Norman, Oklahoma – Although West Virginia has never beaten the Oklahoma Sooners since joining the Big 12 Conference, this is the year, today is the day.
Neal Brown and his West Virginia Mountaineers are ripe for a huge upset and Oklahoma, frankly, is ripe to be upset. Following a less-than-impressive 40-35 win at home against Tulane, the Sooners beat up on Western Carolina (76-0).
Then, last week, Oklahoma barely managed to get past a really average Nebraska Cornhuskers team at home, winning 23-16.
West Virginia, despite blowing their lead, looked really good and very polished in the first half against a solid Virginia Tech team. The Mountaineers proved they are capable of manhandling a team that beat the #10 ranked team in the country (North Carolina) three weeks ago.
The Mountaineers’ defense as a unit is very tough. The defensive line put major pressure on Hokies’ quarterback Braxton Burmeister all day and were able to contain Burmeister’s ability to scramble and run for most of the game. The whole defensive unit looked fast and explosive against a very good opponent.
Although West Virginia’s offense didn’t do much in the second half, Neal Brown essentially shut it down and went into safe mode for the final two quarters to secure the victory. In the first half, Leddie Brown was a tank and Doege got the job done for the most part.
Neal Brown is due for a big upset win. He did it at Troy and we know he has it in him. Remember, this is the same Neal Brown who took the Troy Trojans into Death Valley and beat SEC powerhouse LSU and then into Lincoln, Nebraska to beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Of course the Mountaineers will need to win the turnover battle and make big, explosive plays to be competitive, but this really feels like the right time for West Virginia to pull an upset win and to get Neal Brown his first big signature win since arriving in Morgantown.
Let’s Go Mountaineers!
