Oklahoma vs. West Virginia: Revisiting Sooners' wild 59-56 win vs. Mountaineers in 2018

Two numbers easily define Oklahoma football’s game against West Virginia in 2018: 1,372 and 115.

That’s the amount of combined total yards and the combined points scored, respectively, from the Sooners and Mountaineers’ 2018 bout that ended in a 59-56 win for OU at Milan Puskar Stadium.

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Some of Oklahoma’s greatest took the field that night, a day after Thanksgiving, including three first-round picks in 2018 Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray,Marquise Brown and CeeDee Lamb. For West Virginia, it was led by quarterback Will Grier, who’s now an NFL journeyman currently with the New England Patriots.

No. 6 Oklahoma needed a win over No. 12 West Virginia to keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive, and it survived one of the highest-scoring games in recent memory before falling to No. 1 Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

The No. xx Sooners (7-2, 4-2 Big 12) take on West Virginia (6-3, 4-2) on Saturday five years after the defense-optional contest, and for the last time for the foreseeable future as OU heads to the SEC for 2024.

Here’s a look back at the historic matchup:

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Oklahoma-West Virginia football 2018

Oklahoma finished the 2018 season ranking 114th of 129 FBS teams in yards allowed (453.8 yards per game), and its game against West Virginia that season was indicative of that trend.

The Sooners under then-coach Lincoln Riley outslugged the Mountaineers 59-56 in a game that looked more like backyard football than the Power Five.

Murray tossed for 364 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 114 more and another touchdown. Most of Murray’s passing yards went to Brown, who caught 11 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns.

OU’s method to winning that season proved to be unsustainable, as it featured a hefty dose of Murray, who won the Heisman that season, and Brown, one of the fastest receivers in the country. The Sooners’ win over the Mountaineers marked their fourth consecutive game to end the season in which they allowed over 40 points and still won.

For WVU, Grier dropped back 49 times and completed 32 passes for 539 yards and four touchdowns. West Virginia ran 90 offensive plays, and still ran for 165 yards and four touchdowns despite Grier’s all-time performance.

The game finished with 25 combined drives, 15 of which ended in a scoring play. There were only three punts (two by West Virginia, one by Oklahoma) and two drives were basically a wash as either the first half was ending or the game was ending.

One of the more interesting parts of the game was that both teams combined for 16 touchdowns despite both surrendering two turnovers. The Sooners scored two touchdowns in the game on fumble returns — one from Caleb Kelly in the second quarter and another from Curtis Bolton in the fourth — despite allowing 704 yards of offense.

OU deployed one of college football’s all-time offenses that season, with two 1,000-yard rushers (Murray and running back Kennedy Brooks), two 1,000-yard receivers (Brown and Lamb) and Murray, who scored 54 touchdowns. The Sooners nearly had three 1,000-yard rushers, as Trey Sermon ran for 947 yards on the year.

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Oklahoma-West Virginia football all-time record

The Sooners hold an 11-3 all-time record over the Mountaineers, with West Virginia’s latest win coming in 2022.

Oklahoma fell to West Virginia 23-20 on the road last season to fall to 5-5 on the year after the Mountaineers hit a game-winning field goal as time expired.

Prior to 2022, WVU had yet to beat the Sooners since joining the Big 12 for the 2012 season, with its two prior wins over Oklahoma coming in 2008 and 1982.

Oklahoma football results 2018

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Revisiting Oklahoma football's 59-56 win from 2018 West Virginia game