Grades from Kansas State’s loss at West Virginia and a look ahead to Oklahoma State
Chris Klieman hasn’t been on the losing end of many blowouts during his career as a head football coach, but he was on Saturday when West Virginia spanked Kansas State 37-10 at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Wildcats didn’t lose a game by more than 13 points during Klieman’s first season in Manhattan when they finished 8-5. And they hadn’t lost a game this season by more than four points while getting off to 4-1 start.
K-State fell back to earth against the Mountaineers, getting outclassed in every area.
Time will tell if that was the start of a downward slide for the Wildcats or just one bad game.
Here are grades from K-State’s latest defeat and a look ahead to its next game against Oklahoma State.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege gets the nod here after completing 22 of 34 passes for 301 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Wildcats tried to rattle him with blitzes and to confuse him with zone coverage, but neither plan worked. He completed several long passes, including a 58-yarder to Bryce Ford-Wheaton. Doege was at his best on third downs, leading the Mountaineers to nine conversions on 18 attempts.
But he got lots of help from running back Leddie Brown, who rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 24 attempts.
K-State’s player of the game was probably Drew Wiley. The senior defensive tackle had seven tackles, including 2 1/2 for loss.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Returning an interception for a touchdown helped the Wildcats win games against TCU and Kansas earlier this season, but they weren’t so fortunate against the Mountaineers.
Will Howard threw the first pick six of his college career on Saturday, and the defensive touchdown clinched victory for West Virginia as it provided a 34-10 lead in the third quarter.
The play went wrong from the start for K-State. The plan was for Howard to throw a short screen pass to Chabastin Taylor with Phillip Brooks blocking in front of him. But Brooks missed his assignment, Taylor bobbled the pass and Dylan Tonkery grabbed the loose ball for an easy score.
STAT OF THE GAME
West Virginia has owned K-State lately. The Wildcats have lost five straight games to the Mountaineers dating back to Dana Holgorsen’s time as coach. That’s their longest active losing streak against a Big 12 opponent.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“We just really wanted to beat West Virginia and we didn’t. No one on this team has beaten West Virginia yet. Not getting that win hurt everybody.” — K-State linebacker Daniel Green.
GRADES
Offense: F. Outside of a 35-yard touchdown catch from Malik Knowles, there wasn’t much to like about K-State’s offensive production in this one. Will Howard looked very much like a freshman while completing 19 of 37 passes for 184 yards and three interceptions. Deuce Vaughn was shockingly held to 23 all-purpose yards. Losing tight end Briley Moore to a back injury hurt, but there’s no excuse for only gaining 225 yards as a team.
Defense: D. The Wildcats got some nice plays up front from Wyatt Hubert and Wiley, but that wasn’t enough for them to prevent West Virginia from gaining 485 yards and finding all kinds of room for big plays in the middle of the field. The Mountaineers burned the Wildcats repeatedly with slant routes and inside runs.
Special Teams: B. It was an unusually quiet day from K-State on special teams, but Phillip Brooks and Knowles did combine for 135 return yards and Blake Lynch connected on one of two field goals.
Coaching: F. This game was supposed to be a coin flip. Instead, it was a blowout. Chalk that up to coaching, even though the Wildcats dealt with some unfortunate distractions last week. Neal Brown outsmarted Klieman for the second year in a row and had the Mountaineers more prepared to play.
NEXT UP
The good news for K-State is that it Oklahoma State also lost on Saturday, which means the Wildcats are still sitting atop the Big 12 standings with a 4-1 conference record.
But the league championship race is now more jumbled than ever. Iowa State, Oklahoma State and K-State all have one loss. Oklahoma, Texas and West Virginia are all right behind them with two losses.
That makes K-State’s upcoming game against Oklahoma State a very important game for both teams. The contest will have conference championship implications. The winner will have a favorable path to Arlington, Texas. The loser will have little room for error down the stretch.
Oklahoma State lost its first game of the season on Saturday 41-34 against Texas in overtime. The Cowboys would have won easily if not for losing four turnovers and committing a costly penalty on a punt, as they outgained the Longhorns 530-287.
Mike Gundy’s team has been stingy on defense all season, and it will present another difficult challenge for the Wildcats next week.
Oklahoma State defeated K-State 26-13 a year ago in Stillwater, and it returns its best playmakers on offense this season.
Quarterback Spencer Sanders, running back Chuba Hubbard and receiver Tylan Wallace are three of the best skill players in the conference.