West Virginia Mountaineers Vs. Kansas State Wildcats Preview: Season 125, Episode 4 - The One With The Windbreaker

Can WVU finally get the monkey of its back?

By JohnLowe24@JohnEverett24 Sep 30, 2016, 1:00pm EDT

OPENING THOUGHTS

So how about that BYU game? I’m sure everyone out there went through as much of an emotional roller coaster as I did during the last five minutes. Luckily Maurice Fleming had our back and WVU got REALLY lucky. Try not to overshoot the snap, Orlosky!!

As for the rest of the Big 12, the conference managed to stave off on-field bad press by taking care of business. TCU smeared SMU in the second half of that game, Baylor took care of Okie Lite to prevent chaos, and K-State scored five touchdowns in 30 minutes. Oh yeah, and Iowa State actually won a game!!

Off the field, the Big 12 can’t make up its mind on expansion. TCU just decided that staying at ten schools is the ‘best worst option’ for the future of the conference and schools like Houston, who is spending Power 5 money on what is looking like a pipe dream, are beginning to sweat.

Like I’ve said in the past, the ultimate deciding party resides in Austin, Texas. If Texas doesn’t like the result, they go to the Pac-12 or go independent. After that, the Big 12 is doomed and WVU will probably have more trouble finding a life preserver than they did in 2011 because neither the Big Ten, ACC, or SEC want them.

Since there is not much we can do about that anyway, let’s go back to talking about football. We are one step closer to a ‘Big 12 Championship’ in Morgantown. Baylor beat the Pokes to move to 4-0 and WVU squeaked by BYU.

If you’re unable to attend the game, I highly recommend you keep an eye on the Baylor-Iowa State game tomorrow (Noon on FS1) just to keep tabs on that potential story before the WVU game starts.

If you are at the game, get the Stripe the Stadium thing right. Marshall had theirs last week and it looked AWFUL!!

Here’s the diagram if you need it and let’s make West Virginia look good on national TV!!

Tomorrow we have Kansas State. We all know that the Mountaineers have not beaten them as long as we’ve been in the Big 12. So there’s really no point in going through the specifics of every game in this series. We all know that WVU need to get the monkey off it’s back tomorrow.

WHEN/WHERE

Date: Saturday, October 1st

Kickoff Time: 3:30 PM ET

Where: The House That Epipens Built, Morgantown, WV

Tickets: General Public (SOLD OUT) ; WVU Students

WATCH/LISTEN

TV: ESPNU

Streaming Video: WatchESPN (or the ESPN app for smartphones)

Radio: WZST Variety 101 (100.9 FM in Morgantown) and the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG (Radio Affiliates)

Streaming Audio: Locate the Mountaineer Sports Network from IMG on TuneIn Radio (or TuneIn app for smartphones)

Satellite Radio: Sirius 136; XM 199; Internet 953

ODDS

Spread: WVU by 3 to 3.5 (Accoring to OddsShark)

O/U: 54

Bill C:

Spread (Home)	S&P Projection	Margin	Win Prob.	S&P+ Pick (ATS)	F/+ Projection	F/+ Pick (ATS)
-3.5	Kansas State (30.7-30.3)	0.3	50.8%	Kansas State	West Virginia by 4.5	West Virginia

WEATHER FORECAST

Partly to mostly cloudy during tailgate time and the game. Highs in the mid to upper 70s with lows in the high 50s and low 60s. If you’re making the drive from Charleston or Parkersburg, you might run into some rain on the way.

THE ENEMY

Where are they from? Manhattan, Kansas

All Time Series: K-State leads the series 5-1 (WVU beat them in 1930)

Last Year: K-State 24, WVU 23; Skyler Howard’s would-be-TD pass to Shelton Gibson fell incomplete as time expired

SB Nation Blog: Bring On The Cats

Record: 2-1

Head Coach: Bill Snyder (pretty much the only coach that has stayed in Manhattan over an extended period of time)

KEYS TO THE GAME

SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL TEAMS!!!! WVU didn’t look particularly good on special teams against BYU last week and it seemed like the Cougars always had at least decent field position. The Mountaineers CAN NOT do this against K-State, who use special teams in an almost "Beamerball"-esque way
Don’t give up too many big plays on defense. The Mountaineer defense has been somewhat disappointing these first three games. Just remember that K-State can score. They drew blood at Stanford and scored 98 points in the following six quarters of football they have played. WVU must do much better on the defensive side of the ball.

HOW AFRAID SHOULD WE BE?

We should definitely be at about 8 or 9 on a scale of 1-10. I’m terrified, like ‘The Fly’ terrified. Be afraid, Be VERY afraid!

Good luck watching those ‘Apartments.com’ commercials the same way after seeing that!

PREDICTION THAT WILL BE WRONG

I believe that K-State looks good on paper because of their lack of competition since Week 1. Florida Atlantic and Missouri State just don’t stack up to WVU’s slate thus far. I don’t believe their offense can really do much against a Power 5 defense and I think this game will reflect that.

West Virginia 27, Kansas State 24