West Virginia defends the belt, 34–10, on the road at Oklahoma State.
AP poll, week 9: West Virginia No. 22 at Oklahoma State unranked · No. 1 that week: East Carolina. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
West Virginia came in 7 days into reign #290, which began with a win over Baylor, with no defenses yet; this was its first defense. It was the last defense: TCU took the belt in the very next belt game, on November 1, 2014.
For Oklahoma State this was its 9th shot at the belt; it had held the belt twice before.
This is the only time Oklahoma State and West Virginia have met with the belt on the line.
Recap
West Virginia dominated from the opening kickoff, with Clint Trickett connecting on two touchdown passes in the first quarter alone—a 19-yard strike to Kevin White and a 79-yard bomb to Mario Alford—to establish early control of the game. Oklahoma State managed a field goal and answered with a touchdown pass to Teddy Johnson in the second quarter, but struggled mightily on third down, converting just 2 of 15 attempts compared to West Virginia's 9 of 18. The Mountaineers controlled the clock with over 33 minutes of possession and added insurance through field goals and a fourth-quarter defensive touchdown when Dravon Henry picked off Daxx Garman and returned it 52 yards for a score. Oklahoma State's offense never found rhythm, and West Virginia's opportunistic defense—picking off two passes—ensured the belt would stay in Morgantown despite a late touchdown run by Dreamius Smith.
- Trickett's 79-yard TD pass to Mario Alford in Q1—established West Virginia's offensive dominance early
- Dravon Henry's pick-six in Q4—sealed the game and showed West Virginia's defense capitalizing on turnovers
- Oklahoma State's 2-of-15 third-down conversions—inability to sustain drives prevented any comeback momentum
- West Virginia's 33:39 time of possession—controlled the pace and kept Oklahoma State's offense off the field
Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.
Team stats
CFBD box scoreFull team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.
Key plays
CFBD play-by-play| When | Team | Yards | Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 10:29 | West Virginia | +19 yd | Clint Trickett pass complete to Kevin White for 19 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK) |
| Q1 11:27 | West Virginia | +20 yd | Wendell Smallwood run for 20 yds to the OKSt 25 for a 1ST down |
| Q1 7:49 | West Virginia | +79 yd | Clint Trickett pass complete to Mario Alford for 79 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK) |
| Q1 5:55 | Oklahoma State | -1 yd | Daxx Garman pass intercepted Dravon Henry return for 1 yd to the WVirg 14 |
| Q1 2:42 | Oklahoma State | +52 yd | Kip Smith punt for 52 yds , Jaylon Myers returns for a loss of 1 yard to the WVirg 14 |
| Q1 1:40 | West Virginia | -5 yd | Clint Trickett sacked by Emmanuel Ogbah for a loss of 5 yards to the WVirg 9 Clint Trickett fumbled, forced by Emmanuel Ogbah, recovered by WVirg Marquis Lucas , return for 0 yards |
| Q2 14:11 | Oklahoma State | +40 yd | Ben Grogan 40 yd FG GOOD |
| Q2 8:34 | Oklahoma State | +8 yd | Daxx Garman pass complete to Teddy Johnson for 8 yds for a TD, (Ben Grogan KICK) |
| Q2 8:48 | Oklahoma State | +51 yd | Brandon Sheperd run for 51 yds to the WVirg 8 for a 1ST down |
| Q2 6:00 | Oklahoma State | +38 yd | Daxx Garman pass complete to James Washington for 38 yds to the WVirg 26 for a 1ST down |
| Q2 3:28 | Oklahoma State | +36 yd | Ben Grogan 36 yd FG MISSED |
| Q2 6:20 | Oklahoma State | +25 yd | Daxx Garman pass complete to Tyreek Hill for 10 yds to the OKSt 21 for a 1ST down WEST VIRGINIA Penalty, Roughing Passer (KJ Dillon) to the OKSt 36 for a 1ST down |
| Q3 14:45 | West Virginia | +22 yd | Wendell Smallwood run for 22 yds to the WVirg 47 for a 1ST down |
| Q3 9:59 | West Virginia | +39 yd | Josh Lambert 39 yd FG GOOD |
| Q3 0:37 | West Virginia | +30 yd | Nick O'Toole punt for 30 yds, downed at the OKSt 16 OKLAHOMA ST Penalty, Running Into Kicker (NA) declined |
| Q3 5:35 | West Virginia | +20 yd | Dreamius Smith run for 20 yds to the WVirg 25 for a 1ST down |
| Q4 10:14 | West Virginia | +43 yd | Josh Lambert 43 yd FG GOOD |
| Q4 4:44 | Oklahoma State | -52 yd | Daxx Garman pass intercepted for a TD Dravon Henry return for 52 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK) |
| Q4 3:12 | West Virginia | +40 yd | Dreamius Smith run for 40 yds for a TD, (Josh Lambert KICK) |
| Q4 3:12 | West Virginia | +30 yd | Michael Molinari kickoff for 68 yds , Brandon Sheperd return for 30 yds to the OKSt 42 |
Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).
