Oct 183 min read

No. 17 K-State Hits the Road Again to Face West Virginia

K-State Running Back DJ Giddens — © Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

West Virginia (3-3, 2-1 Big 12 Conference) welcomes No. 17 Kansas State (5-1, 2-1) to town at 7:30 p.m. EST on Oct. 19 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W. Va. Kansas State is coming off a thrilling game beating Colorado (4-1, 2-1) 31-28. Quarterback Avery Johnson had 224 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. One of those touchdown passes was a 50-yard completion to Jayce Brown to take the lead for a final time. Running back DJ Giddens had 182 yards rushing and 38 yards receiving. The Mountaineers lost at home against No. 9 Iowa State (6-0, 3-0) 28-16. Against the Cyclones quarterback Garrett Greene threw for 206 yards a touchdown and 2 interceptions.

What's at Stake?

Both teams are 2-1 in conference play, and a trip to the Big 12 Conference Championship Game is still in sight. The winner of this game will keep pace with No. 13 BYU (6-0, 3-0), Texas Tech (5-1, 3-0) and Iowa State. The combined record of teams the Mountaineers have beat is 7-11 while the three losses have all come against currently unbeaten teams. K-State is now 2-1 on the road this season winning against Tulane (4-2, 2-0) and Colorado while losing at BYU.

Quarterback Garrett Greene West Virginia — © Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Key Players: West Virginia

Garrett Greene, Quarterback

Greene has thrown for 1,267 yards with 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions this season. In West Virginia's three losses, he has thrown for 3 touchdowns and had zero rushing touchdowns. Greene has thrown for 5 touchdowns and 3 touchdowns on the ground in the three games the Mountaineers have won. If West Virginia wants to win this game they will need Greene at his best.

Josiah Trotter, Linebacker

Trotter has 46 tackles on the season to lead the team. The Kansas State rushing attack is the best that the Mountaineers have seen up to this point averaging 241 yards per game. The West Virginia defense gives up 130 yards a game which ranks them 58th in the country. Trotter will need to be ready to fill the open gaps and make tackles on running backs that will make you pay if you miss.

Key Players: K-State

DJ Giddens, Running Back

Giddens is the leading rusher in the Big 12 with 786 yards averaging 7.3 yards per carry. K-State will look to establish the rushing game and has done that consistently all season. West Virginia has only allowed two players to go over 100 yards all season. If Giddens can get going early it will open more passing lanes for Johnson in the pass game making the Kansas State offense very difficult to stop.

Brendan Mott, Defensive End

Mott is the Big 12 leader in sacks at 6.5 on the season. Keeping Greene contained in this game will be important to slowing the Mountaineers offense. While Mott can get to the quarterback and create havoc he also plays an important role in the run game. West Virginia also has two outstanding running backs Jahiem White and CJ Donaldson that the Wildcats' defense will need to contain to make the Mountaineers one-dimensional.

Trends to Watch

West Virginia comes into this game beating the teams they should beat while losing to the toughest competition they have played. Can they change that trend against K-State? Pressure is starting to mount on head coach Neal Brown to perform another lackluster performance will give an unsettled fanbase more fuel to their fire.

Kansas State, since the debacle at BYU, has shown improvement on the offensive side of the ball. Johnson has thrown for 483 yards 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in the last two games. With the effectiveness of Giddens and an ever-improving passing game, the K-State offense is becoming a nightmare for defenses. This game will be the opportunity for the offense to prove they have officially turned the corner. Head coach Chris Klieman and Brown are 2-2 against each other in the series.