If not for Skyler Howard semi-somersaulting toward the end zone, I’d have a hard time thinking of one hallmark of Saturday’s game. And if we inventory our memories, Howard has put himself in harm’s way often enough that years from now we might confuse that play with another. Also: West Virginia got zero points out of that play and out of that possession. So take that away. No one’s looking back and saying, “Oh, yeah. That’s the game McKoy and Crawford had 100 yards each,” or “That was the Rasul Douglas game!”

I’m not taking anything away from them or from anyone else who had a big play or a big game. But WVU v. Kansas just sort of popped up on the schedule, started and eventually finished. And let’s be honest, it was a night game because ESPN2 went Iwo Jima with a white flag opposite ESPN’s Alabama v. LSU. The officials took the occasion to workshop seemingly every procedure and interpretation in the book. Kansas coach David Beaty was fine-tuning his game management and using his challenge — on an incomplete pass, no less — on the way to a 31-point halftime deficit. The two teams were separated by 11 games relative to .500. The point spread was 34 1/2 points.

And it was impossibly prosaic. Believe me. I watched it twice. On purpose. I think one way we could remember the game is as the one that happened right about the time we started seeing movement toward ways to legislate faster games. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy openly wondered Monday why we’re not hearing about the idea of 12-minute quarters. I suspect it won’t be quite that dramatic, but something’s going to happen to the rule book.

Still, the pace and the frustrations turned out to be good for West Virginia. Kansas aligned itself in such a way that was going to allow for some deep passes. But there was also an opportunity for the Mountaineers to run right at the Jayhawks, which is sort of what they wanted to do anyway. The offense felt like it could do that and win the game, but there’s always this impetus to look at the defense and take what’s available. There’s some sort of self-destruct mechanism if WVU doesn’t look at the defense, count numbers and follow the if-then scenario.

So on the second play, WVU went deep to Shelton Gibson and and gained 40 yards. On the first play of the second drive, a pass to Ka’Raun White drew a pass interference penalty. On the second play of the third drive, another deep throw to White had a chance. White was behind the defense, but the throw was out of bounds.

Plan A was not working, though. With 6:10 left in the opening quarter, WVU had three possessions, three points and two punts, and Dana Holgorsen (pictured) had enough. He decided to put in a tight end and use a fullback, let the Jayhawks crowd the box and simply move them out of the way.

Fourth drive: Run, run, run, imcomplete pass just because, run/touchdown. The next punt came with 4:55 left to play in the game.

This is not merely the story of the game. It’s the story of the season and of Holgorsen’s — what’s the word for this? It’s a renaissance year, but he’s never been associated with this variety of offense. It’s a metamorphosis, but that implies he hasn’t been successful when he has. Renamorphosis? No. Renaimorphosis. That damn “i” always screws me up when I try to spell the word or book certain hotels.

Anyhow, this renaimorphosis. It got serious Saturday night. WVU didn’t mess around. Well, it did, but only briefly. There were some jabs and there were some haymakers early, but once Holgorsen and his crew measured things properly, they really did go after it. He could have kept throwing the ball deep and probably found a way to make that work on occasion. Eventually, Kansas would have to adjust and then make way for the Mountaineers and their run game. The more immediate success came by getting swole and pushing people around. And later on, there were some vertical throws. It wasn’t quite a Hannibal Smith game, but maybe it was a Hannibal game. Rode massive beings through rough terrain and made the most of their balance and their talent on the field and on the sideline.

How did we get here? Let’s find out by taking a look at the Good and the Bad of WVU v. Kansas.

Good: Skyler Oww-ard

Speaking of legislation, in high school, this would be a penalty on Howard. Given the way college football has addressed and managed player safety, I wonder if we see something soon. It’s dangerous for the defender, who sometimes catches a knee in the head, and, of course, the player with the ball. And on many occasions, the reward isn’t worth the risk. Spec, he’s trying to score. Oh. Did he? Did they? I could have done with Howard just lowering his shoulder or, you know, sliding. I’m sure Holgorsen agrees. Watch that replay. If the defender hits him just a little differently — lower on the legs, more from the side than straight on — it’s certainly possible Howard doesn’t get the full rotation that kept him form landing on his coconut. It’s a little frightening.

