MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After struggling mightily throughout last Saturday’s 24-3 loss to No. 11 Oklahoma State, West Virginia’s offense is hoping to rediscover its form from the previous two weeks in wins over TCU and Iowa State.
The Mountaineers (4-5, 2-4) clash with Kansas State (6-3, 3-3) at noon Saturday, seeking their sixth straight win in the series with the Wildcats, who enter on a three-game win streak with an opportunity to secure a winning season.
After combining for 67 points in victories over the Horned Frogs and Cyclones, the Mountaineers managed a field goal on the opening drive against the Cowboys and nothing more.
They were hardly in position to score after taking the initial 3-0 lead and finished with 133 total yards — their lowest output since 1994 against Nebraska.
“It can be summed up as this — we lost 1-on-1s,” WVU head coach Neal Brown said. “They got us into 1-on-1 battles, whether it was man coverage or up front, and we lost way more than we won. Way too many negative plays. That’s the story of that side of the ball. We played behind the chains all day and we’re not a group that’s built for that right now.”
West Virginia finished with 17 rushing yards. The low total was greatly affected by Oklahoma State’s eight sacks, though Brown felt that total was a combination of a below average performance between Mountaineer quarterbacks Jarret Doege and Garrett Greene, as well as the offensive line.
“We didn’t do a good enough job getting rid of the ball in the pocket,” Brown said. “However many sacks they had, three or maybe four of them were avoidable.”
West Virginia converted 2-of-14 third downs and 1-of-3 fourth down attempts against the Cowboys, while failing to reach the red zone after its opening series. Sixty-four of the 133 yards came on the opening sequence, and the Mountaineers punted on eight straight possessions excluding the final drive of the first half, which featured three plays before the clock expired.
“We would have had to play at our best to have an opportunity to compete against those guys and they got after us,” Brown said. “Credit to them. We have to be better. When we’re going to play elite defenses like that, we better bring our ‘A’ game and we didn’t.”
The Mountaineers now try to move ahead with a formidable challenge awaiting in the form of the Wildcats’ defense. Having changed defensive alignments to utilize a 3-3-5 stack, K-State is allowing 21.6 points on average and has held its last three opponents to a total of 46 points.
In victories over TCU and Kansas the last two weeks, the Wildcats surrendered only 22 points, and sophomore defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah is a major reason why.
Anudike-Uzomah leads the FBS with 11 sacks, including four against TCU. In a Week 2 win over Southern Illinois, Anudike-Uzomah recorded three sacks and he’s brought down an opposing quarterback in six of the team’s nine contests.
“The thing I respect watching him on film, he plays hard,” Brown said. “You can try to chip him, you can try to double him and some pass rushers get really frustrated. I haven’t seen the kid frustrated. They do a good job getting him out of the game some, where he’s fully rested all the time, but he plays with a high motor.”
The Wildcats’ defensive depth has been a big asset for Anudike-Uzomah and the unit as a whole.
“They do a really good job getting him rested and that’s probably why he can play with that motor so much, because they rotate a bunch of guys up front,” Brown said. “They play three different noses and four our different ends. They’ll rotate a two-deep at linebacker and rotate a bunch secondary guys in.”
Yet for as much as Brown and his staff will focus on what the Wildcats do well and areas they may be able to find favorable matchups, West Virginia’s upcoming contest is as much about what its offense can fix to play near the level it displayed the previous two weeks after its worst showing of the season.
“We didn’t play very well at [quarterback]. We didn’t play very well at any position offensively,” Brown said. “I’m not picking on them. We just didn’t play very well at any of those.”
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The Mountaineers played last week’s loss without injured wide receiver and punt returner Isaiah Esdale.
During the loss to Oklahoma State, linebacker Lance Dixon and cornerback Charles Woods both suffered injuries.
Brown updated the status of Dixon, Woods and Esdale during his media outing Tuesday.
“Dixon is doubtful for the [Kansas State] game. We’ll see how he progresses,” Brown said. “Woods is fine. He just had a cramp. He’ll be full speed today. Esdale is going to be touch and go. He’s really working with 2 upper body injuries, so it’s too soon. We’re going to see how he progresses. He didn’t practice all week last week.”