Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Countdown to Kickoff - Iowa State
October 13, 2018 12:00 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – No one needs to remind West Virginia the last time it went on the road undefeated with a top-10 ranking.
That one back in 2012 didn't turn out too well for the good guys down in Lubbock, Texas.
Well, West Virginia is once again putting its unblemished record and gaudy No. 6 national ranking on the line against 2-3 Iowa State under the lights at Jack Trice Stadium.
The Mountaineers can expect a capacity crowd and possibly an Iowa State team decked out in all black uniforms in a matchup that now has its own hashtag (#WinInTheDark).
"We're excited about a night game," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said earlier this week. "We better get used to it because we've got a bunch of them ahead of us, so it will be good to get into a night-game routine."
The Cyclones are hoping to shine a light on a West Virginia team that has yet to trail in a game it's played this season, the Mountaineers jumping out to early leads and holding on to win against Tennessee, Youngstown State, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Kansas.
Some such as Associated Press college football writer Ralph Russo believe the Mountaineers are "overheated" and are poised to cool off. Others are also questioning West Virginia, such as ESPN college football analyst David Pollack.
Can the Mountaineers put together four consistent quarters of offensive football?
Has Heisman Trophy contender Will Grier gotten those red zone interceptions out of his system?
Can the West Virginia defense slow down Iowa State's super freshman Brock Purdy, who transformed Oklahoma State's defense into air in 402-yard total offensive performance – the eighth-best effort in Iowa State history.
Not too bad for a dude playing his first-ever college game, by the way.
And then there also remains the possibility that sixth-year senior Kyle Kempt will be available for tonight's game, giving veteran defensive coordinator Tony Gibson even more video tape to peruse.
BP (Before Purdy) Iowa State's offense was stuck in idle. The Cyclones ranked 123rdout of 130 college football teams in total offense and 122ndin points per game heading into the Oklahoma State game.
And then Purdy came out for the second series and went all Joe Montana on the Cowboys, marching Iowa State up and down the field like they were the '87 San Francisco 49ers.
Purdy completed 18-of-23 passes for 318 yards and also rushed 19 times for 84 yards and another score in Iowa State's 48-42 victory. The 48 points were more than half what Iowa State scored in its first four games against Iowa, Oklahoma, Akron and TCU, one win and three losses.
But one game doesn't make a trend, and Oklahoma State's defense certainly doesn't look like the second coming of the Steel Curtain after the way it played in recent losses to Texas Tech and Iowa State.
And Gibson should have enough information on Purdy from last Saturday's game to avoid another Jett Duffey repeat.
On the other side of the ball, West Virginia is expecting lots more of the "double-cloud" coverage defenses are now using to slow down Grier's passing.
The Mountaineers saw it in the second half of the Texas Tech game and they saw it throughout last Saturday's Kansas game when the Jayhawks came up with three red-zone interceptions, keeping a 38-22 defeat from becoming a 59-22 beat down.
"I think a lot of teams are starting to do that," West Virginia offensive coordinator Jake Spavital admitted earlier this week. "So, we're getting good reps at it is the way I look at it."
Much like at Texas Tech two weeks ago, West Virginia got all of its points in last year's 20-16 victory over the Cyclones in the first half. A repeat tonight, however, will not bode well for a Mountaineer team looking to remain alone atop the Big 12 standings.
Iowa State has a history of knocking off nationally ranked opponents at home, and it is doing it more frequently under third-year coach Matt Campbell, who is now 4-2 versus ranked teams in his last six games at Iowa State.
The Cyclones went on the road and won at No. 3 Oklahoma last year, and they also show recent wins over nationally ranked TCU, Memphis and Oklahoma State.
They would love nothing better than to make West Virginia ranked victim No. 5.
"They came (into Morgantown) hot last year, and I thought our team played really well against them," Holgorsen said. "It's the same type team, same scheme, same players. They'll pose a lot of the same problems that they did last year.
