Game Notes - OSU Travels To West Virginia - Oklahoma State University Athletics

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Up Next For Cowboy Football
West Virginia
6 p.m. CT | Oct. 10, 2015 | Milan Puskar Stadium (60,00 capacity)

TV: ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard & Shannon Spake)
In Stillwater - Suddenlink 32/HD 232, DirecTV 209, Dish 144, U-verse 606
In OKC - Cox 28/HD 721, DirecTV 209, Dish 144, U-verse 606/1606
In Tulsa - Cox 1026, DirecTV 209, Dish 144, U-verse 1606
Radio: Cowboy Radio Network
(Dave Hunziker, John Holcomb & Robert Allen)
National Radio: None
Satellite Radio: Sirius 81, XM 81 (West Virginia feed)
Internet Radio: http://okla.st/osutunein
Live Stats: okstate.com
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The Basics

The Oklahoma State football team (5-0 overall; 2-0 Big 12) travels to Morgantown, W.Va., to take on West Virginia (3-1 overall; 0-1 Big 12) at 6 p.m. CT in Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday.

On the Air

The game will be televised by ESPN2 with Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard and Shannon Spake on the call. 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. Fans can listen to the game online at http://okla.st/osutunein.

In the Polls

Oklahoma State is ranked No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and is No. 19 in the Amway Coaches Poll. West Virginia is unranked, but receiving votes in both polls. Since 2008, OSU has been ranked in the AP poll in 70 of its last 95 games.

Oklahoma State From a Distance

    The owner of an unblemished record through five games, Oklahoma State is the only team that ranks in the top 25 nationally in both total offense and total defense. OSU has excelled in three areas - disrupting the timing of opposing offenses, having a productive passing attack of its own and timely success on special teams.
    Fueled by All-America candidate Emmanuel Ogbah at defensive end, the Cowboys lead the nation in both sacks per game (4.4) and tackles for loss per game (10.2). Ogbah is tied for fourth nationally with 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss, but he is not the Cowboys' only disruptor. Counting Ogbah, OSU has six different players with at least two sacks through the first five games of the season.
    Sophomore Mason Rudolph ranks sixth in the nation with 1,674 passing yards and is 12th nationally with 9.35 yards per pass attempt. For a player just eight games into his career, he has shown poise and composure in the clutch, quarterbacking the Cowboys to three second half come-from-behind wins in five games this season. In a thrilling two-point win over Kansas State last week, he was 10-for-14 on third and fourth-down pass attempts with all 10 completions resulting in first downs.
    Kicker Ben Grogan's last three field goal attempts read like this: a 41-yarder to bring the Cowboys into a tie with Texas with 1:33 left in the game, a 40-yarder to beat the Longhorns with six seconds remaining and a 37-yarder with 32 seconds left to erase a deficit and give OSU a win over Kansas State. Grogan is eight for his last eight field goal attempts overall, with three of those coming from 40 yards or farther.

An Oklahoma State Win Would...

• Improve the Cowboys to 6-0, marking the fourth time under Mike Gundy that OSU would have a perfect record after six games. The previous three occasions were in 2008, 2010 and 2011. For some perspective on that, OSU had only two 6-0 starts in 103 seasons of football before Gundy took over in 2005. Those came in 1945 and 1997.
• Be the Cowboys' eighth consecutive win, dating back to last season, marking OSU's longest win streak since the Pokes rattled off 11 straight wins from Dec. 29, 2010 to Nov. 18, 2011. Eight straight wins would tie for the third-longest winning streak in school history.
• Make the Cowboys bowl-eligible for the 10th straight season to extend their school-record streak.
• Be the Cowboys' first over West Virginia in three trips Morgantown
• Be Mike Gundy's 90th career victory as a head coach.
• Improve the Cowboys to 43-5 in their last 48 games against unranked opponents, dating back to 2010.

Notable Streaks Entering the West Virginia Game

• Oklahoma State has won its last seven games, dating back to last season.
• Oklahoma State has won 42 of its last 47 over unranked opponents.
• Oklahoma State has won its last 10 games when playing as a ranked team facing an unranked opponent.
• Defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah has at least one sack in 11 of the last 13 games.
• Mason Rudolph has passed for 260 or more yards in each of his eight career games, marking the longest such streak among all active quarterbacks to start a career.
• Jimmy Bean and Ryan Simmons have both started 31 consecutive games, which equates to starting every game since the start of the 2013 season.
• Dating back to 2005, the Cowboys have won 22 consecutive games when not committing a turnover.
• Dating back to the 2008 season, the Cowboys have won 40 of their last 42 games when winning the turnover battle.

The Series

West Virginia holds a 4-2 series edge over Oklahoma State, including a 2-0 mark over the Cowboys in Morgantown. Since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012, they have won two of their three meetings against the Cowboys. OSU was a 55-34 winner in Stillwater in 2012, with West Virginia claiming a 30-21 win in Morgantown in 2013 and a 34-10 victory in Stillwater last season.

Gundy and Holgorsen

Saturday's head coaching matchup pits Mike Gundy against one of his former offensive coordinators, Dana Holgorsen. Holgorsen served on Gundy's staff in 2010 before taking the job at West Virginia. The Cowboys were picked to finish fifth in the six-team Big 12 South prior to the 2010 season, but rattled off a then-school-record 11 wins and earned a share of the Big 12 South title thanks largely to an offense that led the nation in total offense during the regular season and finished No. 2 in passing offense and No. 3 in scoring offense. While Gundy and Holgorsen were the headliners, Oklahoma State's offensive staff in 2010 also included the current offensive coordinators at TCU (Doug Meacham), Texas A&M (Jake Spavital), Texas (Joe Wickline) and North Carolina (Gunter Brewer) and the current running backs coach/recruiting coordinator at Tennessee (Robert Gillespie).

Oklahoma State vs. Unranked Opponents

    Since the start of the 2010 season, Oklahoma State is 42-5 against teams not ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The Cowboys have won 29 of their last 30 home games over unranked opponents. The only unranked team to beat OSU in Boone Pickens Stadium since 2010 was Texas last season.
    Starting with the Cowboys' 2012 Heart of Dallas Bowl win over Purdue, OSU has won 18 of its last 20 overall against unranked opponents.
    Dating back to a 2013 win over Kansas State, the Cowboys have won their last 10 games when playing as a ranked team facing an unranked opponent.

Game Notes - OSU Travels To West Virginia

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Players Mentioned

Jimmy Bean

Ben Grogan

Emmanuel Ogbah

Mason Rudolph

Ryan Simmons

Oklahoma State University Athletics