OKLAHOMA STATE AT WEST VIRGINIA
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
TV: ESPN2
Las Vegas Line: West Virginia -7
No team had a worse week than West Virginia. The Mountaineers shot themselves in the foot repeatedly at Oklahoma, and let me tell ya: Muskets cause feet serious damage.
In the grand scheme of this season, the loss in Norman pales compared to losing star safety Karl Joseph for the season.
Joseph, currently the nation’s leader in interceptions, could have wreaked havoc against Oklahoma State’s pass-heavy offense. Instead, Cowboys quarterback Mason Rudolph’s primary concern in the Mountaineer secondary should be K.J. Dillon.
Rudolph is coming off a career afternoon in the Cowboys’ come-from-behind win vs. Kansas State, throwing for 431 yards, scoring three passing touchdowns and another two on the ground. If he’s able to similarly take advantage of a Joseph-less West Virginia secondary, Heisman talk just might emanate.
However, the Oklahoma State defense is just as susceptible to giving up a comparably huge day to West Virginia’s Skyler Howard. Howard struggled mightily at Oklahoma, throwing just one touchdown against three interceptions in the loss.
But after the Cowboys were gashed by a K-State offense without a quarterback, the dual-threat Howard has to be licking his chops.
Look for the Mountaineers to rally at home, reemerging as threats in the Big 12 with an emphatic win, turning the tables from the turnover-plagued loss a week ago on another Oklahoma-based opponent.
[…] Kyle Kensing does some predicting of week six for us so we don’t have to. For what it is worth, which isn’t much, I don’t like Shiner. […]