MORGANTOWN — No. 6 Oklahoma has its sights on reaching the College Football Playoff for the third time in five seasons.
No. 13 West Virginia wants to ensure the Sooners don’t even make it as far as the Big 12 championship game.
Those teams square off tonight in Morgantown, with Heisman candidates Kyler Murray and Will Grier sure to stoke offensive fireworks.
The over/under stands at 84 points — the highest line in West Virginia history — as the Mountaineers (8-2, 6-2) pit the nation’s ninth-rated scoring attack against FBS leader Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1).
The Sooners have won all six meetings since WVU joined the Big 12, averaging 53 points the past three years. They’re also looking to extend a 19-game road winning streak that’s one shy of the national record for college football’s modern era.
Second-year head coach Lincoln Riley has started 8-0 in road games.
“Its kind of the perfect script for us — playing on the road, tough environment versus a good football team, lot of things on the line,” Riley said. “That’s just the way we like it, and these are the kind of games we’ve been able to win over the last few years.”
Yet the Sooners must win again if they want to advance to Arlington for next week’s Big 12 title game. A West Virginia victory likely would create a three-way tie with Texas, in which Oklahoma becomes the odd team out.
“Thanksgiving weekend, primetime, 8 o’clock, ESPN, a couple of pretty good football teams linking up and the winner goes to the championship game. So explain to me how that gets better,” Mountaineers head coach Dana Holgorsen said.
“Here it is — we have to go through OU to be able to get to the championship game, and that’s right where we wanted to be.”
West Virginia already could have clinched its championship game berth, but it squandered a 17-point second-half lead last week in a 45-41 loss at Oklahoma State.
The Sooners are coming off a 55-40 win over Kansas in which their Murray-fueled offense once more compensated for a porous defense. The dynamic
5-foot-10 junior had a 75-yarder among his three rushing touchdowns and threw two more.
Murray ranks second nationally in passing efficiency, yards per completion and points produced per game. He’s third in the FBS in total offense (368) for a unit that leads the pack at 576 overall.
By many metrics, Murray is enjoying a better season than Baker Mayfield produced on his way to winning the 2017 Heisman. And at 8.8 yards per play, Oklahoma is on pace to set an NCAA single-season record.
“You don’t make the decisions that this guy makes without understanding the game,” Riley said. “We put a lot on that position. Kyler being able to process it, and him understanding that what we see on tape is not what we’re going to see in games, is crucial. He’s got to make those in-game adjustments and understand how we’re going to attack different people.”
West Virginia counters with Grier, who’s third in passing efficiency, fourth in passing yards per game (332) and fifth in passing touchdowns (33). Friday will mark senior night for him, All-American candidate David Sills and 15 other upperclassmen still hoping to give the Mountaineers their best league finish since the bygone days of the Big East.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” said Grier, who was sidelined by a hand injury during last year’s 59-31 loss in Norman. “Hopefully we’ll represent Mountaineer Nation the best we can and go out with a win.”
Murray and Grier could be headed to New York as Heisman finalists next month, by which time Friday’s outcome will have factored heavily into both teams’ postseason plans.
“I know the emotions will be high — prime-time game that means a lot,” Murray said. “But I’ve got to hold all that in, be myself, play my game, and get a W.”
