Bowl eligible & counting: Takeaways from K-State’s dominant road win at West Virginia
Comfortable victories aren’t easy to come by in the chaotic Big 12.
Especially for road teams.
That’s what made Kansas State’s 45-18 triumph over West Virginia so impressive on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Wildcats traveled to a different time zone and dominated in front of 54,327 vocal fans. This game was so lopsided that purple dominated the crowd throughout the fourth quarter.
Chris Klieman’s team has now won consecutive prime time road games to continue its climb up the Big 12 standings. At 6-1 overall and 3-1 in league play, the Wildcats are playing as well as any other team in the conference.
“My hat is off to what our guys did the last two weeks,” Klieman said. “To play as late as we did ... we didn’t get any scheduling help on that. But we found a way to come up with two big wins, and it was really impressive with what our guys did. I think it’s going to help us grow as the season progresses.”
K-State will next be in action at 7 p.m. on Saturday when it hosts rival Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Until then, here are some takeaways from the WVU game:
Avery Johnson showed off his arm
Johnson didn’t win this game with his legs.
In fact, the K-State quarterback didn’t attempt a single run against West Virginia. He didn’t even try to scramble for yards when the pocket was collapsing around him.
It looked like he was still slowed by some of the injuries he sustained during last week’s game against Colorado.
But that didn’t matter, Johnson took advantage of a good matchup against the Big 12’s worst pass defense by completing 19 of 27 passes for a career-high 298 yards and three touchdowns.
This was far and away his best game as a passer.
“Avery’s progress as a passer has been phenomenal,” Klieman said. “Today he was so poised. Guys made plays for him and he threw a couple of strikes. It was fun to to see us have to throw the football to be successful and be able to do that.”
Some have questioned Johnson’s ability to throw the ball downfield, but he excelled in this game. The sophomore from Maize hit Jadon Jackson for a 60-yard touchdown strike in the first quarter and also connected with DJ Giddens for 53 yards in the third quarter.
His strong connection with K-State tight ends continued when he found Garrett Oakley and Will Anciaux for scores.
Johnson is at his best when he can hurt defenses with his dual-threat talents, but he has now proven that he can win a game with his arm.
“Their game plan was to stop the run,” Johnson said. “So (offensive coordinator Conor Riley) was just drawing up a lot more passes, and that’s the route we went.”
Jadon Jackson was the star of one K-State drive
K-State wide receiver Jadon Jackson deserved to take a bow after the Wildcats scored their first touchdown against West Virginia.
Why?
Because the Wildcats drove 84 yards in two plays and Jackson was responsible for all of them. On that series, Johnson found Jackson for a 24-yard gain up the right side of the field. Then he connected with Johnson across the middle for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
Jackson had only caught eight passes for 83 yards before Saturday. But he erupted for some notable plays against West Virginia.
West Virginia stymied Kansas State’s rushing attack
DJ Giddens and Dylan Edwards aren’t matchup proof.
Kansas State’s top two running backs assembled an impressive collection of highlights in the first six games of the season. Giddens led the Big 12 in rushing yards heading into this weekend and Edwards has shown a knack for reaching the end zone.
But they both struggled to get much of anything going against the Mountaineers, at least on the ground.
Giddens rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Edwards managed 27 yards on three attempts. But much of that yardage was gained in the second half after the game was decided. The Wildcats only rushed for eight yards in the fist half.
Perhaps a down game was to be expected against a stingy WVU run defense, especially without the threat of Johnson running on the perimeter. Still, it was surprising to see one of the nation’s top rushing attacks have so little success.
Giddens did have one big play when he caught a 53-yard pass from Johnson in the third quarter. And a Joe Jackson 29-yard run provided a late highlight with the game out of reach.
The K-State secondary finally flexed its muscles
Opposing quarterbacks have mostly carved up Kansas State’s pass defense this season, but the Wildcats didn’t let that happen against West Virginia.
Pass defense was a strength for K-State on Saturday night.
After allowing an average of 268.2 yards per game this season, the Wildcats limited the Mountaineers to 143 yards through the air.
West Virginia quarterbacks Garrett Greene and Nicco Marchiol combined to complete less than 50% of their passes, which allowed K-State defenders to focus on stopping the run.
K-State also benefited from a pair of interceptions. Redshirt freshman Jack Fabris came up with a pick in the first quarter on a deflected pass. Later, Marques Sigle was able to return an interception for a touchdown.
The Wildcats are nearly unbeatable when they log a defensive score. West Virginia couldn’t keep up without a passing attack in this game.
Kansas State came up with a big goal-line stand
The final score might make it look like K-State won this game without a hint of drama. But there were plenty of nervous EMAW supporters when West Virginia was threatening to score at the end of the second quarter.
K-State was clinging to a 17-10 lead and the Mountaineers were moving the ball easily behind the arm and legs of quarterback Garrett Greene. West Virginia drove the ball all the way to the K-State 3 and had a golden opportunity to tie things up before halftime.
But the Wildcats turned them away with a clutch stop on fourth down and entered the locker room up by a touchdown.
On the play, Greene rolled to his right and looked to find an open man in the end zone. But K-State linebacker Austin Moore got pressure on him and forced an incomplete pass.
That turned out to be the final play of the night for Greene, who was unable to return with an injury.
To recap: K-State simultaneously held firm with a goal-line stand and knocked Greene out of the game. That gave the Wildcats a 17-10 lead at the break and a weakened offense to go against in the second half. They effectively won the game right then and there.
This story was originally published October 19, 2024 at 10:07 PM.