'We get it done': OSU's defensive dominance 'shocked' Mike Gundy, but it's no surprise to his players

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With just over seven minutes left in the game on Saturday, West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege stepped away from three pursuing Oklahoma State defenders and ran toward open field.

Everyone left in Milan Puskar Stadium — and there weren’t many by that point — was surprised to see Doege avoid a sack. It would have been Oklahoma State’s ninth of the day, but instead, the Cowboys had to settle for eight in the 24-3 victory.

West Virginia finished with 133 total yards, not surpassing the 100-yard mark until the middle of the fourth quarter, and adding a good chunk of yards on a late drive against OSU’s second-teamers.

Dominance was the defensive word of the day, and OSU coach Mike Gundy was surprised to see his defense control the game so well against a team that had scored 38 points against Iowa State a week earlier.

“I was kind of shocked, to be honest with you, that we could play that well defensively against them on the road, as well as they’ve played offensively the last two weeks,” Gundy said. “They’ve been good up front. They’ve rushed the ball well. The quarterback’s played well.

“I expected our defense to play good, but I didn’t expect that. It surprised me.”

If defensive coordinator Jim Knowles was surprised by anything, it was the ease with which his defensive front got to the quarterback against a physical offensive line that had allowed only 14 sacks of the less-than-mobile Doege in eight games prior to Saturday.

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“I loved our pressure,” Knowles said. “I don’t think I blitzed one time, to be honest with you. We won a lot of individual matchups up front. The guys were getting off the ball, and we were able to pressure the quarterback without bringing extra guys.”

But Knowles was quick to point out it wasn’t only the defensive front’s performance that created the sack opportunities.

“We can change up the coverage enough now just to make the quarterback hold the ball,” Knowles said. “That’s a category in our winning edge that we’ve been emphasizing lately. I say ‘coverage and rush,’ and the guys all say, ‘working together.’

“When it comes together, you make the quarterback hold it for a second, we got guys up front that are making plays.”

Linebacker Devin Harper and defensive end Brock Martin had two sacks apiece on Saturday, both bringing their season totals to 4.5 for the season. True freshman defensive end Collin Oliver added one to keep his team lead with 5.5 sacks on the year.

Defensive end Tyler Lacy had one, while Kody Walterscheid and Jason Taylor II each had their first of the season.

Gundy might have been surprised at the level of dominance by the defense, but the players weren’t.

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“No, that’s every week,” Martin said. “That’s our goal. That’s what we strive for. And I think we show up and show out every week. Sometimes it won’t show up in the stat sheet, but we get it done.”

Asked if the defense made a statement with Saturday’s performance, Martin wasn’t biting on that, either.

“I’m not satisfied with anything that we’ve done. Never can be,” he said. “We’ve got a big game next week, TCU. They just beat Baylor, so they’re coming off a big win

“We’ve got to focus on TCU next week and do our thing and get it done.”

TCU had 562 yards of offense, with new quarterback Chandler Morris throwing for 461 yards and rushing for another 70 with three total touchdowns in the 30-28 win over Baylor.

But Knowles will continue to preach on the foundation of what they’ve built to this point.

“It’s a process,” Knowles said. “You want guys to believe early on, but we all know you need success for some guys to believe. We keep emphasizing the positives and showing them how we’re able to win games on defense. And it’s just caught fire.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football: Cowboys not surprised by defensive dominance