West Virginia won the stat sheet, but Kansas State won the only stat the counts – the scoreboard. Again. The Wildcats overcame a 13-3 halftime deficit to defeat West Virginia, 24-23, on Senior Day for the Wildcats at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas.
K-State was outgained, 447-304, had seven fewer first downs, was using a wide receiver at quarterback for almost the entire second half and still found a way to defeat West Virginia for the fourth consecutive time since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 Conference in 2012.
One year it was total domination by the Wildcats on both sides of the ball, another time it was a punishing K-State ground game that was WVU’s undoing, and last year, it was a 400-yard passing performance from Jake Waters.
Today, K-State used the sometimes forgotten phase of the game – special teams - to become bowl eligible for the 17th time under veteran coach Bill Snyder.
“The guys are pretty hurt in there," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. "This is a game that we had circled that we wanted to get a win. Hats off to Coach Snyder because of what all he does and how much I respect him."
After doing virtually nothing offensively in the first half, K-State got the spark it needed on the opening kickoff of the second half when Morgan Burns returned Nick O’Toole’s boot 67 yards to the West Virginia 33.
Starting quarterback Joe Hubener, who completed just six of 19 passes for 85 yards in the first half, was injured during his four-yard run to begin the third quarter. In came senior wide receiver Cody Cook, who immediately lofted a soft pass down the middle of the field to tight end Kyle Klein for 17 yards to the Mountaineer 12. Then it took only took three plays, all Cook runs, to get K-State its first touchdown of the game and reduce West Virginia’s lead to 13-10.
After holding West Virginia to a three-and-out possession following the kickoff, Cook wound up his right arm from the 23 and fired a 77-yard touchdown pass to Deante Burton, who beat Daryl Worley to the flag for Kansas State’s longest scoring play through the air this season.
And just like that, in a snap of a finger, a two-possession halftime lead for the Mountaineers had turned into a 17-13 deficit.
West Virginia did answer two possessions later when Wendell Smallwood capped an eight-play, 61-yard drive by going in from the 14 to make it 20-17. WVU extended its lead to 23-17 early in the fourth quarter when Josh Lambert kicked his third field goal of the game, this one going through from 28 yards out.
But on the ensuing kickoff, O’Toole once again sent the ball to Mr. Burton, who took it on his own three and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown. Matthew McCrane’s conversion made the score 24-23, and the Wildcat defense made that stand up.
The key moment in the game came late in the fourth quarter when West Virginia had the ball on its own 47, facing a fourth and one with 2:33 left in the game. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers were unable to keep the drive alive when Howard was thrown for a one-yard loss, giving the ball to the Wildcats with 2:28 to go. Then, on third and seven at the WVU 42, Cook completed a 14-yard pass to Burton, giving K-State a new set of downs at the 28.
Kansas State ran off all but one second of the clock and on the final play of the game, Howard’s long pass to Shelton Gibson fell incomplete as time expired.
Cook completed only four of his 12 pass attempts, but all four were critical and accounted for 121 yards. The Wildcats also managed just 98 yards on 49 rushes, but they more than made up for it on special teams.
"I shook number nineteen’s [Cook] hand out there and told him he is a gutsy kid," said Hoilgorsen, "He was hurt too but battled through it and threw the ball a lot better than we thought he could. If you want to pinpoint something other than special teams it is when Cook came in there because he made a ton of plays."
Burton returned three kickoffs for 201 yards, and the K-State special teams also was responsible for three additional points in the first quarter. Gary Jennings’ fumbled punt return put McCrane into position to kick a 40-yard field goal to tie the game, his kick answering Lambert’s 45-yard field goal, which began today’s scoring.
The only first half touchdown came on a Howard-to-Jovon Durante 24-yard pass in the back of the end zone with 2:36 remaining in the second quarter.
The Mountaineers, who had won consecutive games against Texas Tech, Texas, Kansas and Iowa State by utilizing a punishing ground attack, chose to go to the air this afternoon and completed only 19 of 42 attempts for 281 yards.
Several times, WVU tried passes down the field against single coverage, as it did in losses to Baylor and TCU, and once again the Mountaineers were unable to complete them for the most part.
Smallwood ran for 141 yards on 25 carries, but he fell short of Texas Tech’s DeAndre Washington by a mere eight yards for the Big 12 rushing title. Washington finished the regular season with 1,455 yards to Smallwood’s 1,447.
Senior Jordan Thompson led WVU with five catches for 127 yards in his last regular season game for WVU, while Daikiel Shorts Jr. contributed seven catches for 68 yards.
Today’s defeat ends the momentum WVU gained from its recent November winning streak as West Virginia could have become the first team in 38 years to begin a conference season 0-3 and end it with a winning record.
Now, the 7-5 Mountaineers turn their attention to an upcoming bowl game, most likely either the Liberty or Cactus.
An announcement will be made on Sunday.
