Landry Jones redeemed himself last night.
About the time his legacy had been etched as the QB who failed in clutch moments, Jones stepped up and lead the Sooners to a comeback 50-49 shoot out win against a West Virginia team led by a super human wide receiver turned running back.
Mountaineer Tavon Austin, who doubled at tailgate – a brilliant move by Dana Holgersen to capitalize on OU’s defensive strategy (more on that below) – rushed for 344 yards and totaled 572 all-purpose yards (just six short of the NCAA record).
He kept the Mountaineers in the game. Even gave them the lead near the end and all the momentum.
But, on two drives in the final three minutes of the game, Jones passed 10 times. He completed nine of them for 134 yards and two touchdowns – the last one a fourth down to Kenny Stills (10 catches for 91 yards) for the game-winning touchdown with just 24 seconds left in the game.
I remember Jones not doing that on the road before — in places like Waco and College Station. In fact even at home Jones has not only been unable to lead the Sooners to a comeback victory, his turnovers have led to the deficits, and losses (see Kansas State game earlier this year).
But Saturday night in Morgantown, West Virginia, Jones was – if not the best player on the field (we’ll give that to Austin) – the player who won the game.
Jones completed 38-of-51 passes for a school-record 554 yards and six touchdowns (four to Kenny Stills).
It marked the first time in 16 tries that Oklahoma overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to win dating to 2007.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team for holding it together as they did and to come back,” said Bob Stoops. “Landry Jones, to lead those drives at the end of the game, such great precision and execution throwing strikes. [The] receivers made tough competitive catches and all of it together was really pleasing to come back and win away from home.”
While Jones was the Cinderella who was brilliant as the clock neared midnight, Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops’s defense was the carriage that turned into a pumpkin.
Stoops dialed up the seven defensive back scheme that precariously fended off another high-octane offense, Baylor, a week ago in Norman. The strategy apparently was the same this week, with the Sooners afraid that West Virginia QB Geno Smith would go pass happy and put the Sooners into a scoring match.
The result was the Mountaineers move of Austin to running back. With no linebackers to stop the run, West Virginia went to town. It not only allowed them to get back into the game (the Sooners were up 24-10in the second quarter), but it wore out stellar players like Tony Jefferson, Javon Harris and Aaron Colvin to the point that they looked like they were wearing lead boots in the fourth quarter.
“Obviously we weren’t ready for it (Austin’s move to RB),” Bob Stoops said in his post-game press conference. “Something we’ll have to dissect tomorrow and see what our answers could be.”
Can we all shout a collective “DUH”? WVU gained 778 yards total offense, a record by a Sooner opponent.
“The second half was a fiasco,” Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops said.
Well said.
I’m no football guru, but may I suggest playing a linebacker or two might help the Sooners avoid a repeat of the fiasco when Bedlam roles around on Saturday.
Mike Stoops’ strategy was an epic fail. Most importantly, he made little defensive change even after Austin surpassed the 200-yard mark.
Still, thanks to Landry Jones the Sooners were able to overcome it.
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