That said, it was fun to watch and wholly unsurprising from Howard. He thrives on and probably even seeks out plays like that. It’s who he is. It’s what he does. It’s part of the explanation for his success and the team’s record. It’d be nice to see that last 13 games, though.

Of course, some of that concern is out of his hands.

Josh Carraway thought this was savage. (Aside: I think right guard Kyle Bosch innocently facilitates this. Right tackle Colton McKivitz seems to have it under control. It’s not out of control. Bosch has some free time and shoves the defender, and that re-routes him to Howard’s gullet.)

Bad: Sad trombone

I want to issue a disclaimer that I’m sure is going to invade your reactions and your thought process as you consider the subsequent Goods and Bads: Kansas stinks. That might affect some of the reviews that follow. It probably should. Forty straight road losses? Guys, visit at a FCS team, please. It’s almost impossible to believe this same program contended for the national title in 2007. Some of these teams the past few years — I mean, are we getting close to the Temple Doomsday scenario?

Bad: Red zone
It’s still a Thing. We can credit Holgorsen and his staff all we want for having some ingenuity in the red zone, but it’s still a struggle. WVU is No. 108 out of 128 in red zone touchdown percentage (52.5, 12-for-40), and that’s a Big 12 keeper stat. The Mountaineers are dead last in the league in that category and, by the looks of it, not getting better. Again, the Mountaineers have tried and they have some things that work, but they continue to misfire on fades when other throws work. They run out of formations that concentrate the action around the line of scrimmage and/or tip plays even though they’re quite capable of running out of spread formations. You pay that bill sooner or later, and when you’re an offense that hasn’t been hitting big plays and scoring touchdowns at the rate you’ve wanted, it’s underlined. And italicized. In bold. No one’s going to want to talk about it, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Just because it’s tighter close to the goal line and defenses make it hard doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. The fact the Mountaineers have this prolonged issue? We’ll see how much it matters, because it does matter.

Knowing me, WVU’s going to score on three fades in a game soon, and we’re all going to be served our words with a nice Chianti, but I’d never throw one again. This play just makes so much more sense. The defender has to run through the trees, and Shorts is so, so, so good in the end zone. The throw is easier for Howard, too. He can make this consistently. Later in the game, WVU goes back to this, and Howard tries to hit White as he slants from the top of the screen and into the end zone. It’s smart. Either ploy has a better chance of succeeding, although even I have to acknowledge the pass to White, who may or may not be the ideal target, skipped into the air and hit the blue turf, and the Mountaineers were fortunate.

I’m also still surprised Jovon Durante hasn’t become a red zone weapon. The Mountaineers sometimes avoid three- or four-receiver sets in the red zone, and I understand the numbers involved with traditional four-wide sets — no tight end or fullback — but you can get a big body on the field with three receivers, and WVU did much of its damage against Kansas with three receivers and a big body. If there are three receivers, Daikiel Shorts can be an outside receiver like he often is near the end zone, and Durante can be in the slot. I’d like to see a linebacker or safety defender cover his twitches in a small space.

I thought center Tyler Orlosky summed up the frustration quite nicely after the game. “We ran inside zone to get down there, so I thought we probably should have went back to that. Obviously, I’m not a coach. I don’t get paid to make those decisions. I thought our game plan the last seven games was QB sneak or hand it off. Obviously, Kansas watches film and knew what was coming.”

Obviously.

Kansas won the World Series and the Stanley Cup. In reality, they won a flip of the coin. (Side Bad: The officials should have reviewed Howard’s sneak on third down. I’m not certain he scored — I believe he did — but I suspect the officials, who weren’t certain about the six plays they reviewed, were not either. I’ll also welcome a discussion about whether Holgorsen should have either challenged it himself — meh — or called a timeout to give the officials time or ask them to review it.)

