'He played inspired': OU struggles to contain Garrett Greene in loss to West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Garrett Greene threw an emphatic fist pump into the air while letting out a monstrous roar.

It was only fitting for a guy who was having a monster day.

OU suffered a 23-20 loss to West Virginia on Saturday due in part to the brilliance of Greene, who replaced starting quarterback JT Daniels late in the first quarter. The sophomore brought life to a Mountaineers offense that was scoreless at the time, and he capped off his big day with a dagger in the final minute of regulation.

Facing a third-and-6 at OU's 17-yard line with 51 seconds left, Greene ran directly up the middle and shed a tackle on his way to the first down. West Virginia then bled out the clock and kicked a 25-yard field goal two plays later to secure the win.

Greene finished with career-highs of 138 passing yards, 119 rushing yards and three total touchdowns.

“I thought he made some plays," head coach Brent Venables said of Greene. "We missed tackles. I thought he made some plays with his legs... He played inspired."

OU football: 'Frustrating' offensive performance puts Sooners in tough spot

Greene is the latest example of a mobile quarterback who has lit up OU's defense this season.

That trend began during the team's Week 4 loss to Kansas State on Sept. 24. Adrian Martinez racked up 382 total yards of offense, including 148 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

Another example came in OU's loss to TCU the following week. Max Duggan tallied 418 total yards of offense, including 116 yards and two touchdowns on ground.

OU kept West Virginia scoreless when Daniels was on the field. The pass-heavy quarterback went 7-for-12 through the air for 65 yards and was sacked once, but the Sooners had no answer once Greene checked in.

"He brings the element of the mobile quarterback," defensive coordinator Ted Roof said of Greene. "We have to do a better job containing him and keeping him in the pocket to limit his area of operation and make him play quarterback. We let him get out at times and become a running back. He's a good player."

Plagued by penalties

West Virginia's defensive lineman jumped up from their stance and began to point fingers as flags littered the field.

They were all pointing at Andrew Raym.

OU was lined up to go for it on fourth-and-1 at West Virginia's 37-yard line with just under six minutes left until halftime when the junior center was called for a false start. The Sooners still went for it on what was now fourth-and-6, but Gabriel's pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage for a turnover.

Raym's false start was just one of six penalties for the Sooners on Saturday, which cost them a total of 60 yards. But more importantly, those penalties cost them at the most inopportune times.

Another example came midway through the third quarter. West Virginia faced a second-and-10 at OU's 49-yard line when Greene was sacked by R Mason Thomas.

The takedown would've set the Mountaineers up for a 3rd-and-22, but Thomas got called for a facemask on the play. West Virginia got a fresh set of downs as a result, and it ultimately scored a touchdown on the drive.

The Sooners couldn't get out of their own way on Saturday, and that proved to be the difference between a win and a loss in a game that was decided by just three points.

OU football report card: Sooners fail to stop West Virginia backup quarterback Garrett Greene

Caught slipping

Marvin Mims put his hands on his helmet in frustration.

He couldn't believe it.

OU was still searching for its first points of the day midway through the second quarter when Gabriel saw an open Mims downfield and heaved the ball in his direction. The junior wide receiver had an easy path to the end zone, but the ball bounced off his gloves and fell to the ground.

Chalk it up to the conditions. It was a cold and rainy day in Morgantown, which made it difficult for Mims and his fellow receivers to find a rhythm.

"At that point, it was raining a lot," Mims said. "I took my gloves off because it was hard to catch with water. Then my hands were cold, so I didn’t feel (the ball) to like grab it. It just went right through. For me, it was affecting me."

But Mims found a solution.

He switched to a different pair of gloves. The new ones had leather on the palms compared to the original's rubber-like material, which became slippery when wet.

That decision paid off on OU's very next drive. Gabriel delivered another deep bomb to Mims, and this time he snagged the ball for a 67-yard reception.

Mims finished the day with four catches for a team-high 98 yards. Still, his missed touchdown reception was still fresh on his mind after the three-point loss.

"Honestly, I will go to myself first," Mims said. "I dropped a touchdown pass. Easy points on the board that we missed out on."

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Late-game decision

The Sooners were out of timeouts with 51 seconds left in a 20-20 contest when Greene ran the ball up the middle.

Rather than letting him score so OU's offense could have time to mount a drive of its own, sophomore linebacker Danny Stutsman tackled Greene after a gain of four yards.

West Virginia then let the clock run down to four seconds before calling a timeout and sending out Casey Legg for a 25-yard field goal attempt. The redshirt junior kicker was a perfect 13-for-13 on the season when it came to field goal tries, and he drilled the chip shot as time expired to secure the Mountaineer's win.

Roof was asked after the game about the decision to not let Greene score a touchdown.

"That's a valid question, but that's a hard question to say yes to," Roof said. "That's not how our guys are built. At the same time, we wanted to try to get a stop, hopefully get a takeaway and have a chance to block a kick. That's what we did and came up a little short."

OU's shorthanded secondary, injury updates

Senior cornerback Jaden Davis and junior safety Key Lawrence did not suit up on Saturday. They were replaced in the starting lineup by redshirt senior C.J. Coldon and sophomore Billy Bowman, respectively.

OU's secondary got even thinner once the ball kicked off. Redshirt fifth-year safety Justin Broiles suffered what appeared to be a left leg injury late in the second quarter and didn't return. Venables said Broiles is in good spirits but won't have an update until an MRI is conducted.

Broiles wasn't the only Sooner who sustained an injury in the loss.

Freshman tight end Jason Llewellyn was hurt on a special teams play late in the second quarter, and Raym suffered an apparent shoulder injury late in the third quarter. He was replaced by redshirt fifth-year center Robert Congel.

Jovantae Barnes (hamstring) returned for the first time since the team's Week 7 game against Kansas on Oct. 15. The freshman running back finished with five carries for 22 yards.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma football: Sooners struggle to stop Garrett Greene in loss to Virginia