--Let’s just get this out of the way. Shew. That’s a sigh of relief for West Virginia because it wasn’t pretty but this team was able to get its first win over Kansas State in Manhattan. There are plenty of things we can discuss about this one and I will but take a deep breath because this team is now 7-3 with two games remaining and you never get upset when you do something the Mountaineers have never done. Even with four turnovers in the first half and miscues, West Virginia won. This is a bottom line business and it’s a lot better to win ugly than it is to have a pretty loss. Something about Kansas State magnifies mistakes that West Virginia makes but for the second year in a row the Mountaineers have beaten the Wildcats and in the end isn’t that what matters? But you can’t help but notice some of the miscues especially in a game that West Virginia had chance after chance to deliver the knockout punch and couldn’t do it. Turnovers, mistakes and everything in between admit it this game had a real 2015 feel to it all over again with the Mountaineers leading for most of the game and letting it get away late. But it didn’t happen and that’s a testament to this team and the coache and another sign of overcoming the adversity that has doomed them in the past.
--West Virginia is now 7-3 and has a chance to close this season on a great run with them definitely sitting in all the major polls. All three of its losses have come to ranked teams and there is no way slicing a win in Manhattan isn’t a quality one. The next two won’t be easy but there is a hypothetical chance if West Virginia can get by Texas next weekend they could be traveling to Norman for a chance at the conference championship game. They’re going to have to get help of course, but who would have taken those odds after the Oklahoma State loss?
--For the second week in a row, the West Virginia offense went into a shell in the second half and simply couldn’t sustain drives. Yes, they rolled up 492 yards but only 28 points out of that and all of it came in the first half. In the second half, West Virginia had five drives prior to the final one and managed only 118 yards on 24-plays. That just simply isn’t going to cut it especially with time of possession almost doubling in favor of the Wildcats until the final drive of the game. Still it needs to be said that when the offense needed to string together a drive to run out the clock they were able to do it taking the last 4:33 off with a nine-play drive although I’m still in disbelief that Grier threw the football on the final drive. Offense overall was 3-12 on third down in this one but did score touchdowns on both of its trips inside the red zone outside the final drive of the game on the kneel down. Still, scoring yards is not optimal.
--The West Virginia defense was put in some really bad situations in this game by the offense and special teams but for the second straight week played very well all things considered with the Wildcats average starting field position being their own 41-yard line. Kansas State managed only 332 yards, was 2-15 on third down, 11 tackles for loss and converted four turnovers into three points. The Wildcats started six drives in West Virginia territory in this game and managed only six points. This is a unit that was on the field for 36 minutes and kept battling. It’s the second consecutive game that the Mountaineers have held an opponent under 24 points and the two turnovers were big.
--Big reason for the third down success for the defense is Kansas State had to go an average of 9.2 yards.
--Those four turnovers resulted in only three points for Kansas State and that came on the drive that started at the Mountaineers three-yard line. Can’t say enough about the effort there. It wasn’t perfect and there were certainly mistakes, but again the defense rose to the challenge. How big was that overturn on the 21-yard catch on 3rd and 12 from their own one?
--Four sacks in this one for a defensive line that was pretty blatantly getting held throughout the game. It was even worse on the edge with the wide receivers, but it wasn’t being called so you have to adjust. Wildcats were 3-5 in the red zone. Another critical stat.
--The defense clearly frustrated redshirt freshman quarterback Skylar Thompson as he completed only 13-26 passes for 159 yards and two interceptions. Both of the picks in this game were absolutely huge as the one resulted in the final points for West Virginia before the half and the second stopped an opportunity for Kansas State to kick a field goal. I still can’t believe that Pittsburgh said they didn’t have room for Kenny Robinson because the kid is simply a football player. On that play he read the route and jumped in for the interception and killed all the Kansas State momentum.
--It’s become almost expected but redshirt sophomore David Long was everywhere in this one finishing with 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. His stop on first down in the backfield near the end of the staff is what propelled the Wildcats to throw that screen play that was picked off.
--Redshirt junior quarterback Will Grier threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns but it was far from a perfect day. He didn’t get some help with some timely drops but Grier missed some big opportunities in clutch situations by putting the ball high and the blitz in the second half seemed to get to him some. Still, some of the things he can do with extending the pocket is simply amazing. The guy is a football player and while at times I think he gets a little too aggressive with trusting his arm and even some of his checks, he does a lot more good than bad and continues to make special plays. Bad side, Grier was 3-10 on third down for 59 yards but I don’t put those two interceptions as much on him.