Good: Lab hours

 

It’s a variation of an empty set, but it’s the fourth variation WVU has shown.

1. This
2. Stacked twins with a slot receiver
3. Stacked twins on one side, stacked twins in the slot on the other side with a lone receiver outside
4. Three receivers on one side, two receivers on another

I’ve never seen the Mountaineers use this, and I suspect it’s not the last time. WVU loves to run Howard on a draw out of empty sets, but that’s not perpetual. Right?

Bad: Ball security

This is a bang-bang play, but it’s not the first time Howard has had to deal with immediacy. The read plays leave the defensive end unblocked. This could happen, but this also shouldn’t happen. It was also bothersome for the Mountaineers because of Howard’s issue against Oklahoma State and a rerun Saturday that again gave the opponent great field position and eventually points. Don’t sleep on the Kansas front, by the way. The sack and TFL numbers are near or at the top of the Big 12, and they have some individuals. Again, the opponent has something to do with this, but so does Howard. Is he getting loose late in the season. Is it two plays by two good opponents? Is it going to keep happening?

Good: WVU defense

 

That’s the Kansas drive chart in top-to-bottom chronological order. The Mountaineers smothered the short passes. They pressured a quarterback who could be rattled. They didn’t let anything happen in the run game. It was high-level stuff for a defense that didn’t have that the week before. The game was over by the time Kansas pounced on a turnover and pushed one across. The backup backup (not a typo) quarterback then came in and got hot. Let’s not acquit the defenders for having that happen, but it’s at least understandable. The game was almost literally in the 11th hour, the scoreboard was whispering in their ears and the third-stringer, who for some reason was the third-stringer, looked really good and gave his team a spark. He did his job.

Hey, know who didn’t do his job? Rasul Douglas!

It’s third-and-a fortnight. WVU’s playing Cover 3, I promise. I don’t know, but I promise. Douglas is not. He’s all up on his receiver like it’s Cover 0. And the quarterback, possibly utterly confused by this coverage, throws the ball to Douglas. The weird part? If Douglas did flub his lines — Update: He did. Wrote this Monday. Confirmed it Tuesday. — it not only worked out, but it’s the second time he’s done that this season. His interception against Kansas State was also on a missed call.

But let’s not dismiss Douglas and his play in general. The second interception was far more conventional and also impressive. He has five now, and not in the Daryl Worley “They Throw at Him” sense of the stat. I mean, the first one Saturday was thrown at him, but he’s put himself in spots for all the others. His teammates and coaches say he really studies and knows the opponents and their routes, and Douglas’ physical tendencies are why he’s quite good in man-to-man, which is just what Tony Gibson wants for his defense.

There’s this thing one of you does in TFGD when someone catches one on Douglas, and the text simply reads “13.” Sometimes it’s “13!” But the Mountaineers are going to play a lot of Cover 0 and Cover 1, and that means a cornerback is going to have the ball thrown at him and oftentimes without much or any help from a safety. Douglas seems to make more plays than he allows, though. And given what Texas running back D’Onta Foreman is doing, the safeties will be needed against the run and Cover o or Cover 1 will be used frequently. (Aside: Maurice Fleming is good to go Saturday, it would seem. He’s replaced Elijah Battle as the starter opposite Douglas. His back just won’t stop giving him issues, though.)

Good: Job doer

He only has three sacks, and that’s half of his TFL total. His numbers this year likely won’t match last year’s. But Noble Nwachukwu is the best pro prospect on this defense. We’re not going to argue that, are we? He’s not causing all the trouble we maybe expected, but he makes a lot of plays, like this one. Kansas is out of danger with the escape and the pass, but Nwachukwu causes trouble after all and forces a punt. That’s going to be on his senior film NFL teams look at in the winter.

