The Mountaineers head to Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend to take on the Kansas Jayhawks. At first glance it's easy to see that the Jayhawks have struggled in Big 12 play. But they have been competitive in a couple of those games at least through the first half.
Like WVU, they've struggled with quarterback play. Jake Heaps is the prototypical passer and has garnered most of the playing time until recently. Montell Cozart has been playing more of late and gives the Jayhawks more of a dual threat option. Some of the Kansas beat writers have even gone so far as to call for him to play full time. For the record, Charlie Weis is non-committal as to who will start against the Mountaineers, leading one to believe we may get to see more of Cozart.
The Jayhawks got what is probably their best offensive weapon back from injury last week in Tony Pierson. He's listed as a running back but is actually their leading receiver both in receptions and yards (23 for 321 yards, including a 77 yard touchdown). The leading rusher is James Sims who comes in averaging 4.3 yards per carry on 165 carries (good for 703 yards and 4 touchdowns).
We also have a beat up Mountaineer team who lost two more defenders for the remainder of the year this past week: Jared Barber and K.J. Dillon. With Doug Rigg also out, Tyler Anderson and Jewone Snow will be seeing a good bit more playing time.
The quarterback situation for the Mountaineers is as unclear as ever. There are reports that all three quarterbacks took reps this week, but....BUT Childress is only around 90% and Trickett has implied he's still not clear:
Not the news I wanted to hear
— Clint Trickett (@ClintTrickett9) November 14, 2013
That could possible lead to Logan Moore backing up Paul Millard. No offense to anyone, but I think it's safe to say that we hope it doesn't come down to that.
It's a game that the Mountaineers should win, but injuries all over the place may make this closer than many would hope for. As for me, I'll be satisfied with a one point victory at this point.