Stop me if you heard this before, but the West Virginia Football team will look to regroup following a heartbreaking loss. However, WVU (5-4, 2-4) isn’t the only team in this contest coming off a heartbreaking loss as the Kansas Jayhawks (3-6, 1-5) are also licking their wounds after their 33-32 loss to UCF last week. Throw in the fact that both teams are fighting for their bowl game lives and we should have an interesting game on tap Saturday evening at Milan Puskar Stadium.
Here’s what to look for
this Saturday at 5:30pm.
Which Team Can Regain Composure After Heartbreak
WVU had a chance to get a huge, program changing win on the road against a team that has bludgeoned them the past few seasons and then the entire fourth quarter happened and here we are still trying to get over it. Don’t get me wrong, this program is headed in the right direction but I can’t blame anyone for still being upset about it. That loss pretty much makes this game a must win for the Mountaineers if they want to get to a bowl game. Have you seen the schedule for the rest of the season? They still have to have to play 14.) Houston AND travel to 2.) Utah. Yeah they have to beat Kansas, no if’s and’s or buts.
How does RichRod get his team to move on from last week’s heartbreak? I don’t know but it’s imperative that he does.
Kansas may have had it even worse than WVU. With three seconds left they let up a touchdown to UCF to lose the game. THREE SECONDS LEFT. They Jayhawks now sit at 3-6 and need to win out to get to a bowl game. I know Kansas football is used to pain, but is head coach Lance Leipold able to get his team to be able to regain focus? It’ll be an interesting chess match, if one team scores quickly the other’s fortitude might break early.
How Does Each Team Handle The Elements?
After a pretty beautiful October it is starting to feel like the end of fall and early winter in Morgantown. Saturday’s game is going to be cold and wet, with a chance for snow early in the morning. It will be the first time all season that the Mountaineers will be dealing with the elements of some sort. How is this Mountaineer team built for the cold and rain? We know they can run the football which certainly will be of help, but we also know they like to go fast. Will they be able to go fast in the rain? Will they want to? Will they try a different change of pace? I am interested to see the offense in the weather. The defense? Well it might actually be able to help them since Kansas will be more inclined to try and run the ball.
Who Wins The Turnover Battle?
Simply put, when its cold, wet, and rainy you can expect both teams will want to run the football. How do opposing defenses try and flip that script? By causing fumbles. If teams opt to pass and the ball slips out of their hands, what will the defense try to do? Get interceptions.
West Virginia for the most part, has been good at getting turnovers and preventing them. They have a +2 turnover margin on the season. No turnover is necessarily “good” but it feels like each time WVU has turned it over its been at a big/poor spot. Think the Oklahoma State game and the Arizona game. They somehow didn’t have or force a turnover last week against Texas Tech, maybe if they got one it would have been a different story?
Kansas has not been good at either forcing or creating turnovers as they have a -5 turnover margin on the season. That tracks for a team with a 3-6 record.
It feels like it will be a lower scoring game than we are used to this season which means protecting the football is of the utmost importance. A single turnover can be the difference in this one. WVU can’t let a turnover be the reason they fall to 5-5. Let’s hope causing one (or more) is the reason they improve to 6-5.
Take care of business and play with house money against Houston and Utah to close out the regular season. Let’s Go!
