West Virginia running back Laddie Brown runs during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Thomas)

MORGANTOWN–For the first time since No. 13 West Virginia (8-2, 6-2 Big 12) entered the Big 12 in 2012 the road to the league’s championship game will go through Morgantown.

“I’m sure they (WVU) will be waiting for us,” second-year OU coach Lincoln Riley said. “And, we are expecting to get their best shot after what happened to them in Stillwater.”

So far, the series has been a bit one-sided with the No. 6 Sooners holding an 8-2 overall lead, a 6-0 Big 12 lead and a 3-0 mark at Milan Puskar Stadium.

“Every game has been a battle,” Riley said, who watched as his OU team whipped up on the Mountaineers by a 59-31 margin to close out the regular season portion of its schedule last season. “Both teams have high-powered offenses led by quarterbacks that seemingly come up with big play after big play when their team needs them.”

But, only one of the two starting signal-callers for Friday night’s 8 p.m. showdown played in last year’s contest.

West Virginia senior Will Grier missed playing against the Sooners a year ago after suffering a broken throwing hand in WVU’s 28-14 loss to Texas.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” WVU coach Dana Holgorsen said. “It was the only game he didn’t participate in last year. And, now it will be his last game here.”

The story was a different one for OU’s Kyler Murray, who got the starting nod against the Mountaineers when Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield was forced to sit the Sooners’ opening offensive possession because of a suspension.

Murray, who has already been drafted by Major League Baseball’s Oakland Athletics, has made the most of what will probably be his only year as the team’s starter by leading the 10-team league in total offense (400.8 ypg), passing yards per game (328.5 ypg) — just ahead of WVU’s Grier (320.5 ypg) — passing efficiency rating (207.1) and total TDs with 33.

WVU fans will remember him as the guy who broke a 66-yard run against the Mountaineers’ defense on the game’s very first play and then came in to toss a 46-yard scoring pass to Myles Tease when the game’s outcome was already decided.

“Oklahoma recruits on a very high level,” Holgorsen said. “They always have a quality quarterback in the wings it seems. Last year it was (Kyler) Murray. This year they have the (Austin) Kendall kid. It just seems like they plug one Heisman quarterback in there for another one that has left.”

Which puts even more pressure on a West Virginia defense still feeling the effects of giving up 45 points (31 in the second half) and 600 yards of total offense to an Oklahoma State team last Saturday.

“I think you just have to ride out the wave,” Holgorsen said. “When you have an OU or an OSU that have high scoring offenses, then you’ve got to do things that helps to keep them off the field.

“We did that against Texas, but we didn’t handle it as well against OSU.”

It starts with finding a way to slow down Murray, who is rushing for 67.2 yards per game and scored 10 rushing touchdowns.

But it doesn’t end there.

Biletnikoff Award semifinalist Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is one of the most explosive receivers in the country, ranking No. 16 nationally in receiving yards per game at 92.8 and has averaged at least five receptions per game and 17.3 yards per catch.

Then there is senior kicker/punter Austin Seibert, who ranks 11th nationally (sixth among kickers) in scoring with a 9.5 per game average.

Add to all of that the fact the Sooners — like WVU — find themselves in a must win scenario when they face the Mountaineers and fans can expect an all-out war as a West Virginia win and a Texas win over Kansas would put the top of the conference in a three-way tie.

The Mountaineers would advance due to wins over both the Sooners and Longhorns. OU would then lose the tie-breaker with Texas due to a head-to-head loss to the team from Austin.