Jan 3, 2008 12:30 am US/Eastern
West Virginia Dominates Oklahoma In Fiesta Bowl
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) ―
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Patrick White threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns against Oklahoma University in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 2007.
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images
Rich who?
The West
Virginia Mountaineers didn't need coach Rich Rodriguez.
They had Pat White, and
their elusive quarterback led them to a surprising 48-28 romp over No. 3
Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Wednesday night.
White ran for
150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns for the 11th-ranked
Mountaineers, who rushed for 349 yards, most allowed by Oklahoma in a bowl game.
Since arriving
in the desert last week, the Mountaineers (11-2) said they had bonded behind
interim coach Bill Stewart, who took over when Rodriguez bolted for Michigan in
mid-December. And they vowed to rebound from a 13-9 loss to Pitt that knocked
them out of the Bowl Championship Series title game.
The Mountaineers
were right on both counts, turning in an emotional effort and overcoming the
loss of star tailback Steve Slaton to a first-quarter leg injury. Noel Devine
replaced Slaton and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns -- a 17-yarder and a 65-yarder
that clinched the game in the fourth quarter.
The Mountaineers
became the first of six teams to win under an interim coach in this bowl
season. They improved to 2-0 in the Bowl Championship Series.
"It's a
great night to be a Mountaineer," Stewart said as he accepted the Fiesta
Bowl trophy as thousands of West
Virginia fans celebrated in the grandstand.
Stewart said his
players "never, ever quit believing."
Oklahoma (11-3) endured another disappointment on the same
field where the Sooners lost a
classic Fiesta Bowl to Boise
State one year ago. The
Sooners have dropped four straight BCS games.
The Sooners had
no answer for White, whose 79-yard touchdown pass to Tito Gonzales in the
fourth quarter was the longest in Mountaineers bowl history.
The
Mountaineers' fourth-rated defense limited the potent Sooners to well below
their scoring average of 43.4 points per game, third in the nation.
The Mountaineers
harassed Oklahoma
quarterback Sam Bradford, sacking the nation's top-rated passer three times and
intercepting him in the end zone. Bradford
completed 21 of 33 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
The Sooners
rallied from an 18-point deficit against Boise State
last January.
This time, they
trailed 20-6 at halftime. But they cut it to 20-15 on Chris Brown's 1-yard run
midway through the third quarter.
Then Oklahoma coach Bob
Stoops made two curious calls. First, he decided to go for two points. But Bradford's pass fell incomplete.
Then Stoops
ordered an onside kick. The ball didn't go 10 yards, and West Virginia took over on OU's 39.
The Mountaineers
needed six plays to capitalize, scoring on Devine's 17-yard run.
West Virginia made it 34-15 on Darius Reynaud's 30-yard run with 20
seconds to go in the third quarter. The Mountaineers went 75 yards in three
plays -- 42 on an electrifying run by White, who weaved through tacklers along
the left sideline.
After the
Sooners scored on a 19-yard pass from Bradford
to Quentin Chaney, White found Gonzales down the middle for a 79-yard TD that
made it 41-21.
After one
quarter, the Sooners had 1 yard on 12 plays. At halftime they had as many
penalties (six) as first downs.
The Mountaineers took
command in the second quarter.
Fullback Owen Schmitt
broke a career-long 57-yard touchdown run to put the Mountaineers ahead
13-3 midway through the quarter. The 260-pound Schmitt shrugged off a tackle by
197-pound safety Darien Williams, wheeled around the end and sprinted down the
right sideline for the score.
Schmitt saves some
of his best runs for bowl games. He also broke runs of 52 yards in the 2007
Gator Bowl and 54 in the 2006 Sugar.
Four minutes
later, West Virginia
made it 20-6 when White froze the Sooners with a play-fake and hit a wide-open
Reynaud for a 21-yard touchdown. It was Reynaud's 12th touchdown catch this season,
matching Chris Henry's school record set in 2004.
The Mountaineers
jumped ahead 3-0 on a 38-yard field goal by Pat McAfee midway through the first
quarter. McAfee added a 42-yarder in the final seconds of the period to put West Virginia up 6-0.
Oklahoma's first
scoring drive covered 54 yards, and the Sooners needed a pair of 15-yard West
Virginia penalties -- on the same play -- to set up a 37-yard field goal by
Garrett Hartley.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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