WVSports.com: Staff Predictions Week 4: Kansas State
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West Virginia will open the Big 12 Conference schedule in a few hours against Kansas State and that means it's weekly prediction time.
The WVSports.com staff, Keenan Cummings, Patrick Kotnik, Matt Keller, Anthony Krumpach and Vernon Bailey offer their final thoughts on the match up as well as their predictions for the game.
This will be a weekly feature where the performance of each picker will be tracked throughout the season both on wins and losses and actual point differential on the final results.
So who wins week four?
KC: When West Virginia meets up with Kansas State it's typically going to be a hard-fought close game as the 13-point differential between the two teams over the last four games could attest to. The Mountaineers will get Kansas State at home and are favored to get the job done. Considering the experience and expectations laid at the feet of this team, anything but a win here would be considered a major disappointment to start the Big 12 slate. The Mountaineers have enough offense and enough defense to get this one done at home.
West Virginia 34-17
MK: The initial challenge on the Big 12 docket has proven to be the new Maryland-style measuring stick for the Mountaineers. When West Virginia beats Kansas State, it is a combined 17-9 with two bowl bids in as many seasons. Lose, and WVU falls to a 26-25 over the four years of defeats in Big 12 play, with just one winning league record.
There's a clear talent discrepancy here, but Kansas State's tough, fundamentally-sound style is often difficult to defeat by large margins. These Wildcats remind a bit of West Virginia in the final years of Don Nehlen. They are a shell of what they once were, but still physically imposing defensively and dangerous enough to upset better teams. K State's blowout of UTSA proved little other than the close contest versus South Dakota was the on-par start for the program. Mississippi State dominated the 'Cats in stretches, and that was in Manhattan. There's a bigger bite of the apple to take in Morgantown, but West Virginia's extra prep time, home field and clear cut better overall team will prove too much. This one's close until the late third, when the Mountaineers take advantage of a beat up secondary to put up a couple scores and stroll to the win.
West Virginia 31-17
AK: West Virginia will struggle early against a good, but not deep KSU defense while Kansas State will run a ball control offense. Long drives will eat up clock along with a steady KSU running game. Still the Mountaineers will score on three of five first half possessions. The Wildcats will put up 10 points against a much better West Virginia defense that will bend but rarely break. By the second half WVU will make adjustments and break off long gains on quick drives in four of their next five drives, putting this game away.
This will force Kansas State to play a style they aren’t built for and they will stall offensively. Surprisingly you will see the second/third string offensive players in the final two drives of the game. I think West Virginia has another strong offensive game where they have well over 500 yards but this time only one drive where they leave points on the field due to self inflected mistakes. I think KSU has nearly 400 yards of offense but most come in the first half as they are able to control the time of possession early.
West Virginia 49-17
PK: Kansas State is certainly no easy task for West Virginia with the Mountaineers just barely pulling off their only two wins over the Wildcats since joining the Big 12 in back-to-back seasons.
The key for West Virginia will be getting off to a hot start, something the Mountaineers haven’t done in both of their games this season. If West Virginia is able to set the tone early on all three sides of the ball, protect the ball and create turnovers, then the team will find itself victorious over the Wildcats for the third straight season.
However, Bill Snyder’s team won’t go down without a fight, so I’m expecting Kansas State to make things interesting until late in the fourth quarter when West Virginia’s offense punches it in late to seal the game.
West Virginia 34-21
VB: Will this be the year that West Virginia finally finds their offense against Kansas State? I would think this is a great opportunity to do just that and we could see the Mountaineer offense scoring early and often.
The Wildcats will try to keep the Mountaineer offense on the sideline with their ball-control attack and Tony Gibson's group will need to find a way to stop the running game.
Will Grier should again have a big day and will spread the ball around to his receivers and backs. As the game goes on WVU will pull away for an important Big 12 win.
West Virginia 38-20
CURRENT STANDINGS:
1. Patrick Kotnik 2-0, 12 point differential
2. Matt Keller 2-0, 13 point differential
3. Vernon Bailey 2-0, 15 point differential
3. Anthony Krumpach 2-0, 15 point differential
5. Keenan Cummings 2-0, 20 point differential
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