Kansas rolls past WVU in Big 12 shocker, 37-14
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In a must-win and winnable game on paper, West Virginia football didn’t want any part of Kansas on Saturday afternoon.
The three-win Jayhawks rolled the Mountaineers in every facet of the game to embarrass WVU at home 37-14. This was Kansas’ second Power Four and Big 12 win on the season and fourth win total at 4-6. WVU has lost back-to-back games and is 5-5 overall, 2-5 in the conference. The Mountaineers are still a win away from a bowl game with two games left.
On both sides of the ball, the Mountaineers had their worst performances of the season.
“I apologize to our fan base, to every West Virginia fan out there,” Rich Rodriguez said. “I mean, I didn’t see this coming. It was just embarrassing. I mean, I told the team this is as poorly coached as it can be.”
Usually, WVU relies on the offense to keep it in games, one of the best in the Big 12, but Kansas, who had the eighth-ranked defense in the Big 12, had the Mountaineers completely bottled up.
WVU couldn’t get the ground game going at all. Running back Cam Cook had 12 rushing yards, and quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (36) couldn’t sneak out for really anything either. WVU had 35 rushing yards on the night, which was the lowest this season. The Mountaineers had 19 yards rushing at half.
Hawkins did add another rushing touchdown to his season total of 20, but it was insignificant in the grand scheme of the game.
When the run game breaks down, usually Hawkins can make plays with his arm, like in the win over Cincinnati. Hawkins couldn’t move the ball well through the air. It didn’t start great, and on the second offensive snap of the game, Hawkins’ pass was tipped and intercepted. He threw for 227 yards — most in garbage time — on 19-for-34 passes. Hawkins was sacked four times, and Kansas had nine tackles for loss.
“We didn’t block at all up front,” Rodriguez “I knew their front was good, but I mean, it was bad from the start.”
Hawkins and the offense had something going at the start of the fourth quarter. Hawkins completed a pass to receiver Cyrus Traugh over the middle of the field for 18 yards to put the Mountaineers over midfield. WVU faced a fourth and 1, and didn’t convert. Hawkins connected to receiver John Neider late in the game to make it 37-14. It was way too late by then.
WVU punted seven times, which was the most this season, and had two turnovers on downs. The Mountaineers had 262 yards of offense for a season low and seven first downs through three quarters.
The Mountaineers’ defense was brutal for the second-straight week, mostly in the first half. Kansas went right up and down the field and scored touchdowns on four of six drives to start the game. The Jayhawks didn’t have to punt at all. Kansas had 339 yards of offense and averaged 7.7 yards a play. The 30-7 lead was the Jayhawks’ largest lead in the Big 12 this season.
Backup running back Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman had two rushing touchdowns at the break. Kansas had 228 rushing yards in the half, which was the most it’d have in a single game this season. Quarterback Isaiah Marshall had more rushing yards (134) than WVU had of total offense (79) heading into the locker room.
Marshall finished the game carrying the ball 19 times for 164 yards and a touchdown. He completed his first nine passes and finished connecting on 15 for 18 for 152 yards.
“He just created problems for our defense,” linebacker Cam Torbor said. “We just got to go back to the film, watch it, see how we can stop that from happening again.”
Marshall led Kansas’ 448 yards of offense, which was the most against a Power Four team this season.
The defense showed improvement to start the second half, as it did against Texas Tech. WVU forced back-to-back punts to open the half. Kansas went scoreless in the third quarter and was held to 78 yards. Right out of the third quarter break, running back Chase Belcher scored his second rushing touchdown of the game untouched to make it 37-7.
“We haven’t played well defensively in any game,” Rodriguez said. “We played tighter, tighter a little bit in a couple games, TCU level, but we haven’t played well all year.”
WVU faces an uphill battle to try to get to a bowl game. The Mountaineers play Houston, who was a top 25 team heading into the week, and then No. 2 Utah to close out the season. There’s a lot to correct in not a lot of time.
“I mean, offense poorly coached, defense poorly coached,” Rodriguez said. “I thought we had a decent week, but give them credit. We got a lot of work to do. I think our players are resilient. We’re not going to let this game define us or define our season, but we’ve obviously got a lot of things to fix in a hurry.”