West Virginia was no match for No. 17 Kansas State as the Wildcats beat the Mountaineers, 45-18 on Saturday night.
Staff writer Wesley Shoemaker picks out five things from the game yesterday that stood out and dives into each.
Ugly on Offense
Garrett Greene and the West Virginia offense never found a rhythm on Saturday and it was ugly from the beginning. West Virginia’s offense lacked cohesion and it had a lot to do with the accuracy of Greene. He completed nine of his 19 pass attempts (47.4%), including a pair of first-half interceptions, one being a pick-six.
Greene missed receivers all night long and WVU’s best offense was him scrambling. He took many big hits leading to him missing the entirety of the second half. Greene struggled to see the open man and his lack of consistent protection didn’t help either.
Greene’s toughness can’t be questioned, but his play at quarterback on Saturday was poor.
Secondary Struggles Some More
For the second week in a row, the West Virginia defense gave up a big play. This time it was a 60-yard touchdown pass a K-State receiver just ran past the Mountaineer defense.
West Virginia’s secondary allowed Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson to do whatever he wanted to them. He passed for a season-high in yards and threw three touchdowns. Kansas State had eight plays of at least 15 or more yards through the air, accounting for 221 of their 298 passing yards.
West Virginia’s defense came into Saturday with the 13th-ranked passing defense in the Big 12 and it didn’t get any better.
Offensive Line Outplayed
WVU’s offensive line had been a position group that had a strong start to the season, but they had a bad day on Saturday.
They allowed eight tackles for loss and two sacks and had multiple holding calls against them. WVU’s o-line seemed to be the more physical unit against most teams they played all season. On Saturday night, they were the ones that were bullied up front as it seemed as every other play a K-State defender was in the backfield.
The interior of the WVU o-line didn’t play their best game by any means and it showed all night long.
Second Half Woes
At halftime, West Virginia had outplayed Kansas State on the stat sheet even though the scoreboard didn’t reflect that. In the second half, Kansas State outplayed WVU on the stat sheet and the scoreboard reflected that.
At the half, West Virginia had 231 total yards of offense. In the entire second half, West Virginia had 64 total yards on five drives.
On defense, WVU held Kansas State to 152 total yards of offense in the first half, but that number was 260 in the second half, also averaging 7.2 yards per play. Kansas State finished the game with 412 total yards of offense, while the Mountaineers finished with 294.
Now What?
No one in the building and most out of it did not think West Virginia would be at 3-4 through seven games. It’s a tough spot to be in after they were 2-0 in Big 12 play and riding high with back-to-back night games on the schedule against ranked opponents. They lost those two games by a combined 39 points.
The Mountaineers are now 3-17 against ranked teams under Neal Brown and have lost their last nine against ranked teams. It’s not a great feeling for anyone in Morgantown, especially with the hype that surrounded this team just two short months ago.
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