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West Virginia @ Kansas // Noon Kickoff EST (11:00 AM Central) // ESPNU
The Old God & Blue will open conference play this Saturday with a road game to Lawrence, KS. The Jayhawks are 1-2 thus far and have not looked well in two losses to MAC schools. WVU is coming off a sloppy blowout (that sounds like a diaper crisis) against Delaware State last weekend at home. So far, WVU has only played one decent team in Virginia Tech. Kansas should be a easy win, however should be a test for our defensive secondary. Kansas has a QB with the potential to make big plays in the air, and WVU has given up big plays in all three of our games this season. The last two weeks, many of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string guys have gotten playing time. Likely Holgerson will leave his starters in this week for the majority of the game. Should be interesting to watch. Kansas also has a defense that is atleast capable of capitalizing on Mountaineer mistakes. We need to be cleaner this week than last.
ESPN is giving the Mountaineers an 84% chance of winning
Predictions:
West Virginia will have their way with the Jayhawks on offense, but will allow them to keep it relatively close in the first half. During the second half, WVU will pull away and will eat up clock on the ground. The highlight reel will be filled with Kennedy McCoy, and he rushes for 150 and two scores on the ground. Crawford will have some yardage as well. Grier will again pass for over 300, and 3 scores. Sims will return a kick for a td to open up the second half.
West Virginia was able to respond to an incredible Kansas 3rd quarter push, by having a solid 4th quarter on both sides of the ball. The Mountaineer defense was pushed around all day by the Kansas offensive line, which led to one Jayhawk nearly running for 300. Also, several first stringers went down with some injuries (that aren't too serious) that caused some gaps. Kansas played tough, and at times had full control of the momentum coming within 8 points on two separate occasions. However, The WVU offense was able to do as they pleased for most of the game. Grier threw for 340, 2 TDs, and ran for 50 with 2 more TDs. Crawford again broke 100 on the ground with a TD, and McCoy also ran for over 100 with 2 TDs. I thought the receivers had a poor game, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. If the Mountaineers play like this at TCU, you can mark us down for another loss. It is a good thing that we have a bye week to get healthy and prepare for what looks like a tougher challenge than Virginia Tech was!
Final Thought: West Virginia actually needed Kansas to play hard and "annoying" for the benefit of not becoming complaisant after 3 weeks in a row of mediocre teams. Great game Jayhawks, I hope you all are able to get a couple wins in conference under your belt this year!
Extra News: West Virginia climbed back into the rankings at #23 in both polls!
After a week of rest and heath restoration, the Mountaineers will face possibly their toughest test to date (VT game considered worthy). The Mountaineers maintain their #23 ranking, as they head to Fort Worth to face the Horny Toads. The Toads also had a bye week, and before that had a very impressive performance upsetting Ok State! West Virginia has unfortunately not beaten a top 10 team on the road since 1982 (@ #9 Oklahoma). This will be an exciting and challenging atmosphere with ESPN College Gameday on scene for their second ever TCU vs. WVU match-up. Last time in 2014, TCU was able to win on a last second field goal to escape Morgantown (31-30). The Mountaineers that were around back then will surely be using that as motivation. TCU is very balanced on offense, and features a typical Gary Patterson defense. If West Virginia can manage to hold their ground attack, then they stand a chance for the upset. WVU has the ability to move the ball offensively despite the Horned Frogs stubborn defense.
ESPN is giving the Toads an 84.4% chance of winning
Predictions:
This will be a physical game that will go down to late in the fourth. The biased prediction is to call for the upset. So that is exactly what I am going to do! The strong points for the Mountaineers will be on defense, when we load the box and Kenny Hill (TCU QB) will be forced to throw the ball. When Hill has been asked to take the load of the burden over the last few seasons he hasn't played well. He will force some throws, which in turn will open up our strong safeties for picks. Dravon A. Henry will grab at least one forced turnover. On offense, some creativity will make way for some big plays. One good thing about TCU's D is that they haven't changed over the course of the last couple decades. All West Virginia has to do is mask their play calling to throw off the Toads secondary. WVU will also pose a solid threat on the ground. Grier won't break 300, unless TCU shuts down the WV run game! If that happens, Grier throws for 400!
Well I'm not going to hold a grudge, but this game stunk. West Virginia out-played the Frogs, and demonstrated a inner fire that made TCU scared at times. I'm not one to contribute lost games to bad calls, but that offensive pass interference call was ridiculous on that last drive! That cost WV the ability the win with a 1st & 25. If that wasn't called or was on TCU (which it should have been), WV would have been in striking distance. At minimum, the Mountaineers would have had a chance. Momentum was clearly on West Virginia's side! They mocked our defense all week long and said that we'd get mowed over by the frogs run game! However, the opposite was true, and TCU (Big 12 3rd down conversion leader) was stopped over and over again by the WV defense! Also, West Virginia made the Frogs defense look bad at times, out gaining them in the air and beating their season average for holding runners at bay. The only area for concern that I have for the guys is in special teams. Special Teams played awful! We also gave them a couple of trick plays that cost us. If we wouldn't have had the two turnovers, they wouldn't have had two of their tds. However, this was a very winnable game and our guys played hard out there!
Let's Go EERS!
Up next #24 Texas Tech at home! Let's bounce back at home and get a win over a hot Red Raider squad!
If that WVU/TCU game doesn't prove the officiating in college ball is rigged and fixed, I don't know what does. The vast majority of people that were neutral and watched the game say WVU got massively screwed.
If that WVU/TCU game doesn't prove the officiating in college ball is rigged and fixed, I don't know what does. The vast majority of people that were neutral and watched the game say WVU got massively screwed.
It was unfortunate to say the least. Hopefully the Mountaineers can shake it off and show up for tomorrow's match-up against Tech!
Last week the Mighty Mounts went down to Fort Worth and played harder than they have all season. The EERS lost, but the effort was certainly there! This week, they return home for the first time in almost a month for a literal homecoming celebration. They will face a surprisingly good Tech team which has managed to climb into the top 25 this week at #24. As we well know (have been reminded over and over and over and over and over and..... you get the point) that West Virginia has lost the last 9 games in a row to ranked opponents. The Mountaineers used to be notorious for playing hard against ranked foes and getting big wins! It's past time to make a statement,... we are all looking at you Dana!
The Pink Raiders will be coming into Morgantown featuring the best offense we have seen up to this point. That includes a running attack that Tech hasn't really displayed in our past meetings. Tech also features somewhat of a defense!!! They have the ability to score, and at times be an aggravation on defense. They also protect the ball well and force turnovers. This is a dangerous Red Raider squad that can come in here and beat us on our own turf if we aren't careful!
West Virginia will return home with blood on their mind! Losing two games this year by 7 points with a chance to win at the end in each has lit a fire in Will Grier's heart! His passion transfers itself throughout the whole team, and the Mountaineers come prepared to play hard and aggressively. If WVU wins the coin toss they elect to receive possession first, and look for a big play to start off hot! The crowd will certainly be into the game, and Grier and Sills will light up the scoreboard in this one! Grier breaches 400 yards for the first time this season, and throws for 5 TDs. Crawford opens up for his best game so far, and reaches the endzone on a +45 yard run/draw play! A name on offense that people will be saying at the end of the game will be Ka'Raun White. Expect him to have a big day after having a solid outing verses TCU. On defense, we will give up some scores, but will bend and not break. Some turnovers will help the cause as Tech finally starts to cough the ball up!
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They have the ability to score, and at times be an aggravation on defense. They also protect the ball well and force turnovers. This is a dangerous Red Raider squad that can come in here and beat us on our own turf if we aren't careful!
