Milan Puskar Stadium – Morgantown, WV
Kickoff: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Oklahoma -3.0, Total: 66.5

#10 West Virginia will be looking to make a big statement with a Saturday night win over #8 Oklahoma in Morgantown.

The stakes are high in this Big 12 showdown, as both Oklahoma and West Virginia are hoping to be crowned the conference champion. The winner of this game will come a long with in determining who eventually does that, as Oklahoma is 7-0 in conference play and West Virginia is 5-1. Also crucial in this game is the fact that both teams are still somewhat alive in the College Football Playoff discussion. Oklahoma is #9 in the CFP rankings and West Virginia is #14. This, however, is a game that the committee will value a ton, and the winner will just need a few teams ahead of them to lose in the coming weeks. Last week proved that it is certainly a possibility. The Sooners are the hotter team coming into this one, as they have now won seven straight games and covered in four of those wins. The Mountaineers, meanwhile, have now won two straight, and they just went into Texas and beat the Longhorns 24-20 as one-point road favorites last week. West Virginia should be seriously motivated to win this one as well. The Mountaineers are 0-4 SU (2-2 ATS) against the Sooners since 2012, and West Virginia needs to turn the tables this weekend. It won’t be easy, though, as the Mountaineers are just 5-14 ATS versus teams with a completion percentage of 58% or better over the past three seasons.

Oklahoma is hot coming into this game and QB Baker Mayfield (3,212 yards, 33 TD, 7 INT) has been spectacular for his team. Last week against Baylor, Mayfield completed 20 of his 25 passing attempts for 300 yards, two touchdowns and just one pick. He also added a rushing touchdown in that one. Mayfield has now thrown for 300 or more yards in five of his past six games. The only game in that span where he didn’t throw for 300 yards was a four-touchdown, zero-interception performance against Kansas. The Sooners won that game 56-3 and backup QB Austin Kendall was able to see some action in that one. Mayfield should be able to put up some big numbers again on Saturday, but West Virginia does have the best defense in the Big 12. He’ll need to be a bit careful in this one, as turnovers could end up doing the Sooners in. RBs Semaje Perine (573 yards, 8 TD) and Joe Mixon (937 yards, 6 TD) could take some pressure off of Mayfield by running the ball effectively in this game. They did just that against Baylor last week, combining to rush for 224 yards with three touchdowns in that game. Defensively, Oklahoma will need to be sharp on Saturday. If they can get pressure on Skyler Howard then they should be fine, but they definitely can’t afford to let him sit around in the pocket.

Saturday’s game is the biggest of the year for the Mountaineers, and they’ll need QB Skyler Howard (2,562 yards, 17 TD, 9 INT) to perform at a high level in order to win this one. Howard was lucky that his team escaped with a win in Texas, as he threw for just one touchdown with a miserable three interceptions in that game. If he is going to turn the ball over like that on Saturday then the Sooners offense will surely make him pay for it. Like Oklahoma, the running game being a factor would really take pressure off the quarterback. This team has a number of runners that will be primed to make an impact in this one, but RB Kennedy McKoy (459 yards, 2 TD) is the guy worth mentioning first. He has been running the ball very well recently, as he has rushed for 94.3 yards per game over the past three contests. He had two touchdowns against Texas last week as well, so he should be confident on Saturday. RBs Justin Crawford (599 yards, 4 TD) and Rushel Shell (505 yards, 5 TD) will also be a big part of the offense this weekend. This team uses a committee in every sense of the word, and both guys have rushed for more yards than McKoy this season for a reason. With that being said, head coach Dana Holgorsen will ride the hot hand in this game. Defensively, getting after Baker Mayfield will be the goal. Teams like Houston and Ohio State made him very uncomfortable in the pocket, and their closing speed did not allow him much room for improvisation when on the move. West Virginia will need to follow a similar blueprint on Saturday.