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Playmakers abound for Sooners, but top defenses have slowed them

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — On Samaje Perine’s previous visit to Milan Puskar Stadium, he tore through West Virginia’s defense for 242 yards and four touchdowns.

He did it without the benefit of quality quarterback play (Trevor Knight was sort of a mess back then) and while functioning under a lame-duck offensive coordinator (Jay Norvell was canned at season’s end).

Now a junior, Perine is almost overlooked among the deep cache of weapons deployed by play-caller Lincoln Riley. Uber-efficient quarterback Baker Mayfield has performed even better than last year when he was the fourth-place Heisman finisher. Dede Westbrook is approaching the top receiving season in Oklahoma history.