Here we are again, fans. After an enthralling victory over the Wizard in a Windbreaker and his merry band of quarterbacks, we are preparing to do battle with the madman himself, Dana Holgorsen and his Red Bull fueled fury. Not a headset will be safe when the Cowboys come to town to settle the argument of who has the best defense in the Big 12.
Through five games, Oklahoma State has only allowed two offensive touchdowns per game, giving up five of the 10 to K-State when they rolled out a receiver quarterback no one was prepared for. But what happened after the defense made adjustments? One touchdown allowed. Well what have the Mountaineers been up to? I'm glad you asked. Well they also gave up 5 touchdowns to the Sooners, except they never adjusted and did nothing other than fall behind on their way to a 44-24 blowout.
On top of that, they just lost their All-American safety, Karl Joseph, to a season ending injury. Now a defense that could play balls-to-the-wall knowing they had a sledgehammer of a safety to compensate if they messed up, has to figure out how to hold it all together against an offense with a stable of rushers, all averaging 4+ yards per carry and a passing game that features a quarterback in the top six passers in the country and more receivers that get touches than the rest of the conference. Prepare yourselves, Mountaineers, because our top two running backs are coming back into play this weekend and they're hungry for the endzone, while Mason Rudolph and his arsenal of receivers are getting ready to light that secondary on fire more than a wicker couch soaked in diesel fuel.
What about those vaunted Holgorsen offenses that can sling it on anyone and everyone? Ha! Long gone without a star quarterback or wide receiver to be found. Skyler Howard can make some decent passes, but there's no one there to make plays and explode for yards when you really need them. For once, the word "vanilla" can be used to describe a Dana offense. Not only is this offense a bland version of years past, they're going up against the most destructive front seven in the nation. Averaging 4.4 sacks per game and 10.2 tackles for loss per game, expect the West Virginia backfield to be blown up more times than Burnt Orange Nation's twitter mentions after the OSU game.
So stripe the stadium and have fun, West Virginia. But you might as well bring the couches with you to the stadium. That way you'll be able get a head start on watching the blaze, because the Cowboys are coming to town and we're bringing hell with us and you're just going to be in the way.
And remember, Cowboy fans, never trust a man named Dana.
#OKstate -- WVU statistical comparison (via @OSUAthletics) 6 pm (CST) kickoff in Morgantown on ESPN 2 pic.twitter.com/xlvAu6fS9G
— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson) October 5, 2015