Oklahoma’s football team got a record-breaking game from quarterback Dillon Gabriel as the Sooners beat West Virginia 59-20 at Owen Field in Norman on Saturday night.
Gabriel became the first quarterback in OU history to account for eight total touchdowns, throwing for five and running for three more.
Gabriel finished with 473 total yards, the most he’s had in a Sooner uniform.
He passed for 423 on 23-for-36 passing and ran for 50.
Gabriel also passed Colt Brennan for 10th place in career passing yards in FBS history.
Three of Gabriel’s TD passes went to Drake Stoops, who had 10 catches for 164 yards.
Oklahoma rolled up 664 total yards and held WVU to 330.
The Sooners win produced their largest victory margin over the Mountaineers in the Big 12 era, and the 59 points tied the most they’ve ever scored against WVU.
West Virginia got the ball to start the game and marched 75 yards in eight plays to score.
Garrett Greene passed to Devin Carter for a gain of 32 yards, then C.J. Donaldson finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to put the Mountaineers up 7-0 with 11:00 to play in the first quarter.
The Sooners matched the WVU drive, also going 75 yards in eight plays to score.
Dillon Gabriel passed to Nic Anderson for 19 and to Austin Stogner for 23.
Gavin Sawchuk gained 30 yards on a run to the Mountaineers 2, then two plays later, Gabriel kept for the touchdown to tie it 7-7 with 8:27 to play in the first quarter.
Sawchuk had 135 yards rushing on 22 carries.
After forcing a WVU punt, OU scored on their second possession as well, going 65 yards in 11 plays, with Gabriel once again keeping for a two-yard touchdown to put the Sooners up 14-7 with 3:16 to play in the first quarter.
OU once again forced a West Virginia punt after three downs, but the Sooners didn’t get the ball back.
Gavin Freeman muffed the punt and WVU’s Jared Bartlett recovered at the OU 33-yard line.
West Virginia couldn’t do anything with it, and Michael Hayes badly missed a 48-yard field goal attempt wide left.
On the first play of the second quarter, Gabriel found Nic Anderson over the middle for a gain of 63 yards to the WVU 5-yard line.
Anderson had 4 catches for 119 yards.
The drive stalled there and the Sooners settled for a 23-yard field goal by Zach Schmit to extend the lead to 17-7 with 13:54 to play in the second quarter.
West Virginia faced a 4th and 2 from their own 46-yard line on the ensuing possession, but Greene’s pass was broken up by Kobie McKinzie and OU took over on downs.
OU took nine plays to score from there.
Gabriel kept for a gain of 23 yards to the Mountaineers’ 5, then two plays later, Gabriel passed to Austin Stogner for a 3-yard touchdown to put OU up 24-7 with 9:06 left in the first half.
West Virginia gained just five yards and had to punt, and then Oklahoma put together a five-play, 86-yard drive to add to their lead.
Gabriel passed to Jalil Farooq for a gain of 26 yards, then on the next play, Gabriel went deep to Jayden Gibson for a 32-yard touchdown to make it 31-7 with 6:20 to play in the second quarter.
West Virginia responded with a 49-yard pass play from Greene to Traylon Ray to the OU 3-yard line.
The Sooner defense held, however, making three straight stops from the one-yard line.
On 4th and goal, Donaldson was stopped on a shovel pass for no gain, with Da’Jon Terry and Robert Spears-Jennings combining to make the stop with 2:01 left in the first half.
Oklahoma couldn’t keep the ball to run out the half, however, and had to punt for the first time.
West Virginia then got some penalty help from the Sooners, and went 75 yards in six plays, with Greene passing to Kole Taylor for a 3-yard touchdown to cut OU’s lead to 31-14 with seven seconds left in the first half.
Oklahoma got the ball to start the second half and went 75 yards in four plays to add to their lead.
Gabriel passed to Drake Stoops for a 60-yard touchdown to make it 38-14 Sooners with 13:48 left in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers responded with a 12-play, 61-yard drive, with Greene passing to Devin Carter for a 7-yard touchdown.
WVU went for two points on the conversion and Greene passed incomplete, keeping the score 38-20 OU with 9:28 left in the third quarter.
Oklahoma went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and had to punt.
The Sooners got the ball back as West Virginia turned it over, with Billy Bowman tipping a Greene pass and Reggie Pearson intercepting it and returning it 12 yards to the WVU 43.
It took OU six plays to convert the turnover into points, as Gabriel passed to Stoops for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 45-20 Sooners with 4:34 to play in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers had to punt on their next possession, and OU responded with an 81-yard drive in seven plays, with Gabriel passing over the middle to Stoops for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 52-20 with 13:46 to play.
West Virginia went three-and-out and had to punt, and OU tacked on more points.
The Sooners went 65 yards in 10 plays, with Gabriel scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 59-20 OU with 7:59 to play.
Oklahoma finishes 10-1 vs. West Virginia in the Big 12 era, with the loss coming last season in Morgantown.
OU improves to 8-2 overall, 5-2 in Big 12 play.
The Sooners visit BYU next Saturday.