--Mentioned this during the game but now with it in the books West Virginia has three wide receivers on pace to finish this year with 1,000 yards receiving. That’s literally happened five times in college football history. Junior wide receiver Gary Jennings has 938 yards, redshirt senior wide receiver Ka’Raun White has 907 yards and junior wide receiver David Sills has 856 yards with three games left. This unit wasn’t perfect today with some critical drops, but touchdown totals for those three has Sills at 18, White at 10 and somehow even though he leads the team in catches with 82 only one for Jennings. Can he get some love in that department? What in the feathers?
--In this game, Sills made an incredible catch in the end zone getting his foot down and his score before was just a great route getting inside position. Jennings continues to get tough catches and it was no surprise that Grier elected to go to him on the final drive of the game to get the first down. White is just simply playing the best football of his career and is making plays.
--West Virginia didn’t run the ball as effectively as they did a week ago, but still churned out 120 yards with senior running back Justin Crawford going over the 100-yard mark for the seventh time this year. He finished with 113 yards in this one, 6.6 yards per carry, and did an excellent job on that delayed draw finding lanes and picking up yards.
--What more can you say about the final sequence of the first half? West Virginia looks like it’s driving for more points and Crawford puts the ball on the turf recovered by Kansas State. Then the Wildcats try a run and it’s blown up by David Long for a loss. Then inexplicitly decides to throw a screen and it’s picked off by junior Ezekiel Rose giving the Mountaineers ten seconds in field goal range. Grier takes the snap, runs around and buys time running off the clock in the process and somehow finds a wide open White for a 30-yard touchdown before the snap. That was a play that had no written all over it, but somehow Grier was able to buy time and find White making the field goal unnecessary.
--West Virginia had four turnovers in the first half but led 28-20. Biggest reason for that is because the Wildcats only could muster three points on those miscues and ran a total of 17 plays in the Mountaineers territory. Big credit to the defense for rising up in sudden change situations. Overall the unit forced six three and outs in the first half.
--Still not sure the decision to punt the football on the opening drive of the second half. It was a fourth and seven from the 36-yard line of Kansas State and the Mountaineers haven’t really shown the ability to effectively down a punt all-season. Really curious call there but even more that it happened again and it was yet another 16-yard net punt. The offense was rolling up yards, so really don’t get it.
--Speaking of special teams, they’re really good. Like really good in that department but West Virginia simply took a step back in this one. Two 16-yard net punts, a pair of punt returns that set up Kansas State into Mountaineers territory, shoddy tackling and everything in between. However, the unit did a good job on kickoffs preventing any big returns and redshirt junior Billy Kinney was able to pin the ball deep on his final punt of the game which ended up being huge in this game.
--West Virginia is now 7-3 and has a chance to close this season on a great run with them definitely sitting in all the major polls. All three of its losses have come to ranked teams and there is no way slicing a win in Manhattan isn’t a quality one. The next two won’t be easy but there is a hypothetical chance if West Virginia can get by Texas next weekend they could be traveling to Norman for a chance at the conference championship game. They’re going to have to get help of course, but who would have taken those odds after the Oklahoma State loss?
--For the second week in a row, the West Virginia offense went into a shell in the second half and simply couldn’t sustain drives. Yes, they rolled up 492 yards but only 28 points out of that and all of it came in the first half. In the second half, West Virginia had five drives prior to the final one and managed only 118 yards on 24-plays. That just simply isn’t going to cut it especially with time of possession almost doubling in favor of the Wildcats until the final drive of the game. Still it needs to be said that when the offense needed to string together a drive to run out the clock they were able to do it taking the last 4:33 off with a nine-play drive although I’m still in disbelief that Grier threw the football on the final drive. Offense overall was 3-12 on third down in this one but did score touchdowns on both of its trips inside the red zone outside the final drive of the game on the kneel down. Still, scoring yards is not optimal.
--The West Virginia defense was put in some really bad situations in this game by the offense and special teams but for the second straight week played very well all things considered with the Wildcats average starting field position being their own 41-yard line. Kansas State managed only 332 yards, was 2-15 on third down, 11 tackles for loss and converted four turnovers into three points. The Wildcats started six drives in West Virginia territory in this game and managed only six points. This is a unit that was on the field for 36 minutes and kept battling. It’s the second consecutive game that the Mountaineers have held an opponent under 24 points and the two turnovers were big.
--Big reason for the third down success for the defense is Kansas State had to go an average of 9.2 yards.
