MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia wide receiver T.J. Simmons had about as rough a start to the season as a player could — he wasn’t contributing offensively in the passing game, and even had his head coach call him out for his lack of blocking in the running game.
That seems like a distant memory after his performances over the course of the last three games.
Simmons combined for 12 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns the last two weeks against Texas and Iowa State. On Saturday at No. 5 Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0), Simmons continued his hot streak, finishing with six catches for 74 yards and scoring the Mountaineers’ only two touchdowns on passes from Austin Kendall.
“My dad always told me growing up that big players make big plays in big games, so whenever the pressure is on playing a big team, I try to step up, make those plays and be a guy who’s always doing what he’s supposed to do,” Simmons said.
The first score was on a 4th down catch and run — Simmons found a gap at the line to gain, but after making the catch, realized he had room to scoot and worked his way down the right sideline for a 38-yard gain.
On the second, Simmons again was able to fight the soft spot in the Sooners defense as Kendall found him wide open near the back of the end zone just before halftime from seven yards out.
“He looked like he belonged,” head coach Neal Brown said. “He’s not scared of the moment. He’s got great courage and he’s physical. T.J. is playing well and he’s playing at a high level. He’s doing a good job from a locker room perspective — he was a captain for us today, and we need him. We need him to continue to play well.”
Defensive shuffle
Because of injuries and a suspension, West Virginia was forced to make adjustments defensively, which isn’t what you want to do against the nation’s top-ranked offense.
“Hakeem Bailey was suspended the first half, so we moved Josh Norwood over to corner, so Kerry Martin got the start at free safety,” Brown said. “We were having communication issues and we ended up playing most of the second quarter with Devan Wade, a walk-on and special teams player, at corner until Bailey could come back.”
Cornerback Keith Washington missed his second-straight game with a muscle injury.
During the week of preparation, the defense had to shuffle players around at linebacker after “bandit” VanDarius Cowan injured his knee. Dylan Tonkery moved to bandit, which forced Josh Chandler to move to “Mike” to replace Tonkery.
Unfortunately for WVU, Chandler went out with an apparent knee injury as part of the punt coverage unit in the first half and didn’t return. Later, starting bandit Quondarius Qualls also went down.
“We came into the game kind of beat up, and it was more of the same,” Brown said. “What happens is, when you don’t have much depth and you start having some injuries, there’s a considerable drop off at some of those positions.”
New faces in defeat
If there is a positive to take from a 38-point loss, it’s that the Mountaineers were able to play several faces that wouldn’t typically get into a game otherwise on both offense and defense.
Most notably on defense, sophomore safety Noah Guzman, a native of La Puente, Calif., played a lot of snaps in the second half due to a depleted secondary. He finished with two tackles. Wade played many special teams snaps, while Jake Long returned from injury and also played a lot in the second half in the back end of the defense.
Offensively, Isaiah Esdale made his anticipated debut. A transfer from Eastern Arizona College in 2018, he played sparingly last season and hadn’t caught a pass yet this year.
However, he finally got a shot late and hauled in a 36-yard pass from Kendall. He was targeted again on the next play in the end zone, but the ball was overthrown.
Kendall, who was questionable coming in with a chest injury, played a vast majority of the game, but was taken out in the first quarter for one play to allow redshirt freshman Trey Lowe to run an option keep, gaining one yard.
When the game was out of hand, Lowe checked back in behind center and finished the game with 12 rushing yards on three carries. He went 2 for 2 through the air for two yards.
Schooner goes boom
In the second quarter during a media timeout, Oklahoma’s Sooner Schooner rounded a corner too tight, and the wagon tipped over, hurling the two front passengers to the ground.
The covered wagon was separated from the wheels, and both horses pulling the schooner continued to run off the field before being stopped by handlers.
“The Sooner Schooner tipped over today. We believe it was the result of weight distribution among riders in the rear of the wagon,” Oklahoma said in an official news release. “Three individuals were evaluated at the stadium and released. All others reported that they were uninjured. Upon initial evaluation, it also appears the ponies are uninjured. Medical staff responded immediately as did the expert horse handlers and veterinarian who staff all games. We are grateful that the injuries were not serious and for the staff members who responded so well.”
After a delay to clean up the field, play resumed shortly after.
