West Virginia football looks to win its first Big 12 game Saturday against the Kansas Jayhawks. It’ll need to follow these three keys for a victory.
First-year WVU football head coach Neal Brown will lead the Mountaineers this weekend in hopes of earning both his first road win and his first Big 12 win. The Kansas Jayhawks will be his opponent, who are also under new management.
Les Miles took over for the ousted David Beaty after the latter coached the Jayhawks to a 6-42 record. Miles, who led LSU to two BCS National Championship games, already has more wins in his first three games at Kansas than Beaty had in his first two seasons. They beat Indiana State 24-17 in Week 1 before dropping their Week 2 bout 12-7 against Coastal Carolina. After that abysmal performance, the Jayhawks righted the ship against Boston College, winning 48-24 on the road.
So it’s a different football program altogether at Kansas, but the Mountaineers are constructing something new, too. Dana Holgorsen is gone, and WVU fans are invested in Neal Brown and have chosen to Trust the Climb.
The Mountaineers have a ton of momentum after beating NC State 44-27, and they’ll need to continue that scoring output to notch their first road win. But it won’t take just scoring points against Kansas on the road. What else will they emphasize?