West Virginia Overcomes Slow Start vs Kansas, Moves to 3-1 on the Season
Morgantown, WV - West Virginia's offense got off to a slow start by missing on a deep ball to T.J. Simmons on the first play of the game, a loss of five on a handoff to Leddie Brown, and then a fumble by Simmons on 3rd and long - Kansas' first turnover forced on the season.
The Jayhawks capitalized on the tremendous field position by getting three points off the leg of kicker Jacob Borcila. On the following drive, Kansas wide receiver Andrew Parchment was the beneficiary of a deflected pass and trotted into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown to give the Jayhawks a quick 10-0 lead.
West Virginia finally got the offense moving toward the end of the first quarter and you can partially credit Kansas DB Karon Prunty for helping the Mountaineers after getting flagged for pass interference down the field on Sean Ryan on 3rd down. The following play, Doege took a shot into the end zone and connected with Bryce Ford-Wheaton for a 33-yard touchdown.
Following the West Virginia touchdown, Kansas QB Miles Kendrick threw a ball into triple coverage over the middle of the field and was intercepted by West Virginia safety Alonzo Addae. Unfortunately for WVU head coach Neal Brown, the theme of the first half continued for the offense and was unable to move the ball and failed to get any points off the interception.
West Virginia running back Leddie Brown got himself going early in the 2nd quarter helping the Mountaineers march down the field, but penalties helped stall out the drive once again. Evan Staley's 44-yard field goal attempt was pushed just wide right, keeping the score at 10-7.
The Leddie Brown show continued later in the 2nd quarter as he helped guide the Mountaineers on a 10 play, 90-yard drive that resulted in a six yard touchdown pass to Brown on a wheel route up the sideline that was wide open. That touchdown gave West Virginia their first lead of the day, 14-10. Brown had 45 yards on five carries on the drive.
Kansas turned the ball over again on the next drive after a deflected pass turned into the play of the game for West Virginia as defensive lineman Darius Stills dove forward about five yards for an interception. For the second time on the day, the Mountaineer offense failed to take advantage of an interception. Neal Brown elected to go for it on 4th down and the play resulted in an incompletion and an illegal motion. Doege wasn't looking and his receivers weren't set when he snapped the ball. Kansas declined the penalty to turn them over on downs.
Just before the half, the Mountaineers tacked onto their lead with a 33-yard field goal from Staley. After one half of play, West Virginia had a 17-10 lead.
Right when QB Jarret Doege started to get a little rhythm going in the passing game with a couple of nice, long throws, he made a drive-killing mistake throwing an interception on a screen that had no chance of being completed.
The Mountaineer defense continued to play lockdown defense in the third quarter, but the offense had to work with a long field seemingly all day. Having a long field didn't matter late in the 3rd quarter when Leddie Brown busted a 87-yard touchdown right up the gut, untouched.
Kansas failed to do much on offense on the ensuing drive thanks to true freshman defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor who registered back to back sacks, forcing a punt. West Virginia got great field position around midfield and picked up 45 yards through the air, including an eight yard touchdown pass to Sam James, extending the lead to 31-10.
To put the final nail in the coffin for Kansas, West Virginia running back Alec Sinkfield punched in a touchdown from three yards. Explosive Kansas running back Pooka Williams finally broke one loose for the first time on the day and ran the kickoff all the way back for a 92 yard touchdown return.
West Virginia would go onto win 38-17 and now moves to 2-1 in conference play and 3-1 overall.
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