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It was a cold blustery day for Mountaineer fans in attendance at the last home game Saturday, but the temps seemed to drop even further as soon as opening kickoff occurred.
Kansas State had a 14-0 lead eight plays into the game. The Mountaineers were able to respond by scoring on offense and quickly returning an interception for a touchdown to erase the lead, but any hope that WVU might settle into a competitive battle was quickly dashed as the Wildcats scored in just three plays to again take control. It was apparent West Virginia had no answers on defense, and with 13:28 remaining in the second quarter the Mountaineers had already surrendered an embarrassing 35 points.
The WVU offense did its part most of the day, as quarterback Garrett Greene tossed three first half touchdown passes to Sam James. Even with the first half fiasco, West Virginia was within two scores and opened the second half with a lengthy drive taking nearly nine minutes but a sack on third down forced a field goal that was missed. Any doubt about the outcome of the game was then gone.
The West Virginia defense is so bad the there is pressure to score every time WVU has the football. Thus faced with a 4th and one on their own 34 the Mountaineers went for the first down instead of punting in what was then a one score game. The decision was obvious: Kansas State was scoring each time it touched the football so the offense must score every possession. That is too much to ask.
Yes, there have been some injuries that have contributed to defensive failures, but those are foreseeable and that is why a team has 85 scholarships available. It hasn't helped that defensive backs have been entering the transfer portal in droves since the end of last season, with our best cornerback, Charles Woods, announcing before the game that he was throwing in the towel as well.
West Virginia has given up a whopping 15 scoring plays this season of 24 yards or more, which doesn't include many other long yardage nonscoring plays. A team cannot win playing this poorly on one side of the ball and the soon to be 4-8 record reflects that reality.
Special teams collapsed on Saturday as well. Casey Legg had made 40 consecutive extra point or field goal kicks in 2022, but suddenly ten games into the season the Mountaineers could not execute a snap and hold, leading to misses on two extra points and a field goal. The Kansas State average starting position after kickoffs was its own 33, while WVU averaged starting on its own 21. Spread out over 14 possessions that is a huge hidden yardage deficit to give up to a good team.
The announced attendance of 37,055 was the lowest at a home game in 9 years, which tells us a lot about the current state of the football program.
THIS SATURDAY: A promising season for Oklahoma State has hit the skids. But don't expect them to roll over in their last home game, and the Mountaineers have been an easy out on the road in conference play. OKLAHOMA STATE 34 WEST VIRGINIA 17.