"They'll play hard, and we're going to have to play hard for four quarters in order to give ourselves a chance to win," Holgorsen concluded.
Saturday's game will kick off at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Holly Sonders).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at 2:30 p.m. leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 6 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Here is tonight's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – TEN different Mountaineer players have caught touchdown passes so far this year. Last year, just five players caught all 37 of West Virginia's touchdown passes.
9 – Evan Staley's 49-yard field goal was one yard shy of putting him in an exclusive group of NINE West Virginia University place kickers who have successfully booted a 50-yard field goal in a game. The last one to do it was Mike Molina against Baylor in 2016.
8 – EIGHT different defensive linemen played in last Saturday's 38-22 victory over Kansas. In all, 24 different defensive players got on the field against the Jayhawks.
7 – The Mountaineers have produced SEVEN defensive touchdowns since 2015, including Keith Washington Jr.'s 51-yard interception return at Texas Tech earlier this season.
6 – Five of West Virginia's SIX longest offensive plays from scrimmage this year have been Will Grier passes, four of them going for touchdowns. The lone run was made by Leddie Brown (47 yards versus Kansas).
5 – West Virginia has FIVE games to begin a season for the third time under Dana Holgorsen, the other two times coming in 2012 and 2016.
4 – Quarterback Will Grier needs two touchdown passes to move past Pat White into FOURTH place in career TD passes with 56. Grier's 55 touchdown passes have come in just 16 career games.
3 – The Mountaineers have had just THREE red-zone failures in 23 opportunities, all three coming in last week's victory over Kansas.
2 – Freshman Leddie Brown produced his SECOND 100-yard rushing performance last week against Kansas, running for 107 yards on just 11 attempts against the Jayhawks. He leads the team with 296 yards and three touchdowns.
1 – The Mountaineers continue to rank FIRST in scoring defense in the Big 12 allowing just 18.6 points per game.
Enjoy tonight's game and be sure to stop back for complete postgame coverage.
That one back in 2012 didn't turn out too well for the good guys down in Lubbock, Texas.
Well, West Virginia is once again putting its unblemished record and gaudy No. 6 national ranking on the line against 2-3 Iowa State under the lights at Jack Trice Stadium.
The Mountaineers can expect a capacity crowd and possibly an Iowa State team decked out in all black uniforms in a matchup that now has its own hashtag (#WinInTheDark).
"We're excited about a night game," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said earlier this week. "We better get used to it because we've got a bunch of them ahead of us, so it will be good to get into a night-game routine."
The Cyclones are hoping to shine a light on a West Virginia team that has yet to trail in a game it's played this season, the Mountaineers jumping out to early leads and holding on to win against Tennessee, Youngstown State, Kansas State, Texas Tech and Kansas.
Some such as Associated Press college football writer Ralph Russo believe the Mountaineers are "overheated" and are poised to cool off. Others are also questioning West Virginia, such as ESPN college football analyst David Pollack.
Can the Mountaineers put together four consistent quarters of offensive football?
Has Heisman Trophy contender Will Grier gotten those red zone interceptions out of his system?
Can the West Virginia defense slow down Iowa State's super freshman Brock Purdy, who transformed Oklahoma State's defense into air in 402-yard total offensive performance – the eighth-best effort in Iowa State history.
Not too bad for a dude playing his first-ever college game, by the way.
And then there also remains the possibility that sixth-year senior Kyle Kempt will be available for tonight's game, giving veteran defensive coordinator Tony Gibson even more video tape to peruse.
BP (Before Purdy) Iowa State's offense was stuck in idle. The Cyclones ranked 123rdout of 130 college football teams in total offense and 122ndin points per game heading into the Oklahoma State game.
And then Purdy came out for the second series and went all Joe Montana on the Cowboys, marching Iowa State up and down the field like they were the '87 San Francisco 49ers.
Purdy completed 18-of-23 passes for 318 yards and also rushed 19 times for 84 yards and another score in Iowa State's 48-42 victory. The 48 points were more than half what Iowa State scored in its first four games against Iowa, Oklahoma, Akron and TCU, one win and three losses.
But one game doesn't make a trend, and Oklahoma State's defense certainly doesn't look like the second coming of the Steel Curtain after the way it played in recent losses to Texas Tech and Iowa State.
And Gibson should have enough information on Purdy from last Saturday's game to avoid another Jett Duffey repeat.
On the other side of the ball, West Virginia is expecting lots more of the "double-cloud" coverage defenses are now using to slow down Grier's passing.
The Mountaineers saw it in the second half of the Texas Tech game and they saw it throughout last Saturday's Kansas game when the Jayhawks came up with three red-zone interceptions, keeping a 38-22 defeat from becoming a 59-22 beat down.
"I think a lot of teams are starting to do that," West Virginia offensive coordinator Jake Spavital admitted earlier this week. "So, we're getting good reps at it is the way I look at it."
Much like at Texas Tech two weeks ago, West Virginia got all of its points in last year's 20-16 victory over the Cyclones in the first half. A repeat tonight, however, will not bode well for a Mountaineer team looking to remain alone atop the Big 12 standings.
Iowa State has a history of knocking off nationally ranked opponents at home, and it is doing it more frequently under third-year coach Matt Campbell, who is now 4-2 versus ranked teams in his last six games at Iowa State.
The Cyclones went on the road and won at No. 3 Oklahoma last year, and they also show recent wins over nationally ranked TCU, Memphis and Oklahoma State.
They would love nothing better than to make West Virginia ranked victim No. 5.
"They came (into Morgantown) hot last year, and I thought our team played really well against them," Holgorsen said. "It's the same type team, same scheme, same players. They'll pose a lot of the same problems that they did last year.
"They'll play hard, and we're going to have to play hard for four quarters in order to give ourselves a chance to win," Holgorsen concluded.
Saturday's game will kick off at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised nationally on FS1 (Tim Brando, Spencer Tillman and Holly Sonders).
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at 2:30 p.m. leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 6 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Here is tonight's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – TEN different Mountaineer players have caught touchdown passes so far this year. Last year, just five players caught all 37 of West Virginia's touchdown passes.
9 – Evan Staley's 49-yard field goal was one yard shy of putting him in an exclusive group of NINE West Virginia University place kickers who have successfully booted a 50-yard field goal in a game. The last one to do it was Mike Molina against Baylor in 2016.
8 – EIGHT different defensive linemen played in last Saturday's 38-22 victory over Kansas. In all, 24 different defensive players got on the field against the Jayhawks.
7 – The Mountaineers have produced SEVEN defensive touchdowns since 2015, including Keith Washington Jr.'s 51-yard interception return at Texas Tech earlier this season.
6 – Five of West Virginia's SIX longest offensive plays from scrimmage this year have been Will Grier passes, four of them going for touchdowns. The lone run was made by Leddie Brown (47 yards versus Kansas).
5 – West Virginia has FIVE games to begin a season for the third time under Dana Holgorsen, the other two times coming in 2012 and 2016.
4 – Quarterback Will Grier needs two touchdown passes to move past Pat White into FOURTH place in career TD passes with 56. Grier's 55 touchdown passes have come in just 16 career games.
3 – The Mountaineers have had just THREE red-zone failures in 23 opportunities, all three coming in last week's victory over Kansas.
2 – Freshman Leddie Brown produced his SECOND 100-yard rushing performance last week against Kansas, running for 107 yards on just 11 attempts against the Jayhawks. He leads the team with 296 yards and three touchdowns.
1 – The Mountaineers continue to rank FIRST in scoring defense in the Big 12 allowing just 18.6 points per game.
Enjoy tonight's game and be sure to stop back for complete postgame coverage.
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