--Those four turnovers resulted in only three points for Kansas State and that came on the drive that started at the Mountaineers three-yard line. Can’t say enough about the effort there. It wasn’t perfect and there were certainly mistakes, but again the defense rose to the challenge. How big was that overturn on the 21-yard catch on 3rd and 12 from their own one?
--Four sacks in this one for a defensive line that was pretty blatantly getting held throughout the game. It was even worse on the edge with the wide receivers, but it wasn’t being called so you have to adjust. Wildcats were 3-5 in the red zone. Another critical stat.
--The defense clearly frustrated redshirt freshman quarterback Skylar Thompson as he completed only 13-26 passes for 159 yards and two interceptions. Both of the picks in this game were absolutely huge as the one resulted in the final points for West Virginia before the half and the second stopped an opportunity for Kansas State to kick a field goal. I still can’t believe that Pittsburgh said they didn’t have room for Kenny Robinson because the kid is simply a football player. On that play he read the route and jumped in for the interception and killed all the Kansas State momentum.
--It’s become almost expected but redshirt sophomore David Long was everywhere in this one finishing with 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. His stop on first down in the backfield near the end of the staff is what propelled the Wildcats to throw that screen play that was picked off.
--Redshirt junior quarterback Will Grier threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns but it was far from a perfect day. He didn’t get some help with some timely drops but Grier missed some big opportunities in clutch situations by putting the ball high and the blitz in the second half seemed to get to him some. Still, some of the things he can do with extending the pocket is simply amazing. The guy is a football player and while at times I think he gets a little too aggressive with trusting his arm and even some of his checks, he does a lot more good than bad and continues to make special plays. Bad side, Grier was 3-10 on third down for 59 yards but I don’t put those two interceptions as much on him.
--Mentioned this during the game but now with it in the books West Virginia has three wide receivers on pace to finish this year with 1,000 yards receiving. That’s literally happened five times in college football history. Junior wide receiver Gary Jennings has 938 yards, redshirt senior wide receiver Ka’Raun White has 907 yards and junior wide receiver David Sills has 856 yards with three games left. This unit wasn’t perfect today with some critical drops, but touchdown totals for those three has Sills at 18, White at 10 and somehow even though he leads the team in catches with 82 only one for Jennings. Can he get some love in that department? What in the feathers?
--In this game, Sills made an incredible catch in the end zone getting his foot down and his score before was just a great route getting inside position. Jennings continues to get tough catches and it was no surprise that Grier elected to go to him on the final drive of the game to get the first down. White is just simply playing the best football of his career and is making plays.
--West Virginia didn’t run the ball as effectively as they did a week ago, but still churned out 120 yards with senior running back Justin Crawford going over the 100-yard mark for the seventh time this year. He finished with 113 yards in this one, 6.6 yards per carry, and did an excellent job on that delayed draw finding lanes and picking up yards.
--What more can you say about the final sequence of the first half? West Virginia looks like it’s driving for more points and Crawford puts the ball on the turf recovered by Kansas State. Then the Wildcats try a run and it’s blown up by David Long for a loss. Then inexplicitly decides to throw a screen and it’s picked off by junior Ezekiel Rose giving the Mountaineers ten seconds in field goal range. Grier takes the snap, runs around and buys time running off the clock in the process and somehow finds a wide open White for a 30-yard touchdown before the snap. That was a play that had no written all over it, but somehow Grier was able to buy time and find White making the field goal unnecessary.
--West Virginia had four turnovers in the first half but led 28-20. Biggest reason for that is because the Wildcats only could muster three points on those miscues and ran a total of 17 plays in the Mountaineers territory. Big credit to the defense for rising up in sudden change situations. Overall the unit forced six three and outs in the first half.
--Still not sure the decision to punt the football on the opening drive of the second half. It was a fourth and seven from the 36-yard line of Kansas State and the Mountaineers haven’t really shown the ability to effectively down a punt all-season. Really curious call there but even more that it happened again and it was yet another 16-yard net punt. The offense was rolling up yards, so really don’t get it.
--Speaking of special teams, they’re really good. Like really good in that department but West Virginia simply took a step back in this one. Two 16-yard net punts, a pair of punt returns that set up Kansas State into Mountaineers territory, shoddy tackling and everything in between. However, the unit did a good job on kickoffs preventing any big returns and redshirt junior Billy Kinney was able to pin the ball deep on his final punt of the game which ended up being huge in this game.
