West Virginia vs. Oklahoma: Score, Highlights and Twitter Reaction

For the third straight game, Oklahoma faced a second-half scare. Once again, Bob Stoops' Sooners found a way to get the job done.

Baker Mayfield threw for three touchdowns and Joe Mixon recorded his first rushing touchdown as Oklahoma carried a strong first-half performance to earn a 44-24 win over West Virginia on Saturday.

The Sooners are off to a 4-0 start for the third straight season, the first time Stoops has pulled off that feat in more than a decade. Though the team was once defined by a stalwart defense and grind-it-out running game, Mayfield again proved Saturday that it's a new normal in Norman.

The junior quarterback threw for 320 yards, completing 14 of his 25 passes and hitting big completions every time West Virginia nudged its way back into the game. He's gone over 300 yards in three of the first four games of 2015 and has been stellar in two straight contests after his poor outing against Tennessee. 

“I’ve made good decisions so far this season,” Mayfield said, per Guerin Emig of the Tulsa World. “I’d like to keep it going. I’ve made smart throws, not trying to force anything.”

Dan Wolken of USA Today put it simply:

It was perhaps Mayfield's best performance in an Oklahoma uniform given the opponent. West Virginia entered the weekend with one of the nation's best defensive back rotations. Football Outsiders ranked the Mountaineers ninth in overall defense, and their pass defense metrics dwarfed every other team in the country.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

"They're physical, play hard, got a lot of speed out there," Stoops said, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. "They're good players. You can tell they've got a lot of good experience in their defense and in their secondary. It's a really good group."

Mayfield's performance helped overcome a surprisingly shaky day from the running game. Samaje Perine managed just 65 yards on 16 carries, already his third game below the 100-yard mark. The preseason Heisman contender had a similarly slow start to 2014 but did not have Mixon hanging in the background a year ago.

Mixon, who was ranked on par with Dalvin Cook and just a step down from Leonard Fournette on 2014 recruiting lists, set a series of career highs Saturday. The redshirt freshman bested his previous high for yards (43) and scored his first rushing touchdown on a 35-yard scamper to give Oklahoma a 24-7 lead going into halftime.

Emig noted the effect Mixon could have going forward:

On the other side, West Virginia could not get out of its own way long enough to mount momentum. The Mountaineers turned the ball over five times, including three interceptions from quarterback Skyler Howard. Oklahoma's secondary held the Mountaineers quarterback to 173 yards through the air and only one pass play of longer than 20 yards.

While the WVU ground game accounted for 196 yards, it wasn't nearly enough to compete with the Sooners' explosive offensive output. Wendell Smallwood had 111 yards on 22 carries but didn't break anything longer than 21 yards, and Rushel Shell barely averaged more than three yards per carry on his 72-yard day. Howard's 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, which briefly brought West Virginia within a field goal, was the only explosive play the team managed all afternoon.

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Coming into the weekend, West Virginia had been dominating game pace and scoring 43.3 points per game as a borderline top-10 offense. The noticeable drop-off will have some calling the Mountaineers' schedule into question. They played back-to-back FCS schools  (Georgia Southern and Liberty) before hosting a Maryland outfit that will struggle to make a bowl game.

Offered their first glimpse at top-level competition, the Mountaineers faltered, and the schedule won't get any easier. They host No. 20 Oklahoma State before finishing out the month with road trips to No. 5 Baylor and No. 4 TCU. 

“You don’t really want to talk about four games, but if you just look at where they are ranking-wise and where they are in the national spotlight and you look ahead, you go, ‘Wow, that’s a pretty good gamut,’ ” said safeties coach and special teams coordinator Joe DeForest, per Craig Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

As for Oklahoma, a 9-0 start is looking more likely than ever. The Sooners face a plummeting Texas team in next week's Red River Shootout, starting a stretch of five games against the bottom of the Big 12 before their back-to-back with Baylor and TCU.

With the way Mayfield is playing, Stoops may have a team that's ready to take on all comers. 

Post-Game Reaction

West Virginia offered a video of coach Dana Holgorsen's press conference:

Stoops noted that while West Virginia ran more plays, it ultimately didn't matter on the scoreboard, per Oklahoma's official Twitter account:

Oklahoma secondary coach Kerry Cooks tweeted out praise of his secondary after a three-interception day: 

Sooners offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley also offered his take on the action, via Oklahoma's Twitter account:

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