Oklahoma State University Athletics
Game Notes - Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia
October 20, 2014 | Cowboy Football
Complete Release in PDF Format 
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No. 22/25 WEST VIRGINIA
2:30 p.m. CT | Oct. 25, 2014 | Boone Pickens Stadium (60,218 cap.)
TV: ESPN (Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham & Quint Kessenich)
In Stillwater - Suddenlink 31, DirecTV 206, Dish 140, U-Verse 602
In Oklahoma City - Cox 29, DirecTV 206, Dish 140, U-Verse 602
In Tulsa - Cox 25, DirecTV 206, Dish 140, U-Verse 602
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network (Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb & Robert Allen)
National Radio: None
Satellite Radio: Sirius channel 137, XM channel 199
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.com
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THE BASICS
The Oklahoma State football team (5-2 overall; 3-1 Big 12) hosts West Virginia (5-2 overall; 3-1 Big 12) at 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium.
ON THE AIR
The game will be televised by ESPN with Mike Patrick, Ed Cunningham and Quint Kessenich calling the action. The contest will also be carried live on the Cowboy Radio Network, with Dave Hunziker handling play-by-play, John Holcomb providing analysis and Robert Allen reporting from the sideline.
IN THE POLLS
Oklahoma State is receiving votes in this week's Associated Press poll and also in the Amway Coaches poll. West Virginia is No. 22 by the Associated Press and No. 25 by the coaches.
AMERICA'S GREATEST HOMECOMING CELEBRATION
Homecoming is a big deal at Oklahoma State. It is widely known as "America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration" with its signature event, Walkaround, which regularly draws more than 80,000 spectators to view elaborate Greek house decorations, parade floats and residence halls bathed in orange.
OSU's Homecoming is entirely run by students - more than 250 on committees within the Alumni Association and thousands more in Greek, residential and campus life.
Homecoming is a driving force in the Stillwater community. In 2013, the Harvest Carnival event contributed 18,500 pounds of canned food donations to the local Harvest II food drive. Homecoming also highlights other OSU sports at Homecoming & Hoops where fans can preview the Cowboy and Cowgirl basketball squads in addition to enjoying a pep rally for Saturday's football game.
From the Edmon Low Library's orange fountain to Hester Street painted for coaches and players to view during "The Walk," OSU and its alumni are proud to claim "America's Greatest Homecoming Celebration." Homecoming 2014: `The Experience' is October 17-25 and will conclude with the West Virginia vs. OSU football game.
2014 HOMECOMING EVENTS SCHEDULE
Oct. 17-19 - Football Frenzy .................Greeks, campus organizations compete in football tournament
Oct. 19-25 - Orange Ambiance...............Library fountain, Theta Pond dyed orange, thousands of lights used as decorations
Oct. 20 - Homecoming Tailgate.............Promotes unity and spirit among students in OSU residence halls
Oct. 21 - Harvest Carnival....................Geared toward children. Canned food donations go to Harvest II food drive
Oct. 21 - Chili Cook-Off........................Student organizations compete in an event tied in to the Harvest Carnival
Oct. 22 - Hester Street Painting.............Supportive messages painted for the OSU football team to see during "The Walk"
Oct. 24 - Walkaround.........................Crown jewel of Homecoming. 80,000+ expected to view Greek house decorations
Oct. 24 - Homecoming and Hoops.........High-energy preview of the OSU basketball teams in Gallagher-Iba Arena Friday night
Oct. 25 - Sea of Orange Parade ............More than 120 entries take over Main Street in Stillwater on Saturday morning
Oct. 25 - Homecoming Game................Cowboys and West Virginia clash in important Big 12 contest
OSU ON HOMECOMING
OSU owns a homecoming record of 50-35-7 and the Cowboys have won six of their last seven and 26 of their last 40 homecoming games. OSU's longest homecoming win streak is 10 from 1972-81.
AN OKLAHOMA STATE WIN WOULD...
• Make the Cowboys bowl-eligible for the ninth straight season, a school record.
• Improve the Cowboys to 23-2 in their last 25 games played in Boone Pickens Stadium.
• Improve the Cowboys to 15-2 in their last 17 Big 12 Conference games played in Stillwater.
