West Virginia Destroys Oklahoma in Fiesta Bowl

West Virginia may be ranked #9 but they're #1 with Owen Shmitt and the people of West Virginia tonight. Heavy underdogs to the #3 ranked Sooners of Oklahoma, the high-powered WVU Mountaineers made the ninth ranked Oklahoma defense look like it wasn't even there. For a defense that had not allowed 100 yards rushing all season, Oklahoma turned porous for the West Virginia ground attack, allowing 349 yards on the ground.

Sadly, West Virginia lost to an unranked Pitt Panthers in their last game and lost their chance to play for the national championship. A week later, Head Coach Rich Rodriguez left to take the head position at Michigan, which is being vacated this year by Lloyd Carr (who ended his career with an upset(?) over #12 Florida).

Still, with the controversy and the disappointment, WVU took out one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation (3rd). They rose above it, and with interim coach, Bill Stewart, so far the only interim coach to win a bowl this season (1-5), soundly defeated Oklahoma 48-28.

Oklahoma fell behind early, trailing at halftime 20-6, West Virginia's smothering fourth ranked defense all but shutting them out. Showing their mettle, the Sooners bounced back quickly in the second half, kicking a field goal and, on a subsequent possession, scoring a touchdown. It was here that the magic seemed to leave Oklahoma and their hopes for a comeback. They failed to score on a two-point conversion attempt and then tried to catch the Mountaineers asleep with an onside kick. It failed and the Mountaineers quickly scored a touchdown, making the score 27-15. After that it was all Mountaineers (well, almost). The Sooners' next two touchdowns seemed to only give the Mountaineers more momentum - the Mountaineers answered those two scores with touchdowns within seconds.

Owen Shmitt, WVU fullback, in an interview after the game on Fox Sports, became emotional, honoring his team, his school, and the people of West Virginia. A senior at WVU, predicted to go high in the NFL draft, this was his last game, and what a way to go out.