Rich Rodriguez and the West Virginia Mountaineers have a fan in seven-time national champion coach Nick Saban.
The College GameDay host and longtime Alabama head coach praised Rodriguez and West Virginia’s offense during a visit on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday afternoon. The Mountaineers host Eric Morris and Oklahoma State on Saturday night in Morgantown.
Saban specifically praised the Mountaineers and how they’ve executed their run game between quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. and breakout Jacksonville State transfer Cam Cook.
More: How High Will Michael Hawkins Take West Virginia?
“I think there’s a lot of teams in the Big 12 that have a chance and West Virginia is obviously one of the teams,” Saban said. “I think it’s been a little bit of a surprise, but one thing I like about West Virginia in this game with Oklahoma State, when you can run the ball like they run the ball – the quarterback and the tailback – you can shrink the game.”
Rodriguez and West Virginia are three wins deep entering Week 4’s Big 12 test with Oklahoma State following a 38-27 win over Virginia last weekend. That victory saw Hawkins exploit a top-25 Cavaliers team for 190 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and another 123 yards for three touchdowns using his legs. Cam Cook, too, added exactly 123 yards to the effort.
It’s shaping up to be the Big 12’s must-watch contest this weekend, as Drew Mestemaker, another quality quarterback, goes on the road in hopes of sustaining the spark OSU picked up with its 39-31 stunner against a top-10 Oregon team in Week 2.
Currently, the oddsmakers favor West Virginia by 1.5 points with an over/under of 61.5 points. Kickoff at Milan Puskar Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. CT on FS1.
More: West Virginia vs. Oklahoma State: Prediction, Pick and Preview
