Wildcat report: No. 12 K-State 26, West Virginia 20

First quarter

Key play: Wendell Smallwood fumbled the ball near the goal line, ending a promising drive for West Virginia.

Key stat: K-State’s Jake Waters threw for 132 yards.

Second quarter

Key play: Tyler Lockett returned a punt 43 yards for a touchdown to give K-State a 17-3 advantage.

Key stat: K-State finished the first half with negative rushing yardage.

Third quarter

Key play: Skyler Howard found Kevin White for a WVU touchdown that made the score 20-10.

Key stat: Howard threw for 62 yards in relief of starter Clint Trickett.

Fourth quarter

Key play: Matthew McCrane connected on a 32-yard field goal with 4:13 remaining to give K-State a 26-17 lead.

Key stat: K-State running back DeMarcus Robinson finished the game with negative rushing yardage.

Report card

Offense: C. Waters and Lockett saved the day, but no one else did much. K-State’s lack of a running game is concerning.

Defense: B. K-State made enough plays to win, but West Virginia helped. Had Howard played the entire game, the Wildcats might have been in real trouble.

Special teams: B+. McCrane missed two field-goal attempts, but he made four. Add on Lockett’s punt return for a touchdown and it was a good night on special teams.

Coaching: C. K-State’s offense was one-dimensional and its defense often relied on West Virginia mistakes.

Player of the game

Waters was huge on a night K-State’s running game was nonexistent.

Reason to hope

K-State won a challenging road game and still controls its own destiny in the race for a Big 12 championship.

Reason to mope

If the Wildcats can’t figure out a way to run the ball effectively, they have little hope of winning their final two games.

Looking ahead

K-State hosts Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown next week. The Jayhawks are playing better, but the Wildcats should be big favorites in a series they have dominated under Snyder.

Notes

▪ Kansas State may have played its final football game on a crowned field Thursday at West Virginia. The Mountaineers are the only team in the Big 12 with a crowned field, and they are leveling the playing surface after the season.

With that in mind, K-State athletic director John Currie said the Wildcats will alter their own grass practice fields, which are crowned. During the offseason, he said the current practice fields will be replaced by a mixture of level artificial and grass practice surfaces.

The new practice areas will be designated for both football and women’s soccer, a sport K-State is in the process of adding to replace its equestrian program.

▪ NFL scouts attended Thursday’s game in big numbers. The Eagles, Giants, Redskins, Texans, Saints, Rams, Jaguars, Chargers and Steelers all had talent evaluators watching from the press box.

▪ Two bowl games – the Liberty and Texas – had representatives in attendance.

Kellis Robinett

This story was originally published November 20, 2014 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Wildcat report: No. 12 K-State 26, West Virginia 20."