Scare-D Cats: West Virginia offense exorcises demons, defense buries No. 16 Kansas State

The West Virginia Mountaineers improved to 4-2 (3-2 Big 12) with a 34-10 win over the No. 16 ranked Kansas State Wildcats.

Highlights

Box Score

West Virginia

Kansas State

Takeaways and Notes

• What a difference a week makes. West Virginia’s offense was miles better than what they showed on the field in the loss to Texas Tech last week. Last week, the Mountaineer offense was a mess, finishing with a total of 8 big plays (7 passing, 1 rushing). Today, West Virginia had with 14 big plays (8 passing, 6 rushing) and, in general, looked like a cohesive unit.
• Jarret Doege is the type of quarterback that you can’t look at stats to determine if he’s good or bad. Doege looked out of sync with this receivers vs. Texas Tech, yet still managed to complete 64% of his passes. Today? He looked more consistent, timing was much better and, again, a pass completion percentage of 64%. West Virginia isn’t going to win any games because of Doege, but he’s not going to be the reason we lose either.
• This is Neal Brown’s second win over a top 25 team during his tenure in Morgantown, both of which have been against the Wildcats.
• Winston Wright has emerged as WR1. Wright finished today with 9 catches on 12 targets for 126 yards.

Player of the Game

The Mountaineer Defense

Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

This defensive unit is an absolute pleasure to watch, and I feel like Jahmile Addae and Jordan Lesley deserve all the praise in the world for what they’re doing with their guys. I know a lot of people claimed the departure of Vic Koenning would be disastrous for the defense this season, but it seems to be the complete opposite. This team is tackling better than any WVU team in the past decade. These guys are going to really give the team a chance to win these upcoming games against the likes of Texas and Oklahoma.

What’s Next?

West Virginia is back on the road next weekend, when they’re scheduled to take on the Texas Longhorns — provided both teams can meet the Big 12 requirement for available players. Kickoff time and broadcast information will be announced later tonight or tomorrow.