West Virginia drops Big 12 opener to Kansas 55-42
West Virginia was stunned at home by Kansas 55-42 in front of 52,188 on a rainy Saturday inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Mountaineers rallied to tie the game late but were unable to hold in overtime and then the offense would turn the ball over. It is the first home loss under Kansas and the first for the program since 2013. It was a game marred by mistakes and miscues by the Mountaineers, while the defense couldn't generate stops.
Junior quarterback JT Daniels was 28-40 for 355 yards and 3 touchdowns and an interception with 11 for 152 and 2 of those scores going to Bryce Ford-Wheaton.
West Virginia opened the scoring in a hurry taking the opening kickoff 75-yards in only 4 plays capped off by a 59-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open James for an early 7-0 lead with 13:19 left in the first quarter. After a first down, the Mountaineers would get the football back at their own 40.
The Mountaineers would quickly move the ball deep into Kansas territory, converting on a fourth and three on a pass to Ford-Wheaton to set the ball up at the 20-yard line. The offense would punch the ball into the end zone on the second drive with a one yard run by Donaldson to take a 14-0 lead with 5:03 remaining in the first quarter of the contest.
The Jayhawks would respond with a 79-yard touchdown drive of their own which included a fourth down conversion. The Kansas offense was able to hit a number of chunk plays and capped things off with a wide-open touchdown toss to tight end Mason Fairchild from six yards out.
West Virginia would make it three touchdowns in three drives with another quick strike four play drive that was punctuated with a 67-yard touchdown pass on a screen to Ford-Wheaton.
The game would take on a seesaw like back and forth as Kansas would respond with a 75-yard drive of their own capped off by a six-yard direct snap to Devin Neal. The Mountaineers defense struggled to stop the dual threat ability of Daniels allowing the Jayhawks to cut the lead to 21-14 with 8:26 left.
The West Virginia offense would again move the ball deep into the Jayhawks territory with Daniels throwing his first incompletion after connecting on his first 11 throws. A pair of face mask calls helped to set the offense up at the 21-yard line and the offense would convert on the second touchdown toss of the game to Ford-Wheaton to put the lead at 28-14.
The Jayhawks offense would answer yet again to cut the score to 28-21 with 29 seconds left in the half with a touchdown toss to Devin Neal from 17-yards out.
Kansas would open the second half with the ball and continue offensive momentum taking the ball 75-yards with relative ease to put the score at 28-all with 11:32 left in the third quarter. Again, Daniels kept the Mountaineers completely off balance.
The Jayhawks would record their first stop on the ensuing drive and get the football with a chance to take the lead with 8:36 left in the half. The Mountaineers defense would get a stop, but Reese Smith would fumble the football on the punt.
Kansas would take their first lead of the contest 35-28 with 4 minutes remaining in the third after capitalizing on the turnover on a 2-yard touchdown run by Neal.
The Mountaineers would cut the lead to 35-31 with 12:58 left after a 27-yard field goal. It was a 65-yard drive, but stalled in the red zone.
But the Jayhawks would score once more on yet another easy touchdown drive capped off by a 30-yard run by Hishaw to take a 42-31 lead with 10:59 remaining to play.
West Virginia would respond with a nice drive of its own to cut the deficit to 42-34 as the offense would once again get inside the red zone but settle for a field goal.
The defense would get a stop, giving the offense one final opportunity to tie the football game. The Mountaineers would move the football down to the one-yard line and then Donaldson would plunge it to make the score 42-40 after driving 85 yards. Then the Mountaineers would convert on the two-point play to even things up at 42-all with 35 seconds left.
Kansas was stopped on third down on the first possession in overtime, but a personal foul extended the drive to set the Jayhawks up at the 10. From there, Kansas would score three plays later to take a 49-42 lead in overtime.
The Mountaineers would then throw a pick six to end the game 55-42.
The Mountaineers will play Towson at home next Saturday at 1 p.m.
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