Series History: The Cowboys Do Better in Morgantown Than at Home against the Mountaineers

The Cowboys kick of Big 12 play on the road in a place where they’ve been historically pretty good. But the Mountaineers have looked pretty good themselves to start the season, now 3-0 and fresh off a win over No. 25 Virginia.

With the Cowboys now cooking after a historic upset over Oregon and then a big win over Murray State, it looks like we could be in for a marque Big 12 matchup on Saturday. But first, let’s take a look back at the history between the Pokes and the Country Roaders.

Capsule

Overall record: OSU leads 10-6
Neutral site meetings: OSU leads 1-0
Meetings in Stillwater: Tied 4-4
Meetings in Morgantown: OSU leads 5-2
Past 10 meetings: OSU leads 8-2
First meeting (1928): West Virginia won 32-6 in Morgantown
Most recent meeting (2024): WVU beat OSU 38-14 in Stillwater

Every time I look at the history between the two, I’m for some reason surprised that it has only been 16 times. But they have only been conference mates for 14 years.

How It Started

The Cowboys and Mountaineers first met as a home-and-home agreement with Oklahoma A&M losing both, a road game in 1928 32-6 and then falling 9-6 at home in 1929. The Cowboys were in a transition year with head coach Pappy Waldorf taking over in 1929. The Mountaineers went 8-2 in 1928 and 4-3-3 in 1929.

Sun Bowl

The two teams didn’t meet again for almost six decades before squaring off in the 1987 Sun Bowl.

Mike Gundy went 12-for-18 for 161 yards, one TD and two picks (including a pick-six) in the snow on Christmas Day. But when the weather gets tough, it pays to have a couple of future Hall of Fame running backs on the roster. In ’87, it was the Thurman show. He went for 157 yards and four touchdowns, and the Cowboys squeaked out a 35-33 win.

The two teams wouldn’t meet again until West Virginia joined the Big 12 in 2012.

Road Pokes

The Cowboys do better inside Milan Puskar Stadium than they do at BPS when it comes to the Mountaineers. OSU is 5-2 all-time in Morgantown and comes in having won on the past five trips. The Cowboys lost their first meeting in 1928 and on their first road trip after WVU joined the league, but it’s been all Ws in M-Town since. The Cowboys, however are 4-4 against the Mountaineers in Stillwater, losing the last two times they hosted.

The last time OSU went to Morgantown, Ollie Gordon II turned in his career game, punishing the Mountaineers to the tune of 29 carries for 282 yards and four touchdowns. He averaged 9.7 yards per carry and the Pokes won 48-34.

Maybe Caleb Hawkins can channel his inner Ollie.

The last time Oklahoma State visited Morgantown, Ollie Gordon carried the ball 29 times for 282 yards and 4TD.

After the game, WVU head coach Neal Brown said “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that… I don’t know if we tackled him in the fourth quarter.” pic.twitter.com/8WY9TQK1Aw

— ERIC MORRIS 7-5 SZN🏈 (@coenbroscowpoke) September 21, 2026