West Virginia football: 3 takeaways from blowout loss to Iowa State

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LUBBOCK, TX – SEPTEMBER 29: T.J. Simmons #1 of the West Virginia Mountaineers is tackled by John Bonney #10 and Jah’Shawn Johnson #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the first half of the game on September 29, 2018 at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas. (Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

2. Quarterbacks have favorites, too

For the first five games of the 2019 season, wide receiver Sam James was the go-to guy for West Virginia’s offense, the game-breaking talent on the outside. Of course, that’s when Austin Kendall was taking the snaps and getting him the ball. But after an injury sidelined him early in the Iowa State game, Kendall left the game and James’ impact seemed to follow him.

The offense sputtered a bit, but Kendall’s replacement, Jack Allison, found his groove by targeting T.J. Simmons. Simmons’ production has been lackluster this year, but after recording his first 100-yard game against Texas a week ago, he bounced back with the same type of effort against the Cyclones. Simmons scored a touchdown just before halftime to tie the game, and finished with five catches for 75 yards.

Allison still connected with James a handful of times, but with just 30 receiving yards, it was obvious something just wasn’t clicking. James was questionable to even play in the game earlier in the week, so that could’ve affected him, as well. But Allison and Simmons had a certain connection going against the Cyclones that was hard to stop early on.

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