Countdown to Kickoff is presented by Dan Ryan Builders.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia will try and keep winless Kansas winless when the two teams meet later today at Milan Puskar Stadium.
 
The Jayhawks (0-3) have dropped early-season games to Coastal Carolina, Baylor and Oklahoma State, and they are beginning to utilize more younger players in coach Les Miles' second season in Lawrence.
 
Fourteen true freshmen played in Kansas' most recent game, a 47-7 loss to Oklahoma State at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3.
 
True freshman Jalon Daniels got the start at quarterback, but junior Miles Kendrick replaced him in the second half and will get the starting nod against the Mountaineers this afternoon. Senior pocket passer Thomas MacVittie started the opener against Coastal Carolina, meaning WVU has had to spend time preparing for three different quarterbacks this week.
 
It has also had to spend a lot of time preparing for explosive tailback Pooka Williams, as well as downfield playmakers Andrew Parchment and Kwamie Lassiter II. Parchment caught five passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns in last year's game in Lawrence, while Lassiter also got into the end zone against the Mountaineer defense.
 
West Virginia (2-1) is coming off an impressive 27-21, double-overtime victory over Baylor in which junior Leddie Brown scored the game-winning touchdown in walk-off fashion.
 
The Philadelphia resident currently ranks 17^th in the country in rushing, averaging nearly 107 yards per game. He's topped 100 yards in two of his first three games this season and was 7 yards shy against Baylor of making it three-for-three.
 
Coach Neal Brown has been pleased with the progress the running game has made since last season, and now he wants to see a little more from a passing attack that averaged less than 6 yards per pass attempt against Baylor.
 
Junior quarterback Jarret Doege is completing a high percentage of his pass attempts, but most of those completions have been close to the line of scrimmage. Brown wants to see more downfield passes and more explosive plays from his young wide receiving corps that is now back at full strength.
 
"We do plan on playing more guys this weekend and the reps will probably be a little more evenly distributed than they were the last two games," he said. "I think we will play better. They've practiced much better."
 
Defensively, West Virginia is coming off an impressive performance two weeks ago against Baylor when it limited the Bears to just 15 first downs and 256 total yards.
 
Seniors Tony Fields II and Darius Stills and sophomore Tykee Smith are playing at an elite level right now.
 
"I thought our guys played extremely hard and extremely physical against Baylor," Brown said. "If you play hard and physical and you do what you're coached to do then we're going to have a chance every week. But we've got to continue to maintain that."
 
Game time is noon and the contest will be televised nationally on FOX.
 
Here is today's Countdown to Kickoff, presented by Smart 529:
 
10 – Junior quarterback Jarret Doege ranks TENTH nationally with an average of 23.0 completions per game.
 
9 – NINE different linebackers have seen action so far for West Virginia this season.
 
8 – The Mountaineers have won EIGHT out of nine all-time meetings against Kansas, including all five games in Morgantown.
 
7 – West Virginia's defense has only allowed SEVEN quarterbacks to pass for more than 300 yards in a game since 2017. No opposing quarterback has reached the 300-yard mark so far this season.
 
6 – The Mountaineer offense has had SIX scoring drives of 10 plays or more so far this season. Its longest was a 16-play, 96-yard touchdown drive in the season opener against Eastern Kentucky.
 
5 – West Virginia boasts 18 FIFTH-year seniors on the 2020 roster: Alonzo Addae, Chase Behrndt, Charlie Benton, Dante Bonamico, Michael Brown, Zach Davis, Lorenzo Dorr, Osman Kamara, Austin Kendall, Jake Long, Sean Mahone, Kyle Poland, Jeffrey Pooler Jr., T.J. Simmons, Evan Staley, Tyler Sumpter, Dylan Tonkery and Scottie Young.
 
4 – West Virginia's defense has generated FOUR turnovers so far, all interceptions. The Mountaineers have yet to recover a fumble in three games.

3 – Through THREE games, the Mountaineer rushing attack has generated 531 yards on the ground, the most since the 2017 season.
 
2 – West Virginia's defense allowed just TWO touchdowns during regulation in its last outing against Baylor.
 
1 – West Virginia currently ranks FIRST in the Big 12 in pass defense, total defense, red-zone defense and kickoff return defense. 
 
Enjoy the game and be sure to stop back afterward for complete postgame coverage.