Player stats
CFBD player statsPassing
Oklahoma State
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daxx Garman | 21/41 | 242 | 5.9 | 1 | 2 | 19.3 |
West Virginia
| Player | C/ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | QBR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clint Trickett | 21/30 | 238 | 7.9 | 2 | 0 | 51.5 |
Rushing
Oklahoma State
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyreek Hill | 14 | 78 | 5.6 | 0 | 17 |
| Brandon Sheperd | 1 | 51 | 51.0 | 0 | 51 |
| Desmond Roland | 12 | 37 | 3.1 | 0 | 13 |
| Raymond Taylor | 7 | 25 | 3.6 | 0 | 9 |
| Daxx Garman | 5 | 3 | 0.6 | 0 | 14 |
West Virginia
| Player | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wendell Smallwood | 23 | 132 | 5.7 | 0 | 22 |
| Dreamius Smith | 5 | 72 | 14.4 | 1 | 40 |
| Andrew Buie | 6 | 17 | 2.8 | 0 | 6 |
| Dustin Garrison | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 0 | 6 |
| Mario Alford | 1 | -5 | -5.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clint Trickett | 5 | -18 | -3.6 | 0 | 8 |
Receiving
Oklahoma State
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Washington | 5 | 87 | 17.4 | 0 | 38 |
| David Glidden | 5 | 63 | 12.6 | 0 | 17 |
| Brandon Sheperd | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 0 | 13 |
| Tyreek Hill | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 | 16 |
| Jeremy Seaton | 1 | 11 | 11.0 | 0 | 11 |
| Teddy Johnson | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 1 | 8 |
| Kameron Doolittle | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 |
| Austin Hays | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 3 |
West Virginia
| Player | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Alford | 7 | 136 | 19.4 | 1 | 79 |
| Jordan Thompson | 5 | 46 | 9.2 | 0 | 14 |
| Kevin White | 3 | 27 | 9.0 | 1 | 19 |
| Daikiel Shorts | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 |
| Wendell Smallwood | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 14 |
| Dustin Garrison | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Andrew Buie | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Dreamius Smith | 2 | -4 | -2.0 | 0 | 0 |
Show more stats (5 more categories)
Interceptions
Oklahoma State
No recorded stats in this category.
West Virginia
| Player | INT | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dravon Henry | 2 | 53 | 1 |
Kick Returns
Oklahoma State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brandon Sheperd | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
West Virginia
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mario Alford | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 11 | 0 |
Kicking
Oklahoma State
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Grogan | 1/2 | 50.0 | 40 | 1/1 | 4 |
West Virginia
| Player | FG | PCT | LONG | XP | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Lambert | 2/2 | 100.0 | 43 | 4/4 | 10 |
Punt Returns
Oklahoma State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyreek Hill | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 4 | 0 |
West Virginia
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaylon Myers | 2 | -1 | -0.5 | 0 | 0 |
Punting
Oklahoma State
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kip Smith | 5 | 263 | 52.6 | 0 | 4 | 71 |
West Virginia
| Player | NO | YDS | AVG | TB | In 20 | LONG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick O'Toole | 7 | 288 | 41.1 | 0 | 5 | 56 |
Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data, split out by team. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back. Linked player names go to that player’s stat line in every other belt game they’ve appeared in.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 400547879) · This game in the downloadable dataset