MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Both Kansas and West Virginia are looking to recharge to start Big 12 Conference play when a pair of teams that finished the non-league portion of its schedule with 1-2 records meet at noon Saturday inside Mountaineer Field.
The game will be carried nationally by ESPN2.
“Two teams whose backs are against the wall and have identical records,” said West Virginia head coach Neal Brown.
The Mountaineers enter off a 38-34 loss last Saturday at Pitt, a game in which Brown’s team led by 10 points with inside 4 minutes remaining, only to allow a pair of lengthy touchdown drives.
“We didn’t get it done. It’s a rivalry game and we had it in our grasp and didn’t finish,” Brown said. “We’re not going to feel sorry for ourselves or sit around and be miserable. There’s people with real problems in this world and it’s not us. We didn’t play good enough. We have to get it fixed and we will. You go to work. The mentality has to be that we have one football game and the focus is on Kansas. At times we’ve shown we’re a good football team and at times, we haven’t. We have to be able to defend our home turf.”
The Jayhawks, meanwhile, have lost one-score games to Illinois and UNLV in consecutive weeks after opening the season with a lopsided win over Lindenwood.
WVU and KU are a combined 0-4 against FBS competition, with both having only beat a FCS-level program to this point.
“Everything starts over right now,” KU head coach Lance Leipold said. “You continue to learn about yourselves a lot of different ways in these moments. We have a lot of football to play.”
Something will have to give Saturday afternoon as the Jayhawks, and in particular quarterback Jalon Daniels, have been plagued by turnovers over the season’s first month. Daniels has already been intercepted six times, including five over two losses, among the team’s eight turnovers.
He’ll oppose a pass defense that’s yet to prove it can slow down an opponent, with West Virginia having allowed 842 yards and eight touchdowns through the air in three games.
The Mountaineers have not recorded an interception and a fumble recovery in the first quarter of a season-opening loss to Penn State marks the only turnover forced by a defense that’s failed to do so for the last 11 frames.
“When you get an opportunity, those are game-changing plays,” Brown said. “We had two of them in the [Pitt] game and we didn’t make those.”
Daniels is working with a new offensive coordinator in Jeff Grimes and has struggled to this point, completing 39-of-71 passes for 442 yards with twice as many interceptions as his three touchdown passes. A dual threat, Daniels has 100 rushing yards and a pair of scores on the ground, and that aspect of his game could be on display plenty against a Mountaineer defense that’s also had difficulty with mobile signal-callers.
Sep 13, 2024; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks head coach Lance Leipold during warmups prior to a game against the UNLV Rebels at Children’s Mercy Park. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
“Jalon has been outstanding with attitude, effort and coach ability. We’re not going to put this on one guy by any stretch,” Leipold said. “If you’re going to put it on one person, put it on me. There’s some good things out there and moments, but right now, the biggest thing on offense is we have not responded well when something has gone wrong. Be it a turnover or three-and-out, we’re not responding off of that. That’s the No. 1 thing we have to try to fix.”
KU tailback Devin Neal (333 rushing yards, 2 TDs) and wideout Luke Grimm (18 receptions, 157 yards, 2 TDs) are featured playmakers the Mountaineers will look to contain.
Mountaineer quarterback Garrett Greene, like Daniels a dual threat, is 48-for-81 with 607 yards and five touchdowns. Both of his interceptions came a week ago.
WVU relies on running backs CJ Donaldson (246 yards, 3 TDs) and Jahiem White (179 yards 2 TDs), but does not have a wideout with 100 receiving yards to this point. Tight end Kole Taylor leads the team with 115 yards on nine catches.
Defensively, the Mountaineers have been far better against the run while getting high-level play from defensive lineman TJ Jackson and linebackers Trey Lathan and Josiah Trotter. Jackson’s 2.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss are both team highs, while Trotter and Lathan are second and third on the squad, respectively, with 17 and 15 tackles. Lathan has 4.5 TFLs as well.
Yet if the Mountaineers can’t display improvement defending downfield passes and preventing quarterbacks from escaping the pocket and making plays, Daniels could very well be in line to get right.
“Last week is last week. We can’t dwell on the past,” Jackson said. “Be 1-0 this week.”
Brown indicated cornerbacks Jacolby Spells and TJ Crandall will see an increase in snaps against KU as the secondary looks for a potential spark to ignite its play.
“We haven’t played as well as we need to at that position,” Brown said, “so you have to continue to give guys opportunities in games.”
The KU defensive line is led by Tommy Dunn and Jereme Robinson, the latter of which has 2.5 sacks and 4.5 TFLs. A secondary of all seniors has productive cornerbacks Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson, along with reliable safeties O.J. Burroughs and Marvin Grant.
The Jayhawks have allowed only 49 points in three games, including 23 in both losses.
“There’s a lot of noise that can easily creep in and separate us. We have to stay together more now than ever,” WVU sixth-year senior center Brandon Yates said. “It’s nothing against Kansas, but we have to focus on us and the things we need to be better at.”
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Publish date : 2024-09-21 01:12:00
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