Bad: Hertz

He’s not reading this. He hates it. But he thought this was the greatest play. I have no idea why, but he was adamant Kansas ran some sort of misdirection. Maybe they did, because what’s Sean Walter’s up to? The quarterback is scrambling, so I guess that’s one way to take the inside receiver out of the play. That’s one way to take the linebacker out of the play, too.

Bad: Wesco

Bah. Just because Trevon Wesco dropped it doesn’t mean I’ve been told again and again he has big and strong hands, great ups and a wide catching radius. We saw two of the three! That said, Wesco’s become an asset. The formation they chunked Kansas to death with was their goal line set with two receivers, a tight end and and a fullback. They didn’t have this before Big 12 play and they weren’t using it as frequently or as liberally as the did Saturday.

Kennedy McKoy has a freeway on the right side, and Wesco does just enough to put up a wall that keeps the defender from making the play. That’s not a highlight reel block, but it does the trick. Wesco otherwise handled himself just fine when he had his hands full on the line. I don’t want to get carried away, but this is a big development for the offense. The Mountaineers were only doing this in or when nearing the red zone. Now they’re doing it coming off their goal line and anywhere else on the field. Kansas figured it out and couldn’t stop it.

Good: The other guy

This was Eli Wellman’s Danny Riggs game. JaJuan Seider coaches running backs. He watched McKoy and Justin Crawford run wild on Kansas, and he thought the fullback should have been the player of the game. When the awards came out Sunday, Wellman was the pick. He was everywhere. He cleared lanes inside. He threw blocks outside. He knocked people over on the second level. He cut on the back side of touchdown runs. It was impressive, and it happened on a night when blocking was contagious. Isn’t that right, Mr. Durante.

Good: Grant Lingafelter

Another development? Marcell Lazard played. He didn’t get a snap against Oklahoma State. Grant Lingafelter played. He took some heat for Howard’s sack/fumble against the Cowboys. Lingafelter was very good Saturday. He may have fatigued late because he played so much in the second half, but that’s part of the process. Sooner or later, you need to play more and get tired and push through it. Watch this play by the left guard. One reason Kansas has good sack and TFL numbers is because of the games they play with their linemen and outside linebackers. This is a twist inside designed to confound Adam Pankey and Lingafelter. No. 56 puts hands on the defensive end and then pivots inside, floors the linebacker and belly flops. On a separate run play, he deals with 6-foot-3, 300-pound Deelsaac Davis and puts him on the ground.

Scramble drill! All Howard and Shelton Gibson, right? Right. Howard moves because of the pressure coming from his blind side, but a swivel has Lingafelter’s head on it, and he helps take two guys out of the play. Extremely promising sign for Ron Crook & Co.

Bad: The Ka’Raun White portion of the program

Sigh. Can’t happen. It might be that he’s in a funk. I don’t know. White was off limits to reporters last week, which may or may not mean anything, and I suspect his name is on the list this week, too. (Update: Yup!) But this just looks like the yips. WVU is going to stick with him. Gary Jennings and Marcus Simms aren’t close to displacing him. White’s a reliable possession receiver — 36 receptions, 26 first downs; 18 third-down receptions, 12 first downs — but he’s got to give the Mountaineers something vertically, too, and this was his chance. Right now, he’s averaging 11.28 yards per catch.

He very nearly gave away a possession later in the game, and even though he survives the play, he still lost the ball. Credit his quarterback, though. Howard went right back to him on the next play. Let’s see where that goes.

Good: Shorts
Forty-six receptions, 36 first downs, four touchdowns. All 14 of his catches on third down have been good for a first down. He’s active and productive on any down and any spot on the field. WVU is going to miss him a ton next year.

Good: My goodness, Shelton

(Pretty great screen cap…) I’m all for getting Gibson more than three or four touches a game, so reverses are encouraged, but it’s also possible he needs to be more willing to go inside the numbers. That said, it’s something else to watch him measures his strides and place his feet when he’s running out of real estate. He’s a lot of fun to watch, and the offense would have better stats and a better time if it got to watch more of him.