Devine, White lead WVU to Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma

 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• White Leads WVU to Fiesta Bowl Win Over Sooners

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Bowl Overview

It was over when... West Virginia receiver Darius Reynaud took a reverse 30 yards for a touchdown, putting the Mountaineers up 34-15 late in the third quarter. Gameball goes to... Pat White. The West Virginia quarterback did it all, running for 150 yards on 20 carries and passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Stat of the game... 349. West Virginia ran for 349 yards against a Sooners' defense that had given up just 91.9 rushing yards per game. The 349 yards was by far the most given up by a Bob Stoops-coached OU team. Complete Bowl Overview

Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	17	25
3rd down efficiency	4-12	4-16
4th down efficiency	0-0	2-4
Total Yards	525	419
Passing	176	242
Comp-Att	10-19	21-33
Yards per pass	9.3	7.3
Rushing	349	177
Rushing Attempts	39	43
Yards per rush	8.9	4.1
Penalties	0-0	0-0
Turnovers	0	1
Fumbles lost	0	0
Interceptions thrown	0	1
Possession	15:02	20:34

Individual Leaders

West Virginia Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT White 10/19 176 2 0	Oklahoma Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Bradfor... 21/33 242 2 1
West Virginia Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG White 20 150 0 42 Devine 13 108 2 65	Oklahoma Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Patrick 14 82 0 38 Brown 16 50 1 13
West Virginia Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Gonzale... 1 79 1 79 Devine 2 47 0 34	Oklahoma Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Chaney 4 129 1 45 Iglesia... 8 53 1 15

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				WVU	OKLA
	FG	5:40	Pat McAfee 38 yard field goal GOOD. Drive info: 4 plays, 1 yds in 1:19	3	0
	FG	0:02	Pat McAfee 42 yard field goal GOOD. Drive info: 11 plays, 55 yds in 4:11	6	0
SECOND QUARTER				WVU	OKLA
	FG	7:46	Garrett Hartley 37 yard field goal GOOD. Drive info: 6 plays, 54 yds in 2:10	6	3
	TD	6:29	Owen Schmitt rush for 57 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Pat McAfee extra point GOOD. Drive info: 4 plays, 78 yds in 1:17	13	3
	FG	4:50	Garrett Hartley 24 yard field goal GOOD. Drive info: 5 plays, 51 yds in 1:39	13	6
	TD	2:27	Pat White pass complete to Darius Reynaud for 21 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Pat McAfee extra point GOOD. Drive info: 7 plays, 78 yds in 2:23	20	6
THIRD QUARTER				WVU	OKLA
	FG	9:39	Garrett Hartley 42 yard field goal GOOD. Drive info: 8 plays, 58 yds in 3:09	20	9
	TD	6:23	Chris Brown rush for 1 yard for a TOUCHDOWN. Two-point conversion attempt, Sam Bradford pass FAILED. Drive info: 7 plays, 80 yds in 1:41	20	15
	TD	3:34	Noel Devine rush for 17 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Pat McAfee extra point GOOD. Drive info: 6 plays, 39 yds in 2:49	27	15
	TD	0:20	Darius Reynaud rush for 30 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Pat McAfee extra point GOOD. Drive info: 3 plays, 75 yds in 1:23	34	15
FOURTH QUARTER				WVU	OKLA
	TD	13:21	Sam Bradford pass complete to Quentin Chaney for 19 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Two-point conversion attempt, Chris Brown rush FAILED. Drive info: 5 plays, 52 yds in 1:59	34	21
	TD	13:02	Pat White pass complete to Tito Gonzales for 79 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Pat McAfee extra point GOOD. Drive info: 1 plays, 79 yds in 0:19	41	21
	TD	10:20	Sam Bradford pass complete to Juaquin Iglesias for 15 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Garrett Hartley extra point GOOD. Drive info: 5 plays, 73 yds in 2:42	41	28
	TD	9:21	Noel Devine rush for 65 yards for a TOUCHDOWN. Pat McAfee extra point GOOD. Drive info: 2 plays, 70 yds in 0:59	48	28

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Patrick White guided West Virginia to a stunningly easy romp over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Then, the option quarterback made his biggest pitch of the night.

White ran for 150 yards and threw for 176 and two touchdowns in a 48-28 victory. After it was over, he endorsed Mountaineers interim coach Bill Stewart to become the permanent successor to Rich Rodriguez, who bolted for Michigan last month.

Sooners Run Down
In nine seasons under Bob Stoops, the Oklahoma defense has traditionally been tough to run on. This year had been no different, as the Sooners ranked seventh nationally by giving up just 91.9 rush YPG. Then West Virginia came calling. The Mountaineers had 349 yards on the ground, the most rushing yards ever gained against a Stoops-led OU team.
Rush Yds	Opponent	Result
349	2008 vs. WVU	Lost
292	2005 vs. A&M	Won
292	2003 vs. KSU	Lost
284	1999 vs. ND	Lost
271	2002 vs. MIZZ	Won
231	1999 vs. Texas	Lost

"He deserves it," White said. "A great man. A great coach. All the players respect him and all the players love him. You couldn't ask for a better man to lead us to victory today."

