Mountaineers look to upset Sooners

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Every college football program marks certain wins as benchmarks for progress.

With West Virginia and Oklahoma set to play in the Fiesta Bowl in their first meeting in 25 years, some ex-Mountaineers are looking back with pride on 1 of the program's greatest upsets, which happened to come against the Sooners.

Jeff Hostetler made his West Virginia debut a success in the 1982 season opener, throwing for 321 yards and four touchdowns in leading the Mountaineers to a 41-27 win over the ninth-ranked Sooners in Norman, Oklahoma, in a game featuring a pair of future Hall of Fame coaches.

One of them, former West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, says the game has "pretty much put West Virginia on the map as a major college football team as far as I'm concerned." Nehlen says nobody gave the Mountaineers a chance against OU, which then was coached by Barry Switzer.