It’s No. 21 OSU versus No. 7 OU
Chuba Hubbard has revitalized the Oklahoma State rushing attack.
The sophomore, who leads the nation in rushing yardage, was a workhorse Saturday as the No. 21 Cowboys (8-3, 5-3 in the Big 12) beat West Virginia(4-7, 2-6) in Morgantown, 20-13. Hubbard had 106 yards on 26 carries.
“I just try my best to get first downs and score,” Hubbard said. “I was just trying to do my job and make something happen.”
Up next for the Cowboys is a Bedlam date in Stillwater with No. 7 Oklahoma at 7 p.m. on Fox.
Hubbard is carrying a bigger load due to season-ending injuries to quarterback Spencer Sanders and All American wide receiver Tylan Wallace.
This season, Hubbard has 1,832 yards on 285 carries (6.4 yard average per carry) with 20 touchdowns plus 18 receptions for another 170 yards.
“Chuba is the real deal,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. “He hurt us in the pass game today, especially on a couple of screens and third downs. They got the ball to him. He either made us miss or stiff-arm or ran through tackles. We had him bottled up a couple times, and he got out. That’s not just us, he’s been like that all year. I knew coming in he was a great player, and I thought we did some nice things defensively.”
“In the second half, we just started riding Chuba,” OSU coach Mike Gundy said. “He had a 200-yard day rushing and passing. West Virginia has had a lot of success on defense with some of the thing they do. It kind of forced us to migrate into throwing the ball to him some, more so than him running.”
OSU backup quarterback Dru Brown hit 22 of 29 passes for 196 yards and two scores.
“I was really proud of Dru, the way he took care of the ball and didn’t turn it over,” Gundy said.
Dillon Stoner finished with 150 receiving yards to mark a new career high and the fourth 100-yard game of his career. He has at least one catch in 34 of his past 35 games. OSU has had at least one 100-yard receiver in 19 of its past 28 games.
The OSU defense was stout.
Trace Ford’s second-quarter interception marked the first of his career and the 10th for the OSU defense this season. Kolby Harvell-Peel entered the game ranked No. 5 in the FBS in passes defended with 14 on the year. He added two interceptions against Kansas to bring his season total to five.
OSU has won 66 consecutive games when holding its opponent to fewer than 20 points, dating back to Sept. 13, 2003 – the longest active streak in the nation.
“I think the story of the game came down to the issues we had all year. They are the issues that haunted us today – our lack of ability to run the football,” Brown said. “We didn’t score touchdowns in the red zone.”
OSU opened the season with three nonconference wins over Oregon State, McNeese State and Tulsa. The Cowboys were edged by Texas in their Big 12 opener. They lost three of the first four conference games against Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor (they beat Kansas State).
Since then, OSU has beaten Iowa State, TCU, Kansas and West Virginia.
OSU was one two-point conversion away from beating then- No. 6 Oklahoma in Norman last season. The Pokes lost 47-48. Former quarterback Taylor Cornelius hit Tylan Wallace on a 24-yard touchdown pass with about a minute left but the two-point attempt failed.
Former OU quarterback Kyler Murray passed for 349 yards and ran for another 66 in that game.
The 2017 Bedlam game was another shootout, with No. 8 OU winning 62-52. Former OU quarterback Baker Mayfield passed for a school record 598 yards. Former Sooner Marquise Brown caught nine passes for a school-record 265 yards and two TDs. Former OSU quarterback Mason Rudolph passed for 448 yards and five scores for the No. 11 Cowboys. Former OSU running back Justice Hill rushed for a career-high 228 yards and James Washington caught seven passes for 128 yards.
In 2016, Mayfield had three passing touchdowns as No. 7 OU beat No. 11 OSU 38-20 in Norman. Former Sooner running back Samaje Perine had 239 yards on 37 carries.
Former Sooner running back Joe Mixon rushed for 136 yards and Perine had 131 yards in 2015 Bedlam as No. 5 OU beat No. 9 OSU 58-23. Former Cowboy quarterback J.W. Walsh passed for 325 yards and two touchdowns and Washington caught seven passes.
The last time OSU beat OU was in 2015. OSU won 38-35 in overtime. With about a minute to go, former Cowboy Tyreek Hill fielded a punt and ran 92 yards as OSU topped No. 18 Oklahoma 35-28. Rudolph passed for 273 yards and two scores.