• Improve the Cowboys to 5-0 at home this season.
• Improve the Cowboys to 5-2 in their last seven home games played against ranked opponents.
• Improve the Cowboys to 10-7 in their last 17 games against ranked opponents.
• Mark the 16th time that Mike Gundy has coached the Cowboys to victory over a ranked opponent.
• Be the Cowboys' fourth consecutive Homecoming victory and the seventh in their last eight Homecoming games.
• Even the all-time series with West Virginia at three wins apiece.
• Improve the Cowboys to 4-1 in Big 12 play this year, marking the sixth time in the last seven seasons that OSU has won at least four of its first five conference matchups.
AN OKLAHOMA STATE LOSS WOULD...
• Snap the Cowboys' four-game home winning streak and be OSU's first home defeat of the year.
• Move the Cowboys to 4-3 in their last seven home games played against ranked opponents.
• Be only the third for the Cowboys in their last 25 games played in Boone Pickens Stadium.
• Be only the third in the Cowboys' last 17 Big 12 Conference games played in Stillwater.
• Mark the Cowboys' first on Homecoming since 2010.
CONNECTIONS
• West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State in 2010.
• West Virginia associate head coach/special teams coordinator Joe DeForest was the special teams coordinator, safeties coach and an associate head coach at Oklahoma State from 2001-11.
• Oklahoma State safeties coach Tim Duffie and West Virginia wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway both served on the Wake Forest coaching staff in 2012.
• Former Oklahoma State linebacker Andre Sexton is a defensive graduate assistant at West Virginia.
• Former Oklahoma State cornerback Andrew McGee is a graduate assistant at West Virginia.
• Oklahoma State wide receiver Blake Webb and West Virginia fullback Garrett Hope were teammates at The Woodlands HS in The Woodlands, Texas.
• Oklahoma State wide receiver Kameron Doolittle and West Virginia cornerback Keishawn Richardson were teammates at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami, Okla.
• Oklahoma State offensive lineman Paul Lewis, safety Larry Stephens and cornerback Miketavius Jones come from the same North Shore HS program as West Virginia running back Prentice Tillman.
NOTABLE STREAKS ENTERING THE WEST VIRGINIA GAME
• Oklahoma State has won five straight and 23 of its last 25 games played in Boone Pickens Stadium.
• Oklahoma State has recorded at least two sacks in each of the last eight games.
• Dating back to 2005, the Cowboys have won 21 consecutive games when not committing a turnover.
• Dating back to the 2008 season, the Cowboys have won 38 of their last 40 games when winning the turnover battle.
NOTABLE STREAKS COME TO AN END
Prior to last week's game at TCU, Oklahoma State had scored 20 or more points in 58 consecutive games dating back to the start of the 2010 season. That streak was the longest active streak in the country and the second-longest since Division I split into the FBS/FCS in 1978, trailing only USC's 63 straight games of 20 or more points from Sept. 2, 2002 through Nov. 25, 2006.
The game against the Horned Frogs also brought an end to Oklahoma State's streak of 41 consecutive games with at least one touchdown drive of faster than two minutes.
The Horned Frogs kept running back Desmond Roland out of the end zone, snapping his streak of seven straight games with at least one rushing touchdown. Entering last week's contest, that was good for the fourth-longest such streak in the country, trailing Indiana's Tevin Coleman (15), Navy's Keenan Reynolds (13) and Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah (eight).
THE SERIES
West Virginia holds a 3-2 series advantage over Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers won both ends of a home-and-home in 1928 and 1929. The two teams didn't see each other again until the Cowboys were 35-33 winners over WVU at the 1987 Sun Bowl in El Paso. The Pokes and Mountaineers have split their two meetings since WVU joined the Big 12, with the Cowboys 55-34 winners in Stillwater in 2012 and the Mountaineers 30-21 upset winners in Morgantown last season.
LAST YEAR'S MEETING - WEST VIRGINIA 30, OKLAHOMA STATE 21
Turnovers, penalties and shaky special teams play were all contributing factors in Oklahoma State's 30-21 loss at West Virginia in 2013.
