Oklahoma State pass rusher Emmanuel Ogbah. (RoadTripSports photo by Matthew Postins)

DALLAS (FWAA) – Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah opened the Cowboys’ scoring with a fumble recovery in the end zone, then led OSU’s defense with eight tackles and a sack and two forced fumbles in a 33-26 overtime win at West Virginia. The performance earned Ogbah the AutoNation National Defensive Player of the Week honor for games of the weekend of Oct. 10, as selected by the Football Writers Association on America.

The 6-4, 275-pound junior from Houston is the reigning Big 12 Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year and showed why with his season-high tackle total, and added a quarterback hurry. After his touchdown, the first of his two forced fumbles minutes later was recovered set the Cowboys up at West Virginia’s 28-yard line. Oklahoma State scored five plays later for a 14-0 lead.

In the first quarter alone, Ogbah had three tackles, the fumble-recovery for a touchdown, a forced fumble, a half-sack and a half-tackle for loss. Six of Ogbah’s eight total tackles were unassisted. In Big 12 games, Ogbah leads the conference in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles. He is tied for fourth in the nation with 7.5 sacks and is eighth with 11 tackles for loss.

2015 AutoNation FWAA Defensive Players of the Week
• Week of Sept. 5: Karl Joseph, West Virginia
• Week of Sept. 12: Kai Nacua, BYU
• Week of Sept. 19: RJ Williamson, Michigan State
• Week of Sept. 26: Jeremy Cash, Duke
• Week of Oct. 3: Eric Striker, Oklahoma
• Week of Oct. 10: Emmanuel Ogbah, Oklahoma State