Much has been made of West Virginia’s switch to a four-down look on defense. Rightly so. Having predominantly played three-down looks for most of the 2019 season, Vic Koenning made the switch to this package. It’s not like this was new to him, with the defensive coordinator regularly employing the approach at Troy.

Like with the Trojans, it worked for the Mountaineers. “We did a good job keeping their run game in check,” Neal Brown told the media post-game. This was reflected in the totals. WVU held a Kansas State rushing attack that had rushed for 213 yards on Oklahoma’s defense to just 122 yards on the ground off 38 carries.

The diverse ground game of the Wildcats isn’t just a strength of their current attack; it’s the identity of their entire offense, what Head Coach Chris Klieman is notorious for. “To hold up with the run, and also I felt like it gave us an opportunity to get our best 11 out there,” was Brown’s reasoning for the switch. 3.2 yards per carry suggests it worked.