Dana Holgerson Praises OSU Following Saturday’s Game

Dana Holgerson marched into an old stomping ground on Saturday with his new crew unbeaten, and left town licking his wounds after falling 37-20 to Mike Gundy’s Cowboys.

Holgerson was gracious in defeat, yet frustrated that he felt his team matched up well if it weren’t for the three turnovers his team gave up may have been the difference in the game.

“Well this one is pretty simple,” Holgerson said. “Two pretty evenly matched teams. They made three plays that flat out affected the game. It’s as simple as that. They forced three turnovers. They took all three of them down into the red zone. Basically gave them 17 points and we lose by 17 points. That’s the difference in the game. They’re as good as anybody in the country at converting on turnovers.”

When you go on the road, it’s tough to give away freebies. And on the other side of the table, Gundy was complimentary of his players taking advantage of extra opportunities, and his coaches for making adjustments.

“It was interesting,” Gundy said. “There were times where we had really good pressure on the quarterback, and there were times we didn’t have as much as we needed, but in the end, when you’re plus three in the turnover category, you’re really good in special teams and able to manufacture enough offense to score points, so it’s a good win for all of us.”

OSU executed a great offensive game plan on Saturday, putting up the most points WVU has given up the entire season. It was one of Mason Rudolph’s best performances of the year, showing improvement in his short passing situations and showcasing supreme accuracy — an area that he has struggled with at times this season.

He finished the game 26-36 with 273 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and added one on the ground. Of those 273 yards, 117 went to James Washington.

“He [Washington] is really good.” West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson told NewsOK. “He is by far the best kid we’ve faced all year.”

Holgorsen agreed.

“James Washington is good as advertised,” said Holgorsen. “Jalen McCleskey is pretty damn good too. They’ve got a couple good players. You can probably attract pretty good players to a place like this. They did a good job.”

The Cowboys entered Saturday unranked and picked to lose by about four points by Vegas, and may have earned not only a top 25 ranking, but a real chance at what could amount to a run at the Big 12 title.

“Congratulations to Coach Gundy on his 100th win” Holgerson added. “He’s doing a great job with this program. You guys see this place. It’s spectacular. They’ve got good players and coaches. They were better than us today.”