Kansas and West Virginia are walking into Saturday’s Big 12 matchup in Morgantown with the same immediate task: shake off a painful loss and try to clean up the mess it exposed.
West Virginia comes home after a wild 53-48 defeat at Texas Tech, while Kansas is trying to regroup from a 33-32 loss to UCF that ended on a touchdown pass with one second left. For the Jayhawks, it was a brutal swing - they erased a 19-point hole, grabbed the lead in the final minute, and still walked off beaten. That result left Kansas needing to win its final three games to reach bowl eligibility.
Isaiah Marshall was at the center of that comeback effort. He ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries, and he also completed 21 of 32 passes for 210 yards.
Kansas has moved the ball well all season, averaging 441.4 yards of total offense and 201.2 rushing yards per game. Dylan Edwards leads the Jayhawks with 595 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
West Virginia, though, brings a different kind of firepower. The Mountaineers rank sixth nationally in rushing offense at 263.6 yards per game and 10th in total offense at 480.8 yards per game.
Michael Hawkins Jr. has been the engine, rushing for 924 yards - the most among Power Four quarterbacks - and 19 touchdowns. Cam Cook has added 1,072 rushing yards of his own.
“They’re explosive in so many areas,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said at his Monday media availability.
Hawkins delivered another huge outing against Texas Tech, accounting for four touchdowns while throwing for 303 yards and rushing for 88 yards and three scores. Cook added 149 yards on the ground.
The problem for West Virginia has been what happens when the other team has the ball. The Mountaineers gave up 638 yards to Texas Tech and sit last in the Big 12 in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense and scoring defense.
“The answer is just play better defense. Play better defense.
You’ve got to play better defense. It’s ridiculous,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said after the loss.
Kansas will try to take advantage with a defense that ranks second in the Big 12 against the pass, even if it sits fifth from the bottom against the run. Leroy Harris III made his presence felt against UCF with three sacks and now has 14 tackles for loss.
The teams met last season in Lawrence, where Kansas rolled to a 41-10 win over West Virginia.
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