Offense:
Formation Count with First team offense: 3 WR 1 FB 1 RB (22), 2 WR 1 TE 1 FB 1 RB (16), 4 WR 1 FB (9), I-formation (5), 4 WR 1 RB (5), Twin Stack 1 FB (3), Diamond (2), Goal Line Tight (2), 3 WR 2 RB (1) and WR (Diamond) 1 WR (1)
--West Virginia entered this game 102nd in the nation when it came to scoring touchdowns in the red zone and the first trip down there wasn’t good at all. Two runs, one where Howard took the ball laterally instead of up the field as it was designed and then a pass short of the sticks. After the impressive 40-yard grab, and let me say once again impressive job tracking the ball by redshirt junior Shelton Gibson, the Mountaineers squandered a golden opportunity on the first drive and settled for three.
--On the second possession after the pass interference, WVU used a unique formation with a diamond of wide receivers to the right of Howard and a single wide receiver to his left. At the snap three of the wide receivers head off in routes, while running back Justin Crawford at the bottom of the diamond stops for a quick screen pass and the same with Shelton Gibson on the single side stopping for a screen pass. But the misdirection is actually setting up a run as Tyler Orlosky is out front but Kansas reads the play well and holds it for no gain. The play didn’t work there but just another thing for defensive coordinators to look at and a lot of options in that play if they ever decide to go back to it in the future.
--After that the second possession was in complete reverse with Crawford busting on an attempted zone read which made it a situation where Howard had to take off and run for a loss. Then a sack after the defensive end simply beat redshirt freshman Colton McKivitz.
--West Virginia struggled to run the ball on its first three possessions with Kansas aggressively crowding the box, so the Mountaineers went to a big package with two wide receivers, a tight end and a full back and on the first big Kennedy McKoy 44-yard run it was excellent blocking across the board.
--To cap off that drive, West Virginia went away from the big formation on 3rd and 2 from the Kansas 22-yard line to a four-wide receiver look with Elijah Wellman flexed to the line of scrimmage giving the look that the Mountaineers would throw the football. The ball is snapped into a designed quarterback run and Wellman absolutely has the key block knocking the safety out of the play that came up to make the stop allowing Howard to waltz into the end zone untouched.
--I mentioned this in my observations but after film review it holds true. Redshirt junior Elijah Wellman was absolutely dominant in this game and was key in almost every big run that the Mountaineers had.
--Next drive you saw some classic I-formation. And West Virginia had major success running the football right at the Jayhawks for big chunks of yards. But again, another wrinkle. The Mountaineers lined up in the I-formation and sold the handoff hard to McKoy off the left side, but Howard would turn and flip the ball to redshirt junior Shelton Gibson on a reverse and from there his speed would take over. The Mountaineers had three blockers out front but Gibson was taken down by the last defender after a 25-yard gain. Sometimes you forget how fast some of these wide receivers are until you see these plays.
--Howard has done a much better job with the read plays this year on whether to give it or pull it. In the second quarter, he held the ball there for a long time but pulled it at the last minute from McKoy and was able to get down the sideline for a big chunk of yards. Not necessarily a look at one certain play but overall he is much better in that department when at times last year he appeared that he had already pre-determined with what he was going to do on any given play.
--On the goal line stand by Kansas it appeared that Howard scored on the third down play. On fourth down, West Virginia used the play it used against Kansas State handing the ball off to McKoy on the edge and it appeared that a hole was there if he cut it up. Instead he bounced it to the outside and was tackled short and the red zone woes continued for the Mountaineers.
--On the second Howard rushing touchdown, he fakes the handoff to Crawford and then takes off to the right side with Wellman in front. Of course, Wellman delivers the springing block and then he weaves through the defense to score from 33-yards out relatively untouched.
--The third touchdown of the day involved West Virginia with trips wide receivers to the field side and it was a nicely designed play. The outside two ran to the inside, while senior Daikiel Shorts ran the corner route from the inside spot and he beat his man to the spot for the touchdown catch.
--On the touchdown before the half, West Virginia used its twin stack wide receiver look with fullback Wellman flexed. On the play, Shelton Gibson was the underneath wide receiver on the left side and got a free release as Durante took off toward the middle. It was one on one coverage and Gibson simply won the battle and made a fantastic catch near the back of the end zone.
--On the Howard fumble, the defensive end wasn’t fooled on the zone read and just put a great hit on Howard but it appeared the ball was actually coming loose already.
--Crawford made a nice jump cut and then followed a seal by Tyler Orlosky and basically it was all him running to the end zone on his 27-yard touchdown run.
