West Virginia football takes on Kansas for the seventh time ever. Here is everything you need to know before they take the field Saturday.
In what has become a constant over the past few years, West Virginia will take on Kansas in a competitive Big 12 contest. West Virginia has dominated the last few matchups, winning five of their six meetings to this point.
West Virginia’s lone loss came when Kansas running back James Sims ran wild for 211 yards over a porous Mountaineer defense in 2013. Outside of that game, West Virginia has won the rest of the contests by scores of 21-0, 59-10, 33-14, 49-0, and 48-21.
Both teams started the season with opposite results as West Virginia lost to Virginia Tech while Kansas won easily against Southeast Missouri State. However, both teams responded to week one in different ways. West Virginia turned around and won their next two games while Kansas dropped both of theirs.
West Virginia and Kansas now have inverse records, with the Mountaineers riding a 2-1 record compared to the Jayhawks’ 1-2 standing. The two teams will now meet in a conference battle that holds significant implications. Here’s when and where to catch the game on Saturday:
Date: Saturday, Sept. 23
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Lawrence, KS
Venue: Memorial Stadium
TV: ESPNU
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Keys to Victory
West Virginia is easily the favorite in this game, but Kansas is a much more capable opponent than last week’s Delaware State. West Virginia won that game handily, defeating the Hornets 59-16 behind quarterback Will Grier‘s 304 passing yards.
It will take a greater effort to beat Kansas, and that’s where standout running back Justin Crawford comes in. Crawford has been excellent this season, recording over 100 yards in each of his three games to this point. If the Mountaineers can get another solid performance out of Grier and Crawford they will be in good position to take this game.
Kansas will have a more difficult time claiming victory against West Virginia as they have troubles on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. What is most concerning is that this Kansas defense has allowed over 40 points in each of their last two games.
In contrast, West Virginia has exceeded 55 points in each of their last two contests, setting up for a potential blowout in Kansas. If the Jayhawks are to win this game, it will likely be through a punch-for-punch shootout. However, quarterback Peyton Bender hasn’t proved capable of playing mistake-free ball thus far, making Kansas’ chances look quite bleak heading into the weekend.
Prediction
As mentioned before, this game appears to be another case of good offense meets bad defense. This could be a dangerous game for the Jayhawks, but it’s West Virginia who has the most to lose. West Virginia handled a similar opponent in East Carolina, but Kansas will still be their toughest competition outside of Virginia Tech.
It’s been blatantly clear this season that you can never count a team out of a game before it’s played, but Kansas has a seemingly impossible task set ahead of them. Nothing is impossible, but a Grier and Crawford duo against one of the weaker defenses in the nation doesn’t bode well for the Jayhawks.
Next: Takeaways from WVU's win over Delaware St
Look for Grier and Crawford to do their thing as they slice and dice through a tired Kansas defense. In turn, West Virginia will have a constantly energized secondary champing at the bit against a turnover-prone Jayhawk defense.
Final Score: West Virginia 49, Kansas 27