An emotional Stewart wouldn't lobby for the job. But he relished what he called "a colossal win for our program.

"I never had a Gatorade bath," said Stewart, a native West Virginian who has been an assistant for most of his career. "It was special."

The Mountaineers (No. 11 BCS, No. 9 AP) didn't need Rodriguez. They had White, a relentless defense and a rushing attack that raced for 349 yards, most allowed by Oklahoma (No. 3 BCS, No. 4 AP) in a bowl game.

Since arriving in the desert last week, the Mountaineers (11-2) said they had bonded behind Stewart, who took over when Rodriguez left for Michigan in mid-December. And they vowed to rebound from a 13-9 loss to Pitt that knocked them out of the Bowl Championship Series title game.

The Mountaineers were right on both counts, turning in an emotional effort and overcoming the loss of star tailback Steve Slaton to a first-quarter leg injury. Noel Devine replaced Slaton and ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns -- a 17-yarder and a 65-yarder that clinched the game in the fourth quarter.

The Mountaineers became the first of six teams to win under an interim coach this bowl season. They improved to 2-0 in the Bowl Championship Series.

OU is P.U.
Oklahoma endured another disappointment on the same field where the Sooners lost a classic Fiesta Bowl to Boise State one year ago. The Sooners have dropped four straight BCS games.
BCS bowl	Opp	Result
'08 Fiesta	WVU	L, 48-28
'07 Fiesta	Boise St.	L, 43-42*
'05 Orange	USC	L, 55-19
'04 Sugar	LSU	L, 21-14
* -- overtime loss

"It's a great night to be a Mountaineer," Stewart said as he accepted the Fiesta Bowl trophy while thousands of West Virginia fans celebrated in the grandstand.

Stewart said his players "never, ever quit believing."

Oklahoma (11-3) endured another disappointment on the same field where the Sooners lost a classic Fiesta Bowl to Boise State one year ago. The Sooners have dropped four straight BCS games.

"It's not very positive," said coach Bob Stoops, who led OU to the 2000 national title. "You get to this position, you're obviously doing a lot of things positive and good. But you need to finish out and play well in these games."

The Sooners had no answer for White, whose 79-yard touchdown pass to Tito Gonzales in the fourth quarter was the longest in Mountaineers bowl history.

Meanwhile, West Virginia's fourth-rated defense limited the potent Sooners to well below their scoring average of 43.4 points per game, third in the nation.

"That was very impressive," Stewart said. "Our guys fought hard."

The Mountaineers harassed Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford, sacking the nation's top-rated passer three times and intercepting him in the end zone. Bradford completed 21 of 33 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.

"I just wasn't myself," Bradford said. "I wasn't going through the reads. I was forcing things."

The Sooners rallied from an 18-point deficit against Boise State last January, taking a late lead before the Broncos forced overtime, where they won on a trick play.

This time, OU trailed 20-6 at halftime. But the Sooners cut it to 20-15 on Chris Brown's 1-yard run midway through the third quarter.

Then Stoops made two curious calls. First, he decided to go for two points. But Bradford's pass fell incomplete.

Then Stoops ordered an onside kick. The ball didn't go 10 yards, and West Virginia took over on OU's 39.

"We had the momentum, so if you get the onside kick, you have the chance to really give them a blow," Stoops said. "I thought we had the momentum. The opportunity was there. We just didn't execute."

The Mountaineers needed six plays to capitalize, scoring on Devine's 17-yard run.

West Virginia made it 34-15 on Darius Reynaud's 30-yard run with 20 seconds to go in the third quarter. The Mountaineers went 75 yards in three plays -- 42 on an electrifying run by White, who weaved through tacklers along the left sideline.

After the Sooners scored on a 19-yard pass from Bradford to Quentin Chaney, White found Gonzales down the middle for a 79-yard TD that made it 41-21.

"People doubt us all the time," White said. "But we work hard, and we did the job."

The rest of the game was garbage time, with numerous personal fouls. Oklahoma was flagged 13 times for 113 yards, and the Mountaineers eight times for 110.

At halftime Oklahoma had as many penalties (six) as first downs.

Asked about OU's penalties, Stoops replied, "Embarrassing. Absolutely no discipline whatsoever. That has to be a reflection on me. I'm obviously not doing a good enough job of getting our players to play smart."

The Mountaineers also had discipline problems. But on this night, nothing could stop them -- not the Sooners or the officials.

"Oklahoma's a great team," White said. "I think we were just a little bit hungrier than they were."