The No. 9 West Virginia University Mountaineers made a statement to the nation Wednesday night by thrashing the overwhelmingly favored No. 4 Oklahoma Sooners 48-28 in the 2008 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Just how good were the Sooners under head coach Bob Stoops? The OU leader boasts a striking 96-21 record since he took over the reigns at the traditional football power. His resume is littered with impressive accolades and accomplishments. He claimed the 2000 national championship. The Big XII title almost always runs through Norman, Okla. The Sooners have been league champions five of the last seven seasons including the 2007 season.

This season, OU recorded wins against No. 19 Texas, No. 11 Missouri and beat Missouri a second time in the Big XII championship game, 38-17. The Tigers were ranked number one and only a win away from a spot in the national championship game before being dominated by OU.

A late season loss at Texas Tech was all that kept the Sooners out of a spot in the BCS national championship. In that game, OU red shirt freshman quarterback Sam Bradford suffered a concussion and was sidelined early on. The OU offense sputtered and the defense fell to a powerful passing attack by Texas Tech who would later go on to win the Gator Bowl against Virginia.

Bradford entered the Fiesta Bowl as the nation’s leader in passing efficiency. Oklahoma was supposed to be the better team in all three phases. They were bigger. They were stronger. They were champions of what most would call a superior conference. The players wore jerseys that had Sooners embroidered on the chest. Anyone that knows anything about college football understands Oklahoma is royalty in the sport.

Oklahoma had just defeated the number one team in the country. Most media outlets claimed OU was one of the top two teams, if not the best team in all of college football. ESPN ‘experts’ Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso had little faith in WVU. Mark May was a firm believer in Oklahoma. Writers from Morgantown to Norman and everywhere in between explained why West Virginia had no chance. Sports radio broadcasters raved about Bradford and the Sooners and claimed OU would wear out the crumbling Mountaineers. Fox sports commentators Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson explained why West Virginia would lose moments before kickoff.

ESPN.com featured a fan poll where people could vote for who they believed would win the Fiesta Bowl. As expected, 84 percent of America clicked Oklahoma. The lone state that voted a majority for WVU was naturally West Virginia. The Mountaineers took their 16 percent of believers and used it as a motivational tool during their pre-game speech in the locker room.

Interim head coaches were 0-5 during the bowl season. WVU named an interim head coach in Bill Stewart after the sudden departure of former head coach Rich Rodriguez. Rodriguez headed to Michigan a few weeks after he saw his team drop a 13-9 decision to 28-point underdog Pitt. That did nothing other than cost WVU a shot at a national title.

“He’s [Stewart] a great man; a great coach. All the players respect him and love him. You couldn’t ask for a better man to lead us to victory,” commented WVU quarterback Patrick White.

The stage was set for a blowout. OU was seeking to avenge last year’s unforgettable 43-42 upset loss to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. Rodriguez was gone. WVU had to travel across the country to Glendale, Ariz. and battle a giant. Most of the rabidly loyal Mountaineer fans couldn’t make the journey to Arizona and were forced to cheer on the team in front of a television set.

West Virginia’s star superback, the nation’s current touchdown leader and WVU’s all-time touchdown leader Steve Slaton suffered a hamstring injury early on that forced him out of nearly the entire game. Defensive end Scooter Berry followed Slaton to the sideline shortly thereafter with an injury.

On paper, the Mountaineers appeared they were finished.

One area WVU held a decisive advantage was in pure speed. The other was pure heart and determination.

The Mountaineer defense rose to the occasion. Defensive end Johnny Dingle was simply too quick and had little trouble penetrating the OU line that featured players that were 40-50 pounds bigger than him. Senior safety Eric Wicks flew around the field making big plays. Linebacker Reed Williams anchored the unit and received defensive MVP honors for his steady play and sound tackling. Safety Quinton Andrews picked off Bradford in the end zone. The defense of West Virginia came out and set the tone early and often. The coaches did a great job at firing up the overlooked side of the ball at WVU. The Mountaineer defense bent a little but didn’t break. They were able to keep OU out of the end zone, settling for a pair of field goals in the opening half. The staggered score forced the Sooners to go for two on a couple occasions during the second half. The WVU defensive unit answered the call once more shutting down the conversion attempts.

Then of course came the offense.

WVU place kicker Pat McAfee redeemed himself from his critical misses in the Pitt game. McAfee connected from 38 and 42 yards to get WVU on the board and build some confidence and momentum. Fullback Owen ‘Facemask’ Schmitt erupted off the right tackle and down the field on a 57-yard touchdown run that put West Virginia up 13-3. WVU would strike again only four minutes later when White passed to a wide open Darius Reynaud from 21 yards out. The Mountaineers took a commanding 20-6 lead into intermission.

OU responded with a field goal and a touchdown. The lead had been cut to 20-15. The Sooners tried an onside attempt that failed to go 10 yards and was recovered by West Virginia’s Ridwan Malik. Freshman phenom Noel Devine got into the act on a 17 yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 27-15. Reynaud took an end around toss 30 yards to the house in the closing moments of the third quarter and put WVU up 34-15.

Bradford would answer with a pair of touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

The only problem was West Virginia had broken the game open on two huge plays. White threw what the Fox Sports commentator called a “frozen rope” to streaking wide out Tito Gonzalez on a 79 yard passing play for six. The Mountaineers had built up a 20 point advantage. Devine exploded again with nine minutes remaining on a 65 yard touchdown run. The scoreboard read 48-28 and the Mountaineers took the 2008 Fiesta Bowl trophy back to Morgantown. All hail West Virginia.

This win by WVU is the most important victory in the history of the football program. The entire state can smile proudly thanks to the heroics of the Mountaineers (or even tear up like Schmitt). The team had endured a grueling couple of weeks at the hands of the traitorous fraudriguez (and the administration as well with regard to the upcoming legal suit against Benedict Arnold for trying to weasel out of his $4M buyout). They regrouped and put in a performance that will never be forgotten. The Mountaineers stepped out onto the playing field and put to rest the doubters. The heart wrenching losses to South Florida and Pitt were all but forgotten. As I wrote in my previous installment of this story before the game: “It is times like these you separate the boys from the men. The fickle, fair-weather fans from the faithful. The leaders from the followers. An upset victory over a giant such as Oklahoma in the most adverse conditions the Mountaineers have been cast into would uplift every grieving player, fan, student and alumnus across the country. West Virginia thrives in an underdog role and they’ve never been underdogs as much as they are now.”

And what a fitting end to the 2007 campaign. I woke up to Bill Stewart being named the new head coach. This West Virginia native epitomizes what it means to be from the Mountain State. Something few people will ever understand. Stewart calls the WVU head football coach “the greatest job in America.”

“I want to tell you as calmly and rationally and as passionately as I can - I will cherish the opportunity to be the head football coach at the state flagship university - the finest institution in the country - West Virginia University,” said Stewart. “I will never leave West Virginia University.”

Now we can sit back and reflect on the finest story of the 2007 football season. Oh if we could only hear Jack Fleming now.