Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Teams: Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 2, 8 p.m. ET
Location: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.
Line: Oklahoma -6 ½, Total 65 points
The Oklahoma Sooners and West Virginia Mountaineers each lost a late-season game to preclude a potential clash in the national championship game. But this year’s Fiesta Bowl participants remain undeniable powerhouses: each was favored in every game this season.
The Sooners were the most dominant team in the country through the first four games, scoring 61.5 points per contest and winning each by at least 38 points.
Oklahoma may have read its own press clippings, however, prior to its Week 6 meeting with Texas. The Sooners were upset at Colorado the Saturday before they were to lock horns with the Longhorns.
Head coach Bob Stoops rallied back into the BCS picture by leading Oklahama to consecutive wins over Texas and Missouri. The Sooners’ Nov. 17 loss at Texas Tech removed them from the national title picture.
Quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a concussion early in the Texas Tech loss. The Red Raiders were the better team that night, but Sooners fans can be forgiven for wondering what might have been had Bradford stayed healthy.
The redshirt freshman led the nation with a 180.5 quarterback rating. Bradford completed 70.1 percent of his passes for 34 touchdowns on the season. He had a 7-0 TD-to-interception ratio in the Sooners’ three games against ranked teams.
Bradford recovered to lead the Sooners to the Big 12 title, but Oklahoma’s offense isn’t a one-man show. Malcolm Kelly and Juaquin Iglesias are deep threats who each topped 800 receiving yards, and tight ends Jermaine Gresham and Joe Jon Finley combined for 15 touchdown catches.
Running backs Allen Patrick and Chris Brown take turns finding holes behind a massive offensive line. They proved in the final two games that the Sooners can run the ball without DeMarco Murray, the team’s leading rusher at the time of his season-ending knee injury.
Defensively, the Sooners specialize as run-stuffers. Only two opposing teams averaged four yards per carry against Oklahoma this season, and only four gained 100 yards on the ground.
Linebacker Curtis Lofton ran away with Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors after recording 142 tackles and scoring defensive touchdowns in both wins over Missouri.
Lofton wrested the Sooners’ defensive playmaker title from all-conference cornerback Reggie Smith, who will miss the Fiesta Bowl with a broken toe. Defensive end Auston English, who should recover from his late-season ankle problems in time to face the Mountaineers, led the Sooners with 9.5 quarterback sacks.
The loaded Sooners have to mind their discipline. Oklahoma was flagged a season-high 13 penalties for 113 yards in its conference title win.
Even if Oklahoma cuts down on its flags, West Virginia rarely needs help marching up and down the field. The 10-2 Mountaineers cruised to the Big East title, averaging 292.9 yards per game.
Quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton received the most preseason hype and both topped 1,000 rushing yards. But the Mountaineers diversified their attack this year, making them an even bigger threat than in the strictly White and Slaton days.
Darius Reynaud and Noel Devine are WVU’s third and fourth options on offense, but still scare opposing defensive coordinators. Reynaud became a red-zone target for White and caught 11 touchdown passes. Devine was electrifying when he let Slaton take a breather, averaging 8.7 yards per carry as a true freshman.
Fullback Owen Schmitt, a monster in the Mountaineers’ up-field blocking schemes, serves as the ultimate change-of-pace back to the team’s usual diet of speed, speed and more speed.
White is an extremely accurate passer on shorter routes. This allows Reynaud and company to run defenses ragged in one-on-one situations. White hasn’t shown a consistent ability to hook up on deep routes, which makes West Virginia vulnerable if it trails late in a game.
That was the scenario the Mountaineers couldn’t overcome in the season finale against Pittsburgh. They fell behind and couldn’t mount a comeback, with or without White at quarterback. The upset loss cost them a berth in the national title game.
Turnovers hurt the Mountaineers in the loss to Pitt and in their earlier loss at South Florida. West Virginia turned the ball over nine times in those games, compared to only 12 turnovers in its 10 wins.
Fortunately for West Virginia, its defense causes more turnovers than its offense coughs up. The Mountaineers forced opposing offenses into 34 turnovers this year, tied for fourth in the country.
West Virginia uses a 3-3-5 defensive stack. Linebackers roam freely in the scheme and WVU’s trio ranked 1-2-3 on the team in tackles. Senior Marc Magro also tied for the team lead with eight sacks.
Defensive tackle Keilen Dykes is the main man on the defense, though. He’s the muscle in the middle and the focus of opposing blocking schemes. Dykes was joined on the All-Big East first team by safety Eric Wicks, the playmaker in the secondary.
West Virginia has become a perennial 10-win team under head coach Rich Rodriguez, who has led his team to back-to-back bowl wins over Georgia and Georgia Tech the last two seasons. Oklahoma is the Mountaineers’ toughest bowl-game test under Rodriguez, though, and the Sooners come to Glendale with something to prove.
Oklahoma lost last year’s Fiesta Bowl to Boise State, the Cinderella story of 2006. The current Sooners are just as stacked as last year’s model, but may hold the motivation edge this time around.