No. 17 Kansas State Handles West Virginia on the Road

© Ben Queen-Imagn Images

No. 17 Kansas State (6-1, 3-1 Big 12 Conference) beat West Virginia (3-4, 2-2) 45-18 on Oct. 19 at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W. Va. K-State played its third road game in the last four games, finishing 3-1 in those games. The Mountaineers wanted to calm the waters with the fanbase and beat their first-ranked opponent this season. West Virginia got bit by the injury bug losing quarterback Garrett Greene running back Jahiem White and tackle Wyatt Milam.

Game Summary

K-State running back DJ Giddens, who came into this game leading the Big 12 Conference in rushing yards, was shut down by the Mountaineers' defense. West Virginia's game plan was to stop the Wildcats' rushing attack and make Avery Johnson beat them with his arm. Johnson did just that, throwing for a career-high 298 yards and 3 touchdowns completing passes to nine different receivers. The K-State defense got in on the scoring this week with a Marques Sigle pick-six in the second quarter. West Virginia trailed at halftime 17-10 before K-State exploded for 21 unanswered points to put the game away early in the fourth quarter on a Giddens 1-yard touchdown run. K-State outgained the Mountaineers 412-295 in yardage and won the turnover battle 2-0

Turning Point for Kansas State

West Virginia was on a 12-play, 89-yard drive looking to tie the game up at halftime. The K-State defense stiffened in the red zone denying a determined Greene on fourth down forcing him to scramble outside the pocket and miss tight end Kole Taylor in the end zone.

That moment was the momentum boost K-State needed going into halftime to come out firing on all cylinders in the second half to comfortably win.

What It Means

Kansas State was able to keep pace in the Big 12 Championship race. Johnson's performance in this game will cause opposing coaches to pick their poison when facing this K-State offense. Giddens will not have many more games like this one where he only had 57 yards on 19 carries even though he still scored 2 touchdowns. Head coach Chris Klieman has this team trending in the right direction improving on offense and defense every week.

West Virginia will be looking to get on the right track next week with a road trip to Arizona (3-4, 1-3). Will Greene be healthy for that game or will they need to depend on backup quarterback Nicco Marchiol? The fanbase is getting uneasy after how well they did in 2023 finishing 9-4 to taking what looks like a step back in 2024. Being 2-2 in the Big 12 the path to the conference championship game is not impossible but they will need some help to reach that goal.