–Well, It’s Groundhog Day again. West Virginia again had a ranked opponent at home with No. 17 Kansas State and again couldn’t get it done. In fact, this one probably was the least competitive of the three home losses to ranked teams this season as the Mountaineers really weren’t even competitive in the second half. Yes, this is a beat up football team dealing with a lot of injuries including some to their best offensive players in this game but this is just another notch on the belt of disappointment for this team in a season that opened with so much promise. The Mountaineers are now 3-4 on the season and their best win is to a 3-4 Oklahoma State team and now at 2-2 in the Big 12 you can essentially kiss any possible hope that you were holding out for a potential run to the Big 12 Championship game. Yeah, I know stop snickering but it was at least a possibility had they won this football game. This was the largest home loss under Brown if that says all you need to know.
–This just hasn’t been a good week for the program any way you slice it and the grumbles are only going to get louder after this performance at home. But as I mentioned early this week, results matter and this just hasn’t been good enough with many of the same issues cropping up game after game and year after year. We’re now 67 games into this tenure and Brown is 34-33. All of the good will that was built from the 9-4 campaign is basically gone at this point and it’s going in the other direction. I looked around the stadium with 11 minutes left in this one and it was basically empty. That’s not what this program wants to be about and the lack of success is reaching a boiling point with the fan base.
–Again, mistakes with two turnovers in the first half including one being directly cashed in for a touchdown, untimely penalties and really questionable decisions loomed large over this one. Two plays really sum up this game to me, the fourth down at the end of the first half which was a disaster and then to start the second half on fourth down, the defense can’t bring Avery Johnson down on a sack and that drive ended with a touchdown that almost felt like it put the game away. Statistically it would have seemed that West Virginia was in control in the first half, but turnovers and mistakes again were the problem as the Mountaineers are now -7 in turnover margin this year.
–West Virginia has certainly lost to some good football teams this year but again, the angst comes from the fact that you’ve had back-to-back prime time games at home against ranked teams that were only slight favorites and you weren’t competitive. There’s no excuse for that and it continues to happen. You can point to bad calls, mishaps, execution or whatever else you want but it’s the same story. It isn’t unreasonable to expect to win one of these football games at home and it continues to be disappointing. It’s been almost three calendar years since West Virginia last beat a ranked team and for all the talk about being a contending team the Mountaineers are now 3-4 and are going to be scratching and clawing to try to get into a bowl game at this stage. That’s not what anybody wanted to see, especially when you consider that West Virginia is now 3-17 against ranked teams. That’s bad.
–Senior quarterback Garrett Greene didn’t play his best while he was in this game, including some really poor throws which directly led to a pair of interceptions. Greene settled down some after the pick six, but still was just 9-19 for 85 yards and a score. But Greene’s legs were by far the best option the offense had as he rushed for 88 yards on 10 carries and kept multiple drives alive with his ability to run. Those calling for Nicco Marchiol got their wish in this one due to injury, but it wasn’t pretty against a very good defense. That’s not all on him with some key pieces out, but Marchiol struggled to find his footing as Kansas State basically ran away with the game in the second half. The offense did look better late but by that point the game was well decided.
–West Virginia held Kansas State to 26 yards rushing on 16 carries through three quarters but found themselves down 31-10. This is against a team that has basically moved the football on the ground but the Mountaineers just allowed easy throws to Avery Johnson and he got into rhythm. If you would have told me Giddens would have 30 yards rushing, I’d have thought West Virginia would be in a good spot. Guess not?
–Kansas State kept West Virginia largely in check outside of those scrambles by Greene. That was basically the only positive on offense but on the flip side, the passing of Greene left a lot to be desired as he missed a number of opportunities that were there.
–It wouldn’t have mattered and it’s not an excuse, but again the officiating was miserable in this game. That sequence in the first half where they missed the late hit and the facemask until the crowd’s reaction was just two of multiple examples. This crew didn’t have a good night.
–The Mountaineers will next get ready for an Arizona that’s been pretty much following the same storyline as they were picked in the top 25 to start the year but now sit at 3-4 on the season. We’ll have to see what the health of this team looks like this week, but it’s become a critical game just to see if this team can build any semblance of success. This certainly isn’t fun.
