Boomer Bullets: More Thoughts On OU's 44-24 Win Over WVU

What a great start to conference play it was for the Oklahoma Sooners as they took down West Virginia 44-24 at Owen Field. Here are a few more bullets on the OU win.

Rising in the polls

With a win against its second top 25 team this season, it looks like OU is starting to gain a little bit more respect in the polls. The Sooners shot up to No. 9 in the Coaches poll and No. 10 in the AP poll after ranking 15 and 14 last week.

Turnovers Galore

Entering yesterday’s game against the Mountaineers, the Sooners only had two turnovers combined through three games. The OU boys, who were wearing the unique “Bring the Wood” jerseys in the contest, did just that on their way to forcing five total turnovers in the win over a conference foe.

Jordan Thomas returned from suspension and put together a spectacular performance. Thomas, along with the entire defense, played aggressive from the start of the game, and Thomas reaped the benefits with two interceptions.

Due to WVU using a fullback and a tight end throughout portions of the game, OU was able to play both Eric Striker and Devante Bond together, and that combination contributed to a lethal Sooner pass rush. Striker finished with a team high 13 tackles, and his strip-sack on WVU’s Skyler Howard sealed the game for the Sooners. Matt Dimon also forced a fumble and Ahmad Thomas had an interception.

Head coach Bob Stoops was happy his team was able to convert on those big plays this week.

"I believe the law of averages usually works your way. We're not doing anything differently that other people are doing. We've had the ball out three or four times in the previous games and weren't able to pick it up. Well we picked them up today and advanced them.” Stoops said after the game. “We stepped in front of some balls and guys were in good positions to make some interceptions. It was a positive part of the day from the second half for sure."

OU will be in good shape moving forward if they can continue to force turnovers and play with that type of aggressiveness.

10/4/15: Game Recap of OU's Win

Herbie had eyes on the game

ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit was watching and tweeting about the game on Saturday, and he must’ve been impressed with what he saw out of the Sooners. Herbstreit tweets out with his top four teams every Sunday, and he added OU to that list.

Herbstreit’s analysis was mostly positive, but he’s definitely one of those people who believe Samaje Perine needs the ball in his hands more often.

Perine reaches 2,000

It’s no secret that Perine is one of the best running backs in the nation, and he’s also put himself atop elite company amongst OU running backs. Perine totaled 65 yards in the OU win against West Virginia, which gives him 2,041 for his career.

Perine reached the 2,000 yard mark with less carries than any other running back in the Stoops era. Perine beat both Demarco Murray and Adrian Peterson to that mark.