The 11 Best Stats in Oklahoma State’s 50-39 Win over West Virginia

There were many notable statistics in the Cowboys’ 50-39 victory over West Virginia on Saturday, but the defense had the majority of them thanks to an impressive performance against the Mountaineers. Here are the 11 best statistics from OSU’s 50-39 win.

2

The Mountaineers only converted two of 15 third-down conversions on Saturday. Although the Cowboys received criticism early in the season for their third-down defense, they have held the past three opponents to a combined 24 percent third-down conversion rate. If their defense continues to play this strong, they’ll give themselves an even better chance to compete for a conference championship.

2.1

In addition to being strong on third down, the Cowboys were stout in the run game. One week after holding Texas to 42 rushing yards, OSU held West Virginia to 2.1 yards per carry on 30 attempts. Starting running back Justin Crawford finished with his second-lowest run total of the season with 45 yards. The Cowboy run defense has been  strong for the majority of the season, but they seem to be improving (and at a good time, at that).

5

OSU forced five turnovers against West Virginia, picking off quarterback Will Grier four times (he only have five on the year coming in). Freshman cornerback A.J. Green hauled in two interceptions, and Ramon Richards and Jerel Morrow grabbed one each. Additionally, the Cowboy defense held Grier to a 48 completion percentage. This was the highest single-game interception total for the Cowboys since their 49-29 victory over TCU in 2015.

58

In the past three games between the Cowboys and Mountaineers, OSU has outscored WVU 58-0 in points off turnovers. The Cowboys scored 28 points off three interceptions and one fumble. West Virginia scored off of both a pick-6 and a blocked punt, but when it comes to scoring after a turnover, OSU dominated for yet another year.

171

Not all of the best stats were on defense, right? Freshman running back J.D. King racked up a career high 171 total yards against the Mountaineers. King carried the ball for 142 yards and a touchdown and had five receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown. The 142 yards on the ground are the 11th-best for a freshman in OSU history.

7

Oklahoma State moved to 7-13 under Mike Gundy when turning it over 4+ times. Their last such conference win came in 2013 over TCU.

36

The 36 carries by King was the most by any Cowboy in the Gundy era. It surpassed the old record which was set by Justice Hill one week ago at Texas.

90

Oklahoma State has run 179 plays in the last two weeks, including 90 on Saturday in Morgantown. Its defense has only faced 141. So basically the opposite of what happened in 2015.

6

This is the sixth (!) time in the Gundy era that OSU has started 7-1 or better.

1,000

James Washington cracked the 1,000-yard mark for the third straight season. He’s the only OSU receiver to ever do that other than Rashaun Woods.

21

Oklahoma State now has 21 blocked punts/kicks since 2013. There’s nobody in the country with more in that time.