The Cowboy offense never found a rhythm, averaging 2.5 yards per first down play and consistently facing third-and-medium and third-and-long situations. Three turnovers compounded OSU's offensive struggles.
Defensively, OSU was solid for the most part, holding the Mountaineers to 1.7 yards per rush, 1.2 points per possession and forcing three turnovers.
Two missed field goals and two punts of 16 yards or less marked further squandered opportunities for the Cowboys.
DEFENSIVE LINE AN AREA OF STRENGTH
The Oklahoma State defensive line has combined to record 25.5 of OSU's 49 tackles for loss and 13.5 of OSU's 20 sacks to this point. Thanks in no small part to the defensive line, the Cowboys rank 26th nationally with 2.86 sacks per game and 25th nationally with 7.0 tackles for loss per contest.
The Cowboys' 2.86 sacks per game far exceeds last year's average of 1.92 sacks per contest.
BLOCKED KICKS PART OF OSU'S ARSENAL
With three blocked kicks, Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 and ranks sixth nationally. Safety Jordan Sterns blocked a punt, defensive tackle James Castleman blocked a PAT attempt and defensive tackle Ofa Hautau blocked a field goal attempt, with all three of those blocks coming in the first half of OSU's win over Missouri State.
Three blocked kicks in a game set a Big 12 record and marked only the second time in NCAA history that a team blocked a PAT, field goal and punt in the same game. Oregon State accomplished the feat in 1996 against USC.
NON-OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS AN OSU STAPLE
Non-offensive touchdowns have been a regular part of the Oklahoma State attack in recent years, as the Cowboys have 28 non-offensive scores since the start of the 2010 season - a mark that ranks second in the nation during that span. With three non-offensive touchdowns through six games in 2014 (Ashton Lampkin returned an interception for a touchdown against UTSA and Tyreek Hill took kickoffs to paydirt against Iowa State and Kansas), the trend continues.
NON-OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS, NCAA LEADERS SINCE 2010
1. Oregon - 29
2. Oklahoma State - 28
3. Utah - 26
4. Florida - 25
5. Missouri - 25
5. Oklahoma - 23
5. Toledo - 23
SPECIAL TEAMS PERFORMING AT A HIGH LEVEL
Special teams have long been a strength for Oklahoma State under Mike Gundy. OSU is one of only seven schools in the nation with two kickoff returns for touchdowns, has made more field goals than any school in the nation and ranks among the best teams in the country in both punt return defense and kickoff return defense.
COVERAGE UNITS GETTING IT DONE
Oklahoma State has been solid when it comes to covering punts, as the Cowboys allow only 3.40 yards per punt return to rank 15th nationally. The Cowboys allowed a 31-yard punt return against UTSA, but OSU's other 39 punts have yielded a total of only 20 return yards (0.51 average).
Consequently, OSU's net punting average is a solid 39.88, which places them third in the Big 12 and 23rd in the nation.
Similar to punt coverage, the Cowboys have performed well in covering kickoffs, evidenced by the fact that OSU ranks second in the Big 12 and 26th nationally by allowing only 18.61 yards per kickoff return.
The common thread between both units? Kip Smith and his ability to kick directionally and with good hang time.
NO TOUCHDOWN ZONE
Through seven games, opposing offenses have reached the red zone 25 times, but cashed only 10 of those trips into touchdowns against the Oklahoma State defense (.400 pct.) That ranks second in the Big 12 and 12th nationally.
DEFENSIVE SUCCESS ON FOURTH DOWN
Oklahoma State ranks third in the Big 12 and 16th nationally in fourth down conversion percentage defense by allowing opponents to convert on only 27.3 percent of their fourth down attempts.
GETTING POINTS IN THE RED ZONE
Oklahoma State's defense is one of the nation's best in terms of keeping teams out of the end zone when they reach the red zone, but the Cowboy offense also stacks up favorably against others when it comes to a different red zone stat - scoring percentage. OSU is second in the Big 12 and 13th nationally by converting on 92.9 percent of its offensive red zone trips.
PROTECTING THE BALL
The Oklahoma State offense dedicates a period of every practice to working on ball security and it appears that time is paying off. The Cowboys have lost only two fumbles this year, a mark that ranks second in the Big 12 and 10th nationally.
