By PSH Staff
Published: December 31, 2007 PrintEmail
West Virginia MountaineersOklahoma Sooners University of Phoenix Stadium: Glendale, Arizona January 2nd, 2008; 8:00 P.M. E.T. TEAM BACKGROUND
A trendy preseason pick for the BCS National Championship, West Virginia stumbled once mid-year against South Florida, and they now limp into the Fiesta Bowl with an absolutely devastating Backyard Brawl loss at home against Pittsburgh still on their minds. Not to mention, of course, the departure of Rich Rodriguez to Michigan. Nonetheless, the Mountaineers rank in or near the top ten in FBS in yards per game, rush yards per game, and points per game, running a potent option-based offense. Defensively they can shut down any offense with a unit that ranks in or very near the top 10 in FBS with rush yards allowed, and points allowed, a key compliment to their already potent offense. If they only stressed ball control during key parts of the year more, they could very well be undefeated. The South Florida loss was a battle of turnovers, and the Pittsburgh loss was truly a conglomeration of mental mistakes. Now that Pat White is healthy from his banged up thumb, expect a strong showing from him in this game. -- RUPackers30
TEAM BACKGROUND
An equally as exciting team to watch, Oklahoma started their season with a fire in their collective eyes, outscoring their first four opponents 246-47, until they suffered their first loss to Colorado. They would rebound in thrilling fashion, defeating Texas, and soon to be #1 Missouri, scratching and clawing their way up the BCS ladder before being heartbroken again by Texas A&M. This wouldn’t matter, however, as they would once again trump Missouri in the Big 12 Championship and earn themselves a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma ranks second in the nation in points per game, second banana to Hawaii, and will be relying on the arm of Sam Bradford, a guy who knows how to score points and punch timecards accurately. Oklahoma’s three-headed monster at running back and wide receiver duo of Juaquin Iglesias and Malcolm Kelly will try to light up a very stingy Mountaineer defense. -- RUPackers30
Pat White (QB)
Perhaps this year's biggest Heisman Trophy snub, Pat White is one of the biggest reasons why the Mountaineers are the college football powerhouse they are today. His absence earlier this month against Pittsburgh is also the reason why they aren't playing Ohio State in the BCS Championship. A dangerous player who can gash you for big yardage on the ground, White is perhaps one of the most elusive quarterbacks in the game. He has almost 1200 rushing yards on the year, with 14 touchdowns, extraordinary figures for a quarterback. And when he doesn't run, he's equally as dangerous in the air, posting almost a 70% completion percentage over 12 games, and 12 touchdown passes to only 4 interceptions. Oklahoma's defensive players are going to be on their toes all game long, and need to expect the unexpected. -- RUPackers30
DeMarco Murray, Allen Patrick, and Chris Brown (RB’s)
Where West Virginia owns a two-headed monster in Pat White and Steve Slaton, Oklahoma one-ups them with a three headed monster in Murray, Patrick, and Brown. They combine for 2,252 yards and 29 touchdowns on the year, complimenting QB Sam Bradford's passing onslaught, and making Oklahoma an offensive juggernaut. As if you didn't know that already, by the looks of those 44 points per game they have a habit of posting. This is going to be hands down the toughest test for the highly touted and highly feared West Virginia defense, who spent their year against teams such as Syracuse, Rutgers, and Pittsburgh, who were anemic at times this year at putting points on the board. If these three can get some semblance of a rotation going amongst them, and not make it one dimensional, the Sooners have a very good chance of winning this one. Sam Bradford won't be able to get it done all on his own. -- RUPackers30
Mountaineer Offense vs. Sooner Offense
Granted they’ll never be on the field at the same time, with two high octane units like these clashing, I’m calling for a scorefest. Yes both defenses are exceptional, but that’s going right out the window here. Not a shootout, that’s not Pat White’s game, but the total score of this game may very well reach over the century mark by end of the fourth. It will ultimately come down to whoever makes the fewest mistakes, and there I have to give a slight advantage to Oklahoma. White and Slaton have had some ball control issues in the past, White tends to run recklessly with the ball, and if Slaton fumbles once, he will have that bugaboo for the rest of the game. I feel that somewhere during this game, probably in the third quarter, West Virginia will hiccup, and give the ball away. Oklahoma will take advantage and won’t look back. I’ll take Oklahoma by 8 in this one. -- RUPackers30
Oklahoma Sooners