--The Second Gibson touchdown was just an example of the scramble drill being played out. Gibson ran all the way across the field and Howard found him and put a perfect pass to hit him as he sailed toward the sideline. It was very similar to what you saw against Kansas State, but longer.
--I’ve said it already but how good is Daikiel Shorts? He continues to make difficult catches look rather routine and is the absolute go to person on any critical situations.
--It wouldn’t have mattered because there was a penalty on the play that would have nullified it, but once again redshirt sophomore tight end Trevon Wesco had a pass thrown to him in the end zone. He didn’t hang onto the ball again but that’s two consecutive weeks that the Mountaineers have done that. It’s an interesting wrinkle here because Wesco has gotten some space he just hasn’t been able to reel in the ball. Since Tyler Urban graduated after 2011, West Virginia has 20 catches from the tight end spot.
Defense:
--Since this was really a case of being up 31-0 at halftime and the defense obviously relaxing a little bit I’m not going to focus too much on individual plays in the second half but here is a breakdown of all the third down plays from the first half of the game.
3rd downs: First quarter
--3rd and 2 with 11:57 from the WVU 46: Mountaineers blitz and bring six but the ball is out quickly on a short pattern to pick up the first down at the WVU 44.
--3rd and 23 with 10:24 from the KU 43: WVU blitzes with five and cornerback Rasul Douglas comes up to play press coverage as if it was cover 0 when he is actually supposed to be in cover 2. It didn’t matter, as the ball by Cozart was thrown almost directly to him and he was able to get his head around and make the interception. Those type of mistakes can get you beat at times, but here it’s better to be lucky.
3rd and 6 with 7:38 from the KU 19: WVU drops eight and the pass is thrown short, but defensive end Noble Nwachukwu chases the wide receiver down after flushing the quarterback initially.
3rd and 11 with 4:49 from the KU 41: WVU brought five and it was redshirt freshman Adam Shuler that applied the initial pressure that forced Cozart out of the pocket and he took off on a scramble falling two yards short. Kansas would elect to quick kick the ball on fourth down.
--Speaking of Shuler, every week I do this film review he has several plays that just stand out. West Virginia hasn’t had a lot of players with his size and athleticism off the edge and I think that he is in for a very bright future with the football program. He’s disruptive and really doesn’t quit on plays.
--3rd and 8 with 56 from the KU 44: WVU drops eight here and the pass is easily completed short of the sticks but before the wide receiver can shake the cornerback he slips and it’s another stop.
2nd quarter:
--3rd and 10 with 10:23 from the KU 2: Kansas elected to hand the ball off to get some room and was stopped short of the sticks.
--3rd and 4 with 7:25 from the KU 31: WVU blitzed here sent six here and the pressure almost got to Cozart off the edge from Kyzir White but he stood in the pocket and delivered a perfect throw down the sideline dropping right into Steven Sims hands for a 32-yards.
--3rd and 4 with 6:49 from the WVU 31: Kansas elected to run the football here and the Mountaineers split the gaps and stopped them two yards short. Same can be said for the ensuing fourth down where the Mountaineers stopped Cozart short. It was a case of find ball, get ball.
--3rd and 8 with 1:51 from the KU 22: WVU dropped eight and the throw was there but the wide receiver couldn’t hold onto it and it resulted in another punt.
--Both true freshman Reese Donahue and redshirt sophomore Toyous Avery both got in the game quite a bit for some key snaps, especially Avery. The coaches said that they wanted to work him in more.
--In the first half I didn’t count a single missed tackle for the West Virginia defense. On the second possession for Kansas in the second half I counted three missed tackles.
--On the second series of the third quarter after the fumble, Kansas had a 15-yard run. That was their longest of the day if that gives you some perspective on how dominant the defense was in the first half.
--West Virginia brought an all-out blitz with a cover zero look on the long pass play to Barbel and he beat Jarrod Harper across the middle for a big chunk of yards.
--The second interception by Douglas, was with the Mountaineers dropping eight into coverage and the wide receiver attempted a double move but he stuck with him the entire time and it actually looked like the pass was intended for Douglas with how he was in such good position.
Special Teams:
--Still not sure how you get a taunting penalty on the opening kickoff that goes for a touchback. There wasn’t a clear replay on it, but it blows my mind that it actually happened. Kansas gonna Kansas.
--Saw more starters on the kickoff teams. After the opening field goal on the first drive, the Mountaineers had CB Rasul Douglas, FS Jeremy Tyler, CB Maurice Fleming and LB David Long on the team as well as LB Xavier Preston and some other key reserves.
--Thought the coverage teams were excellent in this game. Kansas had a lot of opportunities, but the Mountaineers did a good job of staying in their lanes and not allowing anything in the return game.
