Oklahoma vs. West Virginia: Five takeaways from Sooners' narrow win against the Mountaineers

NORMAN, Okla. — It wasn’t pretty.

Most things aren’t for Oklahoma Sooners football right now.

But the Sooners’ defense did enough, the offense found a bit of life in the final four minutes, and Gabe Brkic hit a 30-yard field goal to give the No. 3 Sooners a 16-13 win over West Virginia on Saturday night at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Here are five takeaways from the win:

Offense a slog but finds life late

Not much was going right for Spencer Rattler, Lincoln Riley and the Sooners’ offense for much of the game.

The Mountaineers made it difficult to find space to work, the run game struggled to get established and fans jeered both Rattler and Riley at various points — more on that later.

But after getting the ball at their own 8 with less than four minutes remaining, the Sooners’ offense finally showed some life.

It wasn’t in big chunks — no play on the drive went for more than 14 yards — but it was effective.

Rattler completed all six of his pass attempts on the drive, which once it got inside the 20 became about setting Gabe Brkic up for a game-winning field goal rather than trying to find the end zone.

Gabe Brkic comes up big

Game-winning field goal tries don’t happen very often.

Gabe Brkic had a chance last season against Texas, missing a 31-yard try in the third overtime that would’ve ended it.

Brkic didn’t let this opportunity pass him by, drilling the 30-yard field goal through the uprights as the clock expired.

WINNERS AND LOSERS FROM WEEK 4: UCLA, Texas gain ground; Minnesota embarrassed

Sooners take the gift

Jarret Doege wasn’t looking.

Facing second-and-12 from the Sooners’ 33 with just more than five minutes remaining, the West Virginia quarterback looked toward the sidelines.

But instead, Mountaineers center Zach Frazier, who had been called for an illegal snap on the previous play, let it fly.

The ball scooted past Doege and kept going. Finally, way back at the West Virginia 46, Doege was able to dive on the ball — barely beating Sooners rush linebacker Nik Bonitto there.

West Virginia looked like they were driving for a go-ahead and potentially game-winning field goal. Instead, the Mountaineers had to scrape something by on third and 33, and punt, giving OU the ball back at its own 8 with 3:39 to play.

‘We want Caleb (Williams)’ chants

Things weren’t going great for OU’s offense when the Sooners got the ball midway through the second quarter.

They’d managed just one first down over their previous two drives, punting the ball away each time.

But the Sooners started building some momentum moving into Mountaineers’ territory quickly.

Then things disintegrated, as Spencer Rattler tried to force a pass to Drake Stoops. Mountaineers’ cornerback Daryl Porter Jr. stepped in front of Stoops to tip it, and Jackie Matthews dove to complete the interception.

After the pick, a “We Want Caleb” chant broke out, primarily from the OU student section.

The chants continued off and on throughout the rest of the first half, as the Sooners’ next drive ended in a three-and-out, allowing the Mountaineers field position enough to kick a 25-yard field goal on the final play of the half to go up 10-7.

While Rattler’s first-half numbers were far from good—7 for 11 for 73 yards, a touchdown and the interception, the Sooners’ offense had plenty of issues that went beyond quarterback play.

The offensive line struggled to give Rattler much time to work—though on the interception, protection wasn’t an issue. The running game was virtually non-existent, with OU averaging just 1.8 yards per rush in the first half. The Sooners’ receivers struggled to get open downfield, even when Rattler did have time to work.

Offensive line shuffle

Arizona transfer Robert Congel had started the first three games at center for the Sooners.

But Andrew Raym played the majority of the Nebraska game at the spot a week ago.

Saturday, it was all Raym from the start.

It’s hard to pin things on any one spot — and West Virginia’s defense makes things tough on plenty of opponents — but OU’s offensive line continued not to be sharp.

The Sooners struggled to run the ball effectively, and Spencer Rattler was sacked four times.

Rattler had only been sacked twice total through the first three games—once on an intentional grounding call in the opener against Tulane and once by Western Carolina.

OU offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh made another shift in the third quarter, inserting Tennessee transfer Wanya Morris in at left tackle.

The Sooners had a bit more success after Morris — who did not play in two of the first three games — came into the game.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma beats West Virginia; Sooners fans call for Caleb Williams