MORGANTOWN, W.Va — As West Virginia headed into its crucial game against Oklahoma on Saturday, one of the most-asked questions was who would be getting the carries? Senior starter Rushel Shell, a game-time decision, was ruled out pregame after his ankle stiffened. Then, freshman Kennedy McKoy left the game with a shoulder injury on his first touch, forcing WVU to rip up its plan. “Our gameplan was to come in and be in a lot of twin personnel, two tailbacks,â€? running backs coach JaJuan Seider said. “Then you lose Kennedy early in the game, it kind of restricts what you’re doing. I was close to playing (Martell) Pettaway. Eli (Wellman) came in and gave us a breather so we didn’t have to play him.â€? In their stead, junior Justin Crawford shouldered the load with 24 carries and turned in the game of his life. Six of those carries went for 20 yards or longer, as Crawford gashed the Sooner defense for 331 yards, finishing 13 yards shy of Tavon Austin’s single-game Mountaineers rushing record. Crawford broke a 45-yard run on WVU’s second-to-last play, putting him close of Austin’s mark, set in 2012 against the Sooners. West Virginia was on the 15-yard line, and Crawford would have had one chance at the record, but WVU elected to call a pass as time expired. “I didn’t (know),â€? Seider said. “I knew he was running the ball effectively, and I knew his number was up there. I couldn’t tell you what the rushing record was. All I was hoping was if we could get a stop and get a chance to go score again.â€? Art of intimidation After a pregame scuffle broke out over Oklahoma players stomping on the West Virginia logo at midfield, the Mountaineers fired up — but they also let the Sooners too much into their head. “They invented intimidation,â€? coach Dana Holgorsen said. “You could call it unsportsmanlike if you want to, but that’s been kind of their M.O. for a long time.â€? West Virginia’s defense is aggressive and feeds off emotion, but the Mountaineers learned there is a fine line when it comes to playing with too much emotion. West Virginia repeatedly missed tackles in a performance that defensive coordinator Tony Gibson said “just wasn’t us.â€? “It was negative emotion,â€? linebacker Justin Arndt said. “You start adding penalties, stuff like that, that’s negative stuff. That’s not what you want to see out there. We weren’t playing inside the realm of the defense, and we let coach Gibby down.â€? Turnovers prove costly West Virginia’s performance against Oklahoma was marked by a series of crippling turnovers, and one in particular set the tone early. After the Mountaineers forced a punt on Oklahoma’s first possession, sophomore returner Gary Jennings elected to dive for a punt that had landed several yards in front of him, bobbling it and allowing the Sooners to recover at the WVU 34. “He thought it hit somebody, which is why he went after the ball,â€? Holgorsen said. Jennings’ muffed punt turned out to be the first of four turnovers, which produced 27 Sooners points, including a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Samaje Perine immediately after the botched punt. “We didn’t handle that turnover or offensive turnovers well at all,â€? Arndt said. “We let them come back out and drive down the field a few times. That’s on us as a defense to stop them. It’s what we’re supposed to do, and we didn’t.â€? David Statman is a freelance writer. Email Newsletters TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.