Formation Count with First team offense: 3 WR 1 FB 1 RB (22), 2 WR 1 TE 1 FB 1 RB (16), 4 WR 1 FB (9), I-formation (5), 4 WR 1 RB (5), Twin Stack 1 FB (3), Diamond (2), Goal Line Tight (2), 3 WR 2 RB (1) and WR (Diamond) 1 WR (1)
--West Virginia entered this game 102nd in the nation when it came to scoring touchdowns in the red zone and the first trip down there wasn’t good at all. Two runs, one where Howard took the ball laterally instead of up the field as it was designed and then a pass short of the sticks. After the impressive 40-yard grab, and let me say once again impressive job tracking the ball by redshirt junior Shelton Gibson, the Mountaineers squandered a golden opportunity on the first drive and settled for three.
--On the second possession after the pass interference, WVU used a unique formation with a diamond of wide receivers to the right of Howard and a single wide receiver to his left. At the snap three of the wide receivers head off in routes, while running back Justin Crawford at the bottom of the diamond stops for a quick screen pass and the same with Shelton Gibson on the single side stopping for a screen pass. But the misdirection is actually setting up a run as Tyler Orlosky is out front but Kansas reads the play well and holds it for no gain. The play didn’t work there but just another thing for defensive coordinators to look at and a lot of options in that play if they ever decide to go back to it in the future.
--After that the second possession was in complete reverse with Crawford busting on an attempted zone read which made it a situation where Howard had to take off and run for a loss. Then a sack after the defensive end simply beat redshirt freshman Colton McKivitz.
--West Virginia struggled to run the ball on its first three possessions with Kansas aggressively crowding the box, so the Mountaineers went to a big package with two wide receivers, a tight end and a full back and on the first big Kennedy McKoy 44-yard run it was excellent blocking across the board.
--To cap off that drive, West Virginia went away from the big formation on 3rd and 2 from the Kansas 22-yard line to a four-wide receiver look with Elijah Wellman flexed to the line of scrimmage giving the look that the Mountaineers would throw the football. The ball is snapped into a designed quarterback run and Wellman absolutely has the key block knocking the safety out of the play that came up to make the stop allowing Howard to waltz into the end zone untouched.
--I mentioned this in my observations but after film review it holds true. Redshirt junior Elijah Wellman was absolutely dominant in this game and was key in almost every big run that the Mountaineers had.
--Next drive you saw some classic I-formation. And West Virginia had major success running the football right at the Jayhawks for big chunks of yards. But again, another wrinkle. The Mountaineers lined up in the I-formation and sold the handoff hard to McKoy off the left side, but Howard would turn and flip the ball to redshirt junior Shelton Gibson on a reverse and from there his speed would take over. The Mountaineers had three blockers out front but Gibson was taken down by the last defender after a 25-yard gain. Sometimes you forget how fast some of these wide receivers are until you see these plays.
--Howard has done a much better job with the read plays this year on whether to give it or pull it. In the second quarter, he held the ball there for a long time but pulled it at the last minute from McKoy and was able to get down the sideline for a big chunk of yards. Not necessarily a look at one certain play but overall he is much better in that department when at times last year he appeared that he had already pre-determined with what he was going to do on any given play.
--On the goal line stand by Kansas it appeared that Howard scored on the third down play. On fourth down, West Virginia used the play it used against Kansas State handing the ball off to McKoy on the edge and it appeared that a hole was there if he cut it up. Instead he bounced it to the outside and was tackled short and the red zone woes continued for the Mountaineers.
--On the second Howard rushing touchdown, he fakes the handoff to Crawford and then takes off to the right side with Wellman in front. Of course, Wellman delivers the springing block and then he weaves through the defense to score from 33-yards out relatively untouched.
--The third touchdown of the day involved West Virginia with trips wide receivers to the field side and it was a nicely designed play. The outside two ran to the inside, while senior Daikiel Shorts ran the corner route from the inside spot and he beat his man to the spot for the touchdown catch.
--On the touchdown before the half, West Virginia used its twin stack wide receiver look with fullback Wellman flexed. On the play, Shelton Gibson was the underneath wide receiver on the left side and got a free release as Durante took off toward the middle. It was one on one coverage and Gibson simply won the battle and made a fantastic catch near the back of the end zone.
--On the Howard fumble, the defensive end wasn’t fooled on the zone read and just put a great hit on Howard but it appeared the ball was actually coming loose already.
--Crawford made a nice jump cut and then followed a seal by Tyler Orlosky and basically it was all him running to the end zone on his 27-yard touchdown run.
