MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The old grads will be returning to campus this weekend to join the young lads as part of the 94^th homecoming festivities taking place surrounding Saturday night's football game against 17^th-ranked Kansas State.
 
The two teams will hook up in a 7:30 p.m. clash that will be televised nationally on FOX.
 
This marks the second time the Wildcats have been West Virginia's homecoming foe since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12 in 2012, and that first occasion in 2016 was one to remember as WVU rallied from 13 points down in the second half to upset the Wildcats 17-16.
 
The Mountaineer defense limited Kansas State to just 108 yards of offense in the second half and a third-quarter field goal in the come-from-behind victory.
 
A similar defensive effort might be in order this Saturday night against a stingy Wildcat team that ranks second nationally against the run allowing just 71.7 yards per game. K-State also ranks 15^th in the country averaging three sacks per contest. 
 
"Running the football is going to be critical this Saturday on both sides," West Virginia coach Neal Brown explained. "Who can establish the run in this game?"
 
Ten different Kansas State players have gotten to the quarterback so far this year, but Brendan Mott, a 6-foot-5, 244-pound senior defensive end from Iowa City, Iowa, has the most with 6½ sacks. Mott also shows eight tackles for loss and 23 total stops through six games.
 
Austin Romaine, a 6-foot-2, 242-pound middle linebacker from Hillsboro, Missouri, leads the Wildcats with 39 tackles, including 24 solos. He also shows four tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, two sacks and a forced fumble.
 
Other productive playmakers on the K-State defense include cornerback Jacob Parrish with 28 tackles, a pick, a pass breakup and a tackle for loss; weakside linebacker Austin Moore with 23 tackles, 2½ tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and a sack and strong safety VJ Payne with 20 tackles, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and a team-best two interceptions.
 
Parrish was one of four defensive backs to get injured on one drive during last week's comeback win at Colorado and was the only one who didn't return. Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said no player has been ruled out so far for the Mountaineers this Saturday, though.
 
"We probably got better news on a couple of the guys, but probably closer to (today) before we know," Klieman said earlier this week. "But I anticipate everybody having a really good shot to play."
 
On the other side of the ball, Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson took a shot to his left hip on the opening possession of the second half before returning to complete the drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown, giving K-State a 21-7 lead.
 
Johnson, a long-haired, 6-foot-2, 192-pound sophomore from Wichita, Kansas, is considered among the fastest quarterbacks in the country and has helped Kansas State rush for an average of 241 yards per game, eighth-best in the nation this week.
 
Johnson told reporters on Monday that his hip was fine, and he would be ready to go on Saturday against West Virginia. He has rushed for 306 yards and three touchdowns and is completing 61.7% of his passes for 1,103 yards and 11 scores.
 
DJ Giddens, a 6-foot-1, 212-pound junior from Junction City, Kansas, leads the Big 12 in rushing this week with 786 yards, including a season-high 187 yards against Oklahoma State late last month. Giddens had 182 yards on 25 carries last Saturday at Colorado and ran for a career-high 207 yards with four touchdowns in a home win last year against UCF.
 
Dylan Edwards, a 5-foot-9, 167-pound speedster from Derby, Kansas, provides yet another backfield threat with 222 yards and an average of 6.2 yards per rush.
 
"They are built to run the football on offense, and they're built to stop the run on defense," Brown said.
 
Jayce Brown, a 6-foot, 179-pounder from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, is one of four receivers with more than 10 catches so far this year. The sophomore has caught a team-best 23 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 17.3 yards per reception.
 
Keagan Johnson, a 6-foot, 206-pounder from Bellevue, Nebraska, is second on the team with 14 receptions for 161 yards.
 
On special teams, Edwards has returned one punt for a 71-yard touchdown and is averaging an impressive 16.6 yards per return.
 
Place kicker Chris Tennant has made 9 of his 11 field goal tries so far this year with a long of 48. Tennant and Simon McClannan share kickoff duties and show 23 touchbacks in 38 total kickoffs.
 
The areas where Kansas State has had issues statistically, so far this season, are punt return defense, allowing 16.3 yards per return; passing defense, ranked 118^th allowing 268.2 yards per game; kickoff return defense, ranked 114^th allowing 23 yards per return; passing offense, ranked 103^rd averaging just 189.8 yards per game; and pass efficiency defense, ranked 103^rd with a 141.49 rating.
 
West Virginia's best statistical categories are fewest penalties, ranking eighth with 25; total first downs, ranking 13^th with 149; fourth down conversions, ranking 15^th at 75%; and rushing offense, ranked 21^st averaging 210.5 yards per game.
 
WVU's passing offense, which could be in play this Saturday against the Wildcats, ranks 86^th this week, averaging 214.8 yards per outing.
 
Quarterback Garrett Greene has been hot and cold through the air at times this year, performing effectively against UAlbany and Kansas, and struggling against Penn State, Pitt and Iowa State. In all three of those defeats, the senior has completed less than 57% of his pass attempts with four interceptions.
 
Against Iowa State, West Virginia only had eight offensive possessions, two of which ended with turnovers. The Mountaineers scored touchdowns on their opening and concluding drives of the game.
 
West Virginia is now 3-3 through six games with its three losses coming against teams ranked No. 3 (Penn State), No. 9 (Iowa State) and No. 20 (Pitt) in this week's Associated Press Top 25 Poll, combining for an 18-0 record.
 
"I'm frustrated, our fan base is frustrated, our players are frustrated, and we wanted different outcomes," Brown noted. "I'm not disappointed how we played the (Iowa State) game as far as being physical - we strained - but we didn't play smart at some points, and we didn't make enough plays or called the right plays at winning time.
 
"We've got to learn from those mistakes on Saturday night, and we cannot repeat them," Brown added. "We've got another football team coming in here that is very similar in makeup to what Iowa State was and we've got to play better."
 
Kansas State's 5-1 overall record includes wins over UT Martin, Tulane, Arizona, Oklahoma State and Colorado and a 38-9 loss at undefeated and 13^th-ranked BYU.
 
"They are a talented team with NFL players on both sides of the ball, and they've played a really challenging schedule like us," Brown said.
 
Kansas State is currently in a five-way tie with West Virginia, Cincinnati, Colorado and Arizona State with a 2-1 record behind league leaders BYU, Iowa State and Texas Tech at 3-0.
 
All 16 conference teams are in action this week.
 
The announcing crew for FOX's television coverage in Morgantown on Saturday will be comprised of Connor Onion, Mark Helfrich and Josh Sims.
 
Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. with the GoMart Mountaineer Tailgate Show leading into regular network coverage at 6:30 p.m. with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning on stations throughout West Virginia, online via WVUsports.com and the Varsity Network and WVU Gameday apps.
 
The Mountaineers hold a 53-37-3 overall record in homecomings but haven't won one since topping Kansas 38-22 in 2018.
 
Last year, WVU lost its homecoming game against Oklahoma State 48-34 and two years ago dropped a 41-31 decision to seventh-ranked TCU. In 2021, Texas Tech outlasted West Virginia 23-20 and in 2019, Texas downed the Mountaineers 42-31.
 
COVID-19 interrupted homecoming activities in 2020, snapping a streak of consecutive homecomings dating back to 1935. Prior to that, homecomings were celebrated in 1921, 1922, 1930, 1931 and 1933.
 
Tickets for Saturday's game remain on sale through the Mountaineer Ticket Office and can be purchased by logging on to WVUGAME.com.