was really good to get him back out there. For the most part, I think he will continue to get better and get healthy. Think he came off the field the one time, but I think he’s OK."
Stutsman said he felt "great" after the game.
— Jeff Lebby has faced some criticism in recent weeks, particularly with the offensive struggles and inconsistencies that contributed to the losses at Kansas and OSU. But the offense was as good as its been all season, scoring on nine of 12 drives while totaling a season-best 644 yards.
"He’s one of the best in the whole frickin' country," OU receiver Drake Stoops said. "It shows tonight. When we stay on schedule, we stay in a rhythm, we don't have pre-snap or post-snap penalties and we execute and are detailed, then it shows. He called a tremendous game tonight and it's because we executed and we didn't put ourselves behind the sticks. We stayed on schedule and stayed in a rhythm. When we do that we can put numbers up like that every game.”
— Speaking of Stoops, he was again fantastic against the Mountaineers. After a career-best performance against OSU last week, he took it up a level with 164 yards, 10 receptions and three touchdowns.
— “Just outstanding," Venables said of Stoops. "I think that’s the most receiving yards that we’ve had by a single receiver in four years. He’s just tough as all get out. Now people (will say), ‘Oh he’s the coach’s kid. He’s pretty good.’ No, he's a fantastic football player. I think that’s discrediting all the work that Drake’s put into his career. Just his instincts, his consistency, his ability to make plays. Tight windows, comes up with the big plays. He’s special. Players love him. Really, really thankful for what he brings to the locker room every single day.”
— With the game well in hand, it was Davis Beville who relieved Dillon Gabriel of his duties, not Jackson Arnold.
The true freshman quarterback has played in four games this season. If he appears in one more, he'll lose his ability to redshirt. Venables said that's an avenue the team is considering with Arnold.
— Coming into Saturday, tight end Austin Stogner had caught nine passes for 91 yards and zero touchdowns. But the Sooners appeared committed to involving him in the offense, and it paid off. Stogner finished with four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown, and he tied with Nic Anderson for second on the team in targets (6).
"I think our offense has done, they’ve done a nice job of getting him more involved in different ways," Venables said. "And good for Stog. Find a way to get open and then make a play. We had him open a couple other times, just barely missed him. Attacking people in the run, and then you attack them over the middle with your tight end and all the different ways we use them in the run game just creates a lot of different opportunities for a lot of other people, too. But Stog was great. Good to get him more involved."
— Kip Lewis has been playing as well as anybody on defense, and the coaching staff rewarded him. He made his second-consecutive start and was everywhere on defense. He tied for second in the team in tackles (7) and added a TFL.
"Since he got here, (he's) a guy that I’ve taken under my wing a little bit and kind of shown him what it’s like to play Will backer and he’s done a tremendous job," Stutsman said. "He’s got a lot of instincts, just like myself and he does a phenomenal job just flying around and making plays."
