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Scouting the Opponent: Kansas

September 22, 2017 by Ryan Decker

West Virginia (2-1) hits the road this weekend to take on Kansas (1-2) at noon ET on Saturday.  It’s the first true road game for the Mountaineers in 2017.

Head coach Dana Holgorsen said on Tuesday he expects to be tested by the Jayhawks, also saying he didn’t want to leave anyone out when asked about Kansas players to watch out for, in hopes of not becoming bulletin board material in Lawrence.

Here’s a quick look at David Beaty’s club.

Jayhawks move it through the air 

Offensively, the Jayhawks have been much more efficient through the air than they have been in recent years.

Quarterback Peyton Bender became the fastest Kansas passer to eclipse 1,000 passing yards and is attempting to become the first 2,000-yard passer in Lawrence since 2009.

Not a ton of options 

Even though Bender appears to be one of the best passers Kansas has had in some time, his options of players to throw to are somewhat limited.

His favorite targets are wideout Steven Sims Jr. and tight end Ben Johnson. Sims hauled in six catches for 60 yards last week in his return to action. The week prior, he started but could not finish the game due to an ankle injury, which ended his streak of 24-straight games with at least one catch.

Johnson, a senior, is averaging over 14 yards per reception.

Running the football 

Defensively, Beaty’s team hasn’t fared great against the run, which isn’t a good sign when welcoming in the Big 12’s leading rusher in Justin Crawford.

Crawford not only leads the conference in rushing yards, but in touchdowns as well, and has eclipsed 100 yards in each game this season.

Offensively, the Jayhawks don’t run the ball well, either, placing dead last in the conference.

Defensive Anchors 

Despite not being a good run-stopping team, Kansas has faired well at stopping plays in the backfield this year.

Led by Joe Dineen Jr.’s seven, Kansