After a year away from one another, the Wildcats and Mountaineers get back at it.
Last year, K-State’s two-game winning streak against West Virginia was put on hold thanks to having too many teams to play a round-robin anymore. That was perhaps unfortunate, as this series has been all about streaks since the Mountaineers joined the Big 12.
Saturday night, the Wildcats can’t afford a road letdown. It is perhaps the last real test of their mettle until the season-ending Farmageddon clash, and any hope of a Big 12 title in 2024 rests on getting to Ames without another loss.
A win would also check off bowl eligibility for the Cats, but it’s hard to fathom that anyone was too concerned about that issue at any point except perhaps right after the Disaster in Provo.
The Game
The 17th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) visit the West Virginia Mountaineers (3-3, 2-1 Big 12).
Thanks to K-State’s win in Morgantown in 2022, the Wildcats have regained the series lead at 7-6, and 6-5 in Big 12 play. It’s a sad state of affairs considering the Cats won the first four contests when the Mountaineers joined the league. Interestingly, after West Virginia’s win in the initial meeting between the two schools in 1930, they traded five-game winning streaks; to keep that pattern going, K-State needs to win the next three.
West Virginia is decidedly better than their record indicates. The three teams to whom they have lost are a combined 18-0 and are all ranked — #3 Penn State, #9 Iowa State, and #20 Pitt. The only things on the Mountaineer schedule which are suspicious is a four-point win at home over Kansas and the fact that their losses to Penn State and Iowa State weren’t particularly tense for the winning sides.
Senior Garrett Greene, who’s been around forever, leads the Mountaineer offense. He’s thrown for just over 200 yards a game at a 57% clip with 8 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. Greene has always been prone to being either very good or very bad, so we’ll have to see which version shows up Saturday.
West Virginia runs the ball decently, also racking up over 200 yards a game on the ground. It’s been a six-legged attack, as nobody on the team has even hit the 400-yard mark yet, but three Mountaineers (including Greene) have over 375 yards on the season. Jaheim White’s 158 yards against Oklahoma State is the team’s best performance on the season. Hudson Clement leads the receivers with 22 catches for 334 yards.
The Mountaineer defense has been fairly stingy against the run, but this is by far the most potent rushing attack they’ll have seen this season.
Neal Brown is in his sixth season in Morgantown, with a record there of 34-32, 22-25 in Big 12 play. In ten seasons overall, he’s 69-48. He is, as he has been since the COVID year, on the hot seat.
Kickoff
Saturday, October 19, 6:30pm CT at Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000) in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Tickets
For those visiting the Appalachians, third-party tickets are scattered, although there are some good clumps on the K-State sideline. The bottom end is at $25 a head, while the most expensive offerings are only $168. The median is around $54, which also happens to be what most of the Wildcat sideline seats are going for.
Weather
It looks like it’s going to be a gorgeous sunny fall football day in Morgantown. Tailgating temps will be in the 70s for most of the day, with the temperature dipping to the low 60s around kickoff and staying above 50° until everyone heads home.
Odds
K-State opened as only a 1.5-point favorite, but the line’s opened up and the Cats are now -3 at DraftKings with the over at 55.5. Our calculating devices have determined that means Vegas expects a 29-26 K-State win. The money line is -148 for K-State, +124 for West Virginia. Oddshark’s computer expects a slightly better result, projecting K-State by a score of 34-29.
Television
For the sixth week in a row, K-State’s on a big boy network as FOX will carry the game in prime-time with Connor Onion, Mark Helfrich, and Josh Sims on the call.
Radio
As always, Wyatt Thompson, Stan Weber, and Matt Walters will be on hand on the K-State Sports Network as well as via satellite on SiriusXM 139 or 198.
Internet Streaming
The game will stream on the FOX Sports app (cable/satellite subscription required). Audio available via kstatesports.com. Live stats provided by StatBroadcast.
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