--The Second Gibson touchdown was just an example of the scramble drill being played out. Gibson ran all the way across the field and Howard found him and put a perfect pass to hit him as he sailed toward the sideline. It was very similar to what you saw against Kansas State, but longer.
--I’ve said it already but how good is Daikiel Shorts? He continues to make difficult catches look rather routine and is the absolute go to person on any critical situations.
--It wouldn’t have mattered because there was a penalty on the play that would have nullified it, but once again redshirt sophomore tight end Trevon Wesco had a pass thrown to him in the end zone. He didn’t hang onto the ball again but that’s two consecutive weeks that the Mountaineers have done that. It’s an interesting wrinkle here because Wesco has gotten some space he just hasn’t been able to reel in the ball. Since Tyler Urban graduated after 2011, West Virginia has 20 catches from the tight end spot.
Defense:
--Since this was really a case of being up 31-0 at halftime and the defense obviously relaxing a little bit I’m not going to focus too much on individual plays in the second half but here is a breakdown of all the third down plays from the first half of the game.
3rd downs: First quarter
--3rd and 2 with 11:57 from the WVU 46: Mountaineers blitz and bring six but the ball is out quickly on a short pattern to pick up the first down at the WVU 44.
--3rd and 23 with 10:24 from the KU 43: WVU blitzes with five and cornerback Rasul Douglas comes up to play press coverage as if it was cover 0 when he is actually supposed to be in cover 2. It didn’t matter, as the ball by Cozart was thrown almost directly to him and he was able to get his head around and make the interception. Those type of mistakes can get you beat at times, but here it’s better to be lucky.
3rd and 6 with 7:38 from the KU 19: WVU drops eight and the pass is thrown short, but defensive end Noble Nwachukwu chases the wide receiver down after flushing the quarterback initially.
3rd and 11 with 4:49 from the KU 41: WVU brought five and it was redshirt freshman Adam Shuler that applied the initial pressure that forced Cozart out of the pocket and he took off on a scramble falling two yards short. Kansas would elect to quick kick the ball on fourth down.
--Speaking of Shuler, every week I do this film review he has several plays that just stand out. West Virginia hasn’t had a lot of players with his size and athleticism off the edge and I think that he is in for a very bright future with the football program. He’s disruptive and really doesn’t quit on plays.
--3rd and 8 with 56 from the KU 44: WVU drops eight here and the pass is easily completed short of the sticks but before the wide receiver can shake the cornerback he slips and it’s another stop.
2nd quarter:
--3rd and 10 with 10:23 from the KU 2: Kansas elected to hand the ball off to get some room and was stopped short of the sticks.
--3rd and 4 with 7:25 from the KU 31: WVU blitzed here sent six here and the pressure almost got to Cozart off the edge from Kyzir White but he stood in the pocket and delivered a perfect throw down the sideline dropping right into Steven Sims hands for a 32-yards.
--3rd and 4 with 6:49 from the WVU 31: Kansas elected to run the football here and the Mountaineers split the gaps and stopped them two yards short. Same can be said for the ensuing fourth down where the Mountaineers stopped Cozart short. It was a case of find ball, get ball.
--3rd and 8 with 1:51 from the KU 22: WVU dropped eight and the throw was there but the wide receiver couldn’t hold onto it and it resulted in another punt.
--Both true freshman Reese Donahue and redshirt sophomore Toyous Avery both got in the game quite a bit for some key snaps, especially Avery. The coaches said that they wanted to work him in more.
--In the first half I didn’t count a single missed tackle for the West Virginia defense. On the second possession for Kansas in the second half I counted three missed tackles.
--On the second series of the third quarter after the fumble, Kansas had a 15-yard run. That was their longest of the day if that gives you some perspective on how dominant the defense was in the first half.
--West Virginia brought an all-out blitz with a cover zero look on the long pass play to Barbel and he beat Jarrod Harper across the middle for a big chunk of yards.
--The second interception by Douglas, was with the Mountaineers dropping eight into coverage and the wide receiver attempted a double move but he stuck with him the entire time and it actually looked like the pass was intended for Douglas with how he was in such good position.
Special Teams:
--Still not sure how you get a taunting penalty on the opening kickoff that goes for a touchback. There wasn’t a clear replay on it, but it blows my mind that it actually happened. Kansas gonna Kansas.
--Saw more starters on the kickoff teams. After the opening field goal on the first drive, the Mountaineers had CB Rasul Douglas, FS Jeremy Tyler, CB Maurice Fleming and LB David Long on the team as well as LB Xavier Preston and some other key reserves.
--Thought the coverage teams were excellent in this game. Kansas had a lot of opportunities, but the Mountaineers did a good job of staying in their lanes and not allowing anything in the return game.
