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STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State quarterback Taylor Cornelius had to wait a long time for his moment in the spotlight for the Cowboys (6-5, 3-5 Big 12).
That moment came with 42 seconds left in OSU's 45-41 come-from-behind win over No. 9 West Virginia (8-2, 6-2) when Cornelius connected with Tylan Wallace for an 11-yard touchdown which gave the hosts their first lead of the game.
"He (Cornelius) has been good all year," OSU coach Mike Gundy said. "He made plays at the end. For him to play like that on Senior Night is a testament to the hard work he's put in and his loyalty to this program."
Cornelius, who completed 30 of 46 attempts for 338 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions, brought the Cowboys to within three points, 41-38, with a 9-yard rush with 4:47 left in the game.
The OSU quarterback added 106 yards on 13 carries and Chuba Hubbard, who was playing in place of Justice Hill, gashed the Mountaineer defense for 134 yards on 26 carries.
WVU, which plays host to No. 6 Oklahoma at 8 p.m. on Friday night, had one last chance to pull out the victory. But Will Grier's pass to David Sills V in the end zone was broken up as the clock ran out.
"My initial thoughts are that we lost to a very good Oklahoma State team," WVU assistant coach Dan Gerberry said. "But we still have everything in front of us with Oklahoma coming in on Friday."
In last year's 50-39 setback at Milan Puskar Stadium, West Virginia's running game was noticeably missing.
Junior running back Kennedy McKoy, who rushed nine times for 30 yards in that defeat, wasn't going to let that happen this time around as the North Carolina native put the No. 9 Mountaineers on his back during the first 30 minutes, rushing for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries as the Mountaineers headed to the locker rooms at the intermission with a 31-14 advantage.
"Yeah, we kind of got away from it (running) at the start of the second quarter, but we got it going again," Holgorsen said. "And, the defense has been playing great, forced three turnovers in the half and we scored points off two of them. We didn't do that last year."
McKoy was featured early and often as he scored the visitors' first touchdown with a 5-yard sprint to finish a 10-play, 75-yard drive on WVU's first possession then came back to bust a 30-yard scoring dash for the Mountaineers' final 6-pointer of the first half.
That rushing attack, however, failed to show up in the second half.
"We made adjusts defensively," Gundy. "We weren't maintaining our gaps in the first half and that led to four or five big runs by them. We talked to the kids at the half about staying in their gaps and they did, and we were able to force them to beat us in the air."
Something the Mountaineers were unable to accomplish despite Grier completing 27 of 48 passes for 364 yards and two touchdowns.
McKoy finished with 148 yards on 21 carries but was held to 17 in the second half.
"I knew we could move the ball if I took care of it," Cornelius said. "West Virginia is a great team, but (Saturday) we played better. Even when we went into the locker room down 17 points, we believed we could fight back. And, we did."