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Neutralizing the strengths of Big 12 opponents has fueled West Virginias rise into the Top 10.No. 10 West Virginias best start in a decade has been crafted mostly at home with conference wins over Kansas State and TCU in Morgantown sandwiched around a manhandling of Texas Tech on the road.On Saturday, coach Dana Holgorsen will head back to familiar ground when the Mountaineers (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) take on his former boss Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State (5-2, 3-1). Holgorsen was Gundys offensive coordinator in the 2010 season.Always a fun trip to go to Stillwater, Holgorsen said Tuesday. The Cowboys could easily be sitting at 7-0, and thats the way weve got to approach it.Oklahoma States Mason Rudolph is the third straight opposing quarterback averaging at least 320 passing yards per game.West Virginias defense, which had its hiccups early in the season, has been stellar in blowout wins over Texas Tech and TCU. The Mountaineers held national passing leader Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech and Kenny Hill of TCU far under their season averages. Hill had a season-low 148 yards.While West Virginia lost to Oklahoma State a year ago in overtime, Rudolph completed just half of his pass attempts and threw three interceptions.Mason Rudolph is probably the best pocket passer that we have in our league, Holgorsen said. Weve got to make sure we know where hes at at all times.The Mountaineers success so far has been more than just about slowing opposing quarterbacks.Kansas State had the nations top defense when it came to Morgantown for their Oct. 1 conference opener and held West Virginia scoreless in the first half. The Mountaineers rebounded with key third- and fourth-down conversions to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, finished with 420 yards and won 17-16.West Virginias offense has had no turnovers in two straight games.But clearly the defense has been the teams strength during the Big 12 portion of the schedule.Two of West Virginias last three opponents compiled no more than 300 total yards of offense. Texas Tech and TCU managed a combined 27 points. The Mountaineers combined for seven sacks in those two games after getting five in their previous five.TCU played four snaps on offense in the third quarter last week as West Virginia built a big lead and ran time off the clock in the second half.All you hear about in this league is offenses, said West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. Right now our recipe has been run the ball and play defense. And they continue just every week to come out and perform. Knock on wood, hopefully we can keep it rolling.And ignore whatever hype is thrown their way.I think weve got a group of kids that understands where were at, Holgorsen said. Our job is the same going into Game Seven as it was going into Game One. You prepare all week and you practice hard, get yourself into position to play on Saturday, and then go play. Based on what people are saying or the attention, I can assure you, has no impact on them whatever.That message has been sent loud and clear.Follow John Raby on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jraby-apMore AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.orgEric Sogard Blue Jays Jersey . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Devon Travis Blue Jays Jersey . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-ken-giles-jersey/ . Now that hes hitting streaking teammates with pin-point passes for easy layups, Love is asserting himself as one of the true superstars in the league. Alen Hanson Blue Jays Jersey . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Jersey . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night.Game 1 went about as well as could possibly be expected for Cleveland. While Corey Kluber struck out batters at a World Series-record pace (eight of the first nine Cubs outs were via punchout), the Indians rattled Jon Lester for two runs in the first without hitting a ball hard. Although more runs crossed the plate later, the events of the first inning were really all the bullpen protection duo of Andrew Miller and Cody Allen needed, and it all made for a thrilling night for Cleveland sports fans.Its a cliché of course, but there a lot of wisdom to the maxim that a postseason series doesnt really started until the home team loses a game. The Indians simply held serve last night, in a game that saw them with quite possibly the highest implied win expectancy (50 percent) theyll see all series. However, it was a very meaningful hold of serve because its one thing to have a plan, its another thing to execute it. The Tribe have now demonstrated that, just like they did against the Red Sox and the Blue Jays, they can execute it against the Cubs as well.Our teaam of baseball handicappers is back for a look at Game 2.dddddddddddd. Last night Dave Tuley (1-1, -0.07 units) split his picks, missing on the Cubs, but scoring with the under. Joe Peta, while backing the Cubs for the series, took a pass on Game 1. Their thoughts on Game 2 follow.Westgate line: Cubs (Arrieta) -145 at (Bauer) +135 Over/under: 7 (-120 over)Game 2 PickCenter: 52 percent picking IndiansJoe Peta: Last night was something of a must-win for the Indians because they had full use of their strengths (Kluber, Miller and Allen), they had a seasons worth of basepath aggressiveness to exploit a Cubs vulnerability (Lester with runners on base) and they were at home. They delivered and they should be congratulated, but it wasnt entirely unexpected. I picked the Cubs in five games, but passed on a Game 1 wager, because, as I said in the series preview, lets give the Indians ... a win in one of the two games they face Lester. ' ' '