Ep. 266 - Sooners Suffer Baffling Loss at West Virginia

For the first time in the podcast's history, Lee & Grant sat down to record the show about 90 minutes after OU lost to WVU 23-20. Grant says the Mountaineers were begging to lose that game, but OU failed time and time again to put them away. For the first time this year, Lee's questioning whether the Sooners will make a bowl game (1:40). OU was awful on 3rd down, WVU was fantastic on 4th down, Eric Gray was the best player on the field, and the Sooners found a way to leave 18 points on the field in the first half. What's going on with Marvin Mims? Who's to blame for the OPI -- Theo Wease or Brayden Willis? (7:20). Is the Wildcat not in the playbook anymore (15:40)? One of the two bright spots for OU's offense came in the first half when the Sooners marched 96 yards to take a 10-0 lead. But all the momentum was wiped away after WVU answered with a quick TD of their own (20:00). WVU's defense was showing OU looks that could have been exploited in the passing game, but the Sooners didn't take them. Penalties and missed opportunities led to OU trailing 13-12 in the 3rd qtr (23:00). The offense had its second highlight of the afternoon going 59 yards to score and take a 20-13 lead. At this point it seemed like the Sooners maybe had righted the ship -- but then OU allowed WVU to convert on a fake punt and all hell broke loose. The refs picked up a flag that really hurt OU (26:20). Of course OU went 3 & out after WVU tied the game at 20. Jalil Farooq is OU's best WR right now (35:40). After the defense stepped up and got a stop, OU kept the ball on the ground exclusively. Grant says OU's tempo cost them. We question Venables' decision to kick a FG on 4th & short (37:40). WVU used up the final 6:24 to go down and kick a GW FG. Why didn't OU let WVU score with under a minute to go (43:00)? Lee says it's unacceptable for OU to be 5-5. Brent Venables is not going to get fired, but his seat is hot (47:40). OU leads the Big 12 in rushing and the offensive line looked to play pretty well. But it's crazy that best case scenario right now is 7-5 in the regular season. Lee reads some postgame quotes from Venables, including one on kicking a FG late (52:30). We read your "3-Word Reviews" to close out the show (59:55). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonNews9