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11-12-2017, 04:22 AM
MANHATTAN, Kan. - For the second straight week, West Virginia couldn't score after halftime, and for the second straight week, the Mountaineers didn't need to.
All 28 points the Mountaineers registered came in the first half, and Tony Gibson's defense came up big, time after time, to give WVU a hard-fought, 28-23 victory over Kansas State in a steady, drizzling rain at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It was West Virginia's first here since joining the Big 12 five years ago.
Will Grier completed 27-of-46 passes for 372 yards and four touchdowns - two each going to David Sills V and Ka'Raun White - as WVU improved to 7-3, 5-2, and kept its Big 12 Championship Game hopes alive.
The only points scored in the second half came early in the fourth quarter when Kansas State's Matthew McCrane booted his third field goal, a 39-yarder, with 12:44 left in the game.
Four critical third-down drops in the second half, two by Sills and two by Gary Jennings Jr., kept the pressure on West Virginia's defense, however.
Trailing 28-23, K-State marched to the WVU 19 where it faced and second and 5 with the clock winding inside of 10 minutes to play. Here, Skylar Thompson tried a pass down the middle of the field that freshman safety Kenny Robinson intercepted at the 15 and returned it 37 yards to the Kansas State 48.
The offense couldn't move the sticks, but a Billy Kinney punt to D.J. Reed at the K-State 3 was covered nicely by Shane Commodore and Marvin Gross Jr.
Two runs lost 2 yards, bringing up a third and 12 at the 1. Thompson's third down pass to Isaiah Zuber to the 21 was ruled complete on the field, but replay upstairs discovered he bobbled the pass and the football hit the ground before he secured it.
Marcus Simms fielded Kansas State's punt at the 38 with 4:33 showing on the clock. Three Justin Crawford runs gained 7 yards, forcing a fourth-and-3 decision by the Mountaineers. The choice was made to go for it and Grier hit Jennings for five yards and a first down at the K-State 26.
Another first down, a Crawford 14-yard run to the 12, enabled West Virginia to run out the clock with the football sitting at the Wildcat 2.
The game ended the way it began, with both offenses struggling to possess the ball and make first downs.
The first quarter was mostly dominated by Kansas State, the Wildcats taking advantage of two West Virginia turnovers and spending most of it in WVU territory.
West Virginia's first turnover, a Sills fumble at the 48, didn't lead to any points but a second, a Reed 25-yard interception and return to the WVU 3 when Simms couldn't handle Grier's pass, did.
Reed's return gave the Wildcats a first and goal at the 3, but three plays went backwards a yard where McCrane kicked a 21-yard field goal.
McCrane's second field goal of the first quarter was set up by Reed's 23-yard punt return to the Wildcat 48. This possession saw the game's initial first down, a Thompson 11-yard pass to Dalton Schoen out in the flat to take the ball to the WVU 32. Three plays later, McCrane booted his second field goal from the 43 giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
But that lasted for the amount of time it took Grier to wind up his arm and complete a long pass down the near sideline to White for a 75-yard touchdown.
And more Grier bombs followed. On West Virginia's next offensive possession following a Kansas State punt, Grier hit Sills down the near sideline for 43 yards to the K-State 16 on the final play of the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Grier went right back to Sills on a quick slant for a 16-yard touchdown.
A second Sills touchdown catch was made possible by some great individual effort by Grier and Jennings. Grier escaped massive pressure, ducked a sack near midfield, scrambled to his right and threw a long pass down the near sideline that Jennings jumped up and hauled down at the Kansas State 4.
Two plays later, Sills made an equally impressive catch when he twisted his body to make a sliding catch in the back of the end zone, getting his right big toe down before falling out of bounds.
The replay official confirmed the call on the field giving West Virginia a 21-13 lead.
Prior to this, Kansas State scored its first touchdown of the game when fullback Winston Dimel bulled in from the 1. A pair of Dalvin Warmack runs, one going for 22 and the other for 21, got K-State into position for Dimel to score his third rushing TD of the year.
His fourth came moments later and was set up by another long Warmack run, a 41-yarder to the West Virginia 41. Thompson completed a 24-yard pass to Zuber for a first down at the West Virginia 9.
Dimel scored his second touchdown of the afternoon from the 2 with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
This set up a frenetic finish to the half. West Virginia made two first downs and had another at the K-State 39, but Crawford had the football knocked out from behind and Joe Davies recovered the football.
But two plays later, Thompson's screen pass was intercepted by Ezekiel Rose at the K-State 30 with just 10 seconds left in the half. Instead of attempting a long field goal, WVU took a shot at the end zone.
Grier, scrambling in the pocket like Doug Flutie, bought enough time to throw a pass into the end zone to a wide-open White, who caught the ball as he fell down to the ground. The play covered 30 yards and Evan Staley's conversion kick gave WVU a 28-20 halftime lead.
The third quarter featured lots of action but no scoring.
Kansas State's best scoring opportunity came with 3:45 left in the quarter when Reed returned a Kinney punt 44 yards to the West Virginia 26. Two offside penalties on West Virginia moved the ball to the 19, but the defense stiffened.
McCrane's third field goal attempt, from the 22, was ruled no good when the entire football did not sail between the goal posts.
WVU drove to the Kansas State 36 on its opening possession of the third quarter, but Sills dropped Grier's third-down pass out in the flat on third and 7 to force another Kinney punt.
Crawford finished the game with 117 yards on 17 carries, while White caught eight passes for 168 yards and Jennings had a game-high 13 catches for 115 yards for the Mountaineers.
Defensively, linebacker David Long Jr. was credited with 11 tackles, eight solo. Five different defenders had a hand in West Virginia's four sacks, and seven were involved in 10 tackles for losses.
K-State (5-5, 3-4) finished the game with just 332 yards of offense, 96 of those coming from Warmack. Thompson completed just 13-of-26 passes for 159 yards with two interceptions.
West Virginia plays its final home game of the year next Saturday against Texas.
http://wvusports.com/news/2017/11/11/foo...urday.aspx
All 28 points the Mountaineers registered came in the first half, and Tony Gibson's defense came up big, time after time, to give WVU a hard-fought, 28-23 victory over Kansas State in a steady, drizzling rain at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It was West Virginia's first here since joining the Big 12 five years ago.
Will Grier completed 27-of-46 passes for 372 yards and four touchdowns - two each going to David Sills V and Ka'Raun White - as WVU improved to 7-3, 5-2, and kept its Big 12 Championship Game hopes alive.
The only points scored in the second half came early in the fourth quarter when Kansas State's Matthew McCrane booted his third field goal, a 39-yarder, with 12:44 left in the game.
Four critical third-down drops in the second half, two by Sills and two by Gary Jennings Jr., kept the pressure on West Virginia's defense, however.
Trailing 28-23, K-State marched to the WVU 19 where it faced and second and 5 with the clock winding inside of 10 minutes to play. Here, Skylar Thompson tried a pass down the middle of the field that freshman safety Kenny Robinson intercepted at the 15 and returned it 37 yards to the Kansas State 48.
The offense couldn't move the sticks, but a Billy Kinney punt to D.J. Reed at the K-State 3 was covered nicely by Shane Commodore and Marvin Gross Jr.
Two runs lost 2 yards, bringing up a third and 12 at the 1. Thompson's third down pass to Isaiah Zuber to the 21 was ruled complete on the field, but replay upstairs discovered he bobbled the pass and the football hit the ground before he secured it.
Marcus Simms fielded Kansas State's punt at the 38 with 4:33 showing on the clock. Three Justin Crawford runs gained 7 yards, forcing a fourth-and-3 decision by the Mountaineers. The choice was made to go for it and Grier hit Jennings for five yards and a first down at the K-State 26.
Another first down, a Crawford 14-yard run to the 12, enabled West Virginia to run out the clock with the football sitting at the Wildcat 2.
The game ended the way it began, with both offenses struggling to possess the ball and make first downs.
The first quarter was mostly dominated by Kansas State, the Wildcats taking advantage of two West Virginia turnovers and spending most of it in WVU territory.
West Virginia's first turnover, a Sills fumble at the 48, didn't lead to any points but a second, a Reed 25-yard interception and return to the WVU 3 when Simms couldn't handle Grier's pass, did.
Reed's return gave the Wildcats a first and goal at the 3, but three plays went backwards a yard where McCrane kicked a 21-yard field goal.
McCrane's second field goal of the first quarter was set up by Reed's 23-yard punt return to the Wildcat 48. This possession saw the game's initial first down, a Thompson 11-yard pass to Dalton Schoen out in the flat to take the ball to the WVU 32. Three plays later, McCrane booted his second field goal from the 43 giving the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
But that lasted for the amount of time it took Grier to wind up his arm and complete a long pass down the near sideline to White for a 75-yard touchdown.
And more Grier bombs followed. On West Virginia's next offensive possession following a Kansas State punt, Grier hit Sills down the near sideline for 43 yards to the K-State 16 on the final play of the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Grier went right back to Sills on a quick slant for a 16-yard touchdown.
A second Sills touchdown catch was made possible by some great individual effort by Grier and Jennings. Grier escaped massive pressure, ducked a sack near midfield, scrambled to his right and threw a long pass down the near sideline that Jennings jumped up and hauled down at the Kansas State 4.
Two plays later, Sills made an equally impressive catch when he twisted his body to make a sliding catch in the back of the end zone, getting his right big toe down before falling out of bounds.
The replay official confirmed the call on the field giving West Virginia a 21-13 lead.
Prior to this, Kansas State scored its first touchdown of the game when fullback Winston Dimel bulled in from the 1. A pair of Dalvin Warmack runs, one going for 22 and the other for 21, got K-State into position for Dimel to score his third rushing TD of the year.
His fourth came moments later and was set up by another long Warmack run, a 41-yarder to the West Virginia 41. Thompson completed a 24-yard pass to Zuber for a first down at the West Virginia 9.
Dimel scored his second touchdown of the afternoon from the 2 with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
This set up a frenetic finish to the half. West Virginia made two first downs and had another at the K-State 39, but Crawford had the football knocked out from behind and Joe Davies recovered the football.
But two plays later, Thompson's screen pass was intercepted by Ezekiel Rose at the K-State 30 with just 10 seconds left in the half. Instead of attempting a long field goal, WVU took a shot at the end zone.
Grier, scrambling in the pocket like Doug Flutie, bought enough time to throw a pass into the end zone to a wide-open White, who caught the ball as he fell down to the ground. The play covered 30 yards and Evan Staley's conversion kick gave WVU a 28-20 halftime lead.
The third quarter featured lots of action but no scoring.
Kansas State's best scoring opportunity came with 3:45 left in the quarter when Reed returned a Kinney punt 44 yards to the West Virginia 26. Two offside penalties on West Virginia moved the ball to the 19, but the defense stiffened.
McCrane's third field goal attempt, from the 22, was ruled no good when the entire football did not sail between the goal posts.
WVU drove to the Kansas State 36 on its opening possession of the third quarter, but Sills dropped Grier's third-down pass out in the flat on third and 7 to force another Kinney punt.
Crawford finished the game with 117 yards on 17 carries, while White caught eight passes for 168 yards and Jennings had a game-high 13 catches for 115 yards for the Mountaineers.
Defensively, linebacker David Long Jr. was credited with 11 tackles, eight solo. Five different defenders had a hand in West Virginia's four sacks, and seven were involved in 10 tackles for losses.
K-State (5-5, 3-4) finished the game with just 332 yards of offense, 96 of those coming from Warmack. Thompson completed just 13-of-26 passes for 159 yards with two interceptions.
West Virginia plays its final home game of the year next Saturday against Texas.
http://wvusports.com/news/2017/11/11/foo...urday.aspx
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