Countdown to Kickoff - Kansas State
September 22, 2018 10:00 AM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – It's a Stripe-the-Stadium game today against Kansas State, and it's also the Big 12 opener for the Mountaineers and Wildcats.
For K-State, it's the fourth game of the season following victories over South Dakota and UTSA and a 31-10 loss to now 14th-ranked Mississippi State.
It looks like Kansas State (2-1) has settled on sophomore Skylar Thompson as its starting quarterback after using Thompson and sophomore Alex Delton in the first two games.
Thompson is coming off a 213-yard, two-touchdown passing performance in K-State's 41-17 win over UTSA, hooking up with Isaiah Zuber seven times for 144 yards and both scores.
"We know about the two quarterbacks," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said earlier this week. "We'll be ready for both."
The Kansas State rushing attack accounted for 164 yards last Saturday but has had trouble holding onto the football in its first three games, coughing it up seven times and losing four.
The K-State defense has also struggled to stop the running game so far, allowing Mississippi State to rush for 384 yards in week two and surrendering more than 200 yards per game on the ground this season.
A couple of key defensive players were missing in last week's win against UTSA, including starting strong safety Denzel Goolsby, although he is still listed on the Kansas State depth chart for Saturday's game.
"Defensively, they're pretty much like they always have," Holgorsen said. "They've always been a four-down front; they've always done a great job with their technique up front as far as rushing the passer.
"Their linebackers make plays and their secondary will be our biggest challenge yet, by far," Holgorsen pointed out.
West Virginia, meanwhile, had an unexpected weekend off when North Carolina took a direct hit from Hurricane Florence. The 12th-ranked Mountaineers' Sept. 15 date at NC State was canceled on Tuesday prior, enabling West Virginia to turn its attention to Kansas State.
Holgorsen's healthy and well-rested Mountaineers should be eager to get back onto the field this Saturday after early-season blowout wins against Tennessee and Youngstown State.
"I'm probably going to have to calm my guys down," Holgorsen said earlier this week. "Just because we weren't able to play last week doesn't mean we can't get overexcited, which we need to go there and prepare to play for what I think will be a great day (today)."
These two teams have played very close games since 2014, with the largest margin of victory being Kansas State's six-point win that year. Three years ago, Kansas State won by one, two years ago West Virginia by one and last year, the Mountaineers by five points.
That's a total margin of 13 points in those four games, meaning today's game could be another nail-biting affair.
Prior to the 3:30 kickoff, West Virginia University will induct its 28thHall of Fame Class at the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility at 12:30 p.m. This year's 11-member class includes Mountaineer football standouts Pat White, Steve Slaton, Avon Cobourne, Larry Krutko and Tom Keane.
The general public is welcome to attend and admission is free.
ESPN (Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky and Paul Carcaterra) will televise the contest nationally.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at noon leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 2:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – Quarterback Will Grier passed for more than 300 yards against Youngstown State (332) for the TENTH time in his 13 career starts at WVU.
9 – West Virginia's defensive is coming off a NINE-TACKLE FOR LOSS performance against Youngstown State two weeks ago. In two games so far, the defense has produced 21 TFLs, ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 6 nationally in that category this week.
8 – The Mountaineer offense has scored at least 21 points in a quarter against EIGHT different opponents since the beginning of 2017 – 11 times overall.
7 – Punter Billy Kinney now ranks SEVENTH in school history in career punting average (41.4).
6 – The Mountaineer offense has failed to score on only SIX of its first 21 drives this year.
5 – The 12th-ranked Mountaineers have jumped FIVE spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll since the preseason when they began the year No. 17.
4 – West Virginia's last FOUR games with Kansas State have been decided by a mere 13 points. The Mountaineers have won two and Kansas State has won two.
3 – Senior wide receiver Gary Jennings Jr. is coming off a career-best THREE touchdown-catch performance against Youngstown State two weeks ago. He already shows four TD catches this year, three more than he had all of 2017.
2 – TWO offensive players made their first career starts in the Youngstown State victory – right guard Chase Behrndt and running back Alec Sinkfield.
1 – West Virginia wide receivers have ONE multiple-100-yard performance so far this year with David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr. topping the century mark in the opener against Tennessee.
Enjoy today's game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
For K-State, it's the fourth game of the season following victories over South Dakota and UTSA and a 31-10 loss to now 14th-ranked Mississippi State.
It looks like Kansas State (2-1) has settled on sophomore Skylar Thompson as its starting quarterback after using Thompson and sophomore Alex Delton in the first two games.
Thompson is coming off a 213-yard, two-touchdown passing performance in K-State's 41-17 win over UTSA, hooking up with Isaiah Zuber seven times for 144 yards and both scores.
"We know about the two quarterbacks," West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said earlier this week. "We'll be ready for both."
The Kansas State rushing attack accounted for 164 yards last Saturday but has had trouble holding onto the football in its first three games, coughing it up seven times and losing four.
The K-State defense has also struggled to stop the running game so far, allowing Mississippi State to rush for 384 yards in week two and surrendering more than 200 yards per game on the ground this season.
A couple of key defensive players were missing in last week's win against UTSA, including starting strong safety Denzel Goolsby, although he is still listed on the Kansas State depth chart for Saturday's game.
"Defensively, they're pretty much like they always have," Holgorsen said. "They've always been a four-down front; they've always done a great job with their technique up front as far as rushing the passer.
"Their linebackers make plays and their secondary will be our biggest challenge yet, by far," Holgorsen pointed out.
West Virginia, meanwhile, had an unexpected weekend off when North Carolina took a direct hit from Hurricane Florence. The 12th-ranked Mountaineers' Sept. 15 date at NC State was canceled on Tuesday prior, enabling West Virginia to turn its attention to Kansas State.
Holgorsen's healthy and well-rested Mountaineers should be eager to get back onto the field this Saturday after early-season blowout wins against Tennessee and Youngstown State.
"I'm probably going to have to calm my guys down," Holgorsen said earlier this week. "Just because we weren't able to play last week doesn't mean we can't get overexcited, which we need to go there and prepare to play for what I think will be a great day (today)."
These two teams have played very close games since 2014, with the largest margin of victory being Kansas State's six-point win that year. Three years ago, Kansas State won by one, two years ago West Virginia by one and last year, the Mountaineers by five points.
That's a total margin of 13 points in those four games, meaning today's game could be another nail-biting affair.
Prior to the 3:30 kickoff, West Virginia University will induct its 28thHall of Fame Class at the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility at 12:30 p.m. This year's 11-member class includes Mountaineer football standouts Pat White, Steve Slaton, Avon Cobourne, Larry Krutko and Tom Keane.
The general public is welcome to attend and admission is free.
ESPN (Clay Matvick, Dan Orlovsky and Paul Carcaterra) will televise the contest nationally.
The Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG's pregame coverage begins with the Go-Mart Mountaineer Tailgate Show (Dan Zangrilli, Dale Wolfley and Jed Drenning) at noon leading into regular game coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Drenning at 2:30 p.m. on affiliates throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the mobile app TuneIn.
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff:
10 – Quarterback Will Grier passed for more than 300 yards against Youngstown State (332) for the TENTH time in his 13 career starts at WVU.
9 – West Virginia's defensive is coming off a NINE-TACKLE FOR LOSS performance against Youngstown State two weeks ago. In two games so far, the defense has produced 21 TFLs, ranking No. 2 in the Big 12 and No. 6 nationally in that category this week.
8 – The Mountaineer offense has scored at least 21 points in a quarter against EIGHT different opponents since the beginning of 2017 – 11 times overall.
7 – Punter Billy Kinney now ranks SEVENTH in school history in career punting average (41.4).
6 – The Mountaineer offense has failed to score on only SIX of its first 21 drives this year.
5 – The 12th-ranked Mountaineers have jumped FIVE spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll since the preseason when they began the year No. 17.
4 – West Virginia's last FOUR games with Kansas State have been decided by a mere 13 points. The Mountaineers have won two and Kansas State has won two.
3 – Senior wide receiver Gary Jennings Jr. is coming off a career-best THREE touchdown-catch performance against Youngstown State two weeks ago. He already shows four TD catches this year, three more than he had all of 2017.
2 – TWO offensive players made their first career starts in the Youngstown State victory – right guard Chase Behrndt and running back Alec Sinkfield.
1 – West Virginia wide receivers have ONE multiple-100-yard performance so far this year with David Sills V and Gary Jennings Jr. topping the century mark in the opener against Tennessee.
Enjoy today's game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
P
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ FootballCoach Pat Kirkland | April 15
Thursday, April 16
Andrew Powdrell | April 15
Wednesday, April 15
Coach Rich Rodriguez | April 15
Wednesday, April 15
Mic'd Up with Coach Rich Rodriguez
Wednesday, April 15
