West Virginia Football: 3 takeaways from crushing loss at Oklahoma State

West Virginia football blew a 10-point lead with under five minutes to play to fall to Oklahoma State in Stillwater for its second loss of the season.

It wouldn’t have surprised anyone to see West Virginia come out flat with their eyes maybe peeking toward Oklahoma next week, but the Mountaineers got off to a quick start, building an early 21-7 and a 31-14 advantage at the half.

Oklahoma State outscored West Virginia 31-10 in the second half, overcoming a 41-31 deficit with just five-minutes to play to wrestle away the victory.

Cowboys senior QB Taylor Cornelius keyed the comeback, throwing for 338 yards and rushing for 106 more. He scored six touchdowns, none bigger than the last two. He scored on a punishing nine-yard run to pull the ‘Pokes within three, with West Virginia struggling mightily to stop the ground game in the second half.

Cornelius then hit Tylan Wallace for a touchdown with 42 seconds to play that proved to be the decisive score.

West Virginia had a shot to win the game at the end, but Dana Holgorsen kept a timeout in his pocket after an ill-fated Will Grier run on first down, which ultimately limited the Mountaineers’ options at the end. They ended up getting one crack at the endzone from the Oklahoma State 14-yard-line, but Grier’s pass to David Sills was short and broken up by the Cowboys’ A.J. Green.

The win nets bowl eligibility for Oklahoma State, and ends West Virginia’s playoff hopes as well as putting their conference title hopes in serious doubt.

Let’s examine the takeaways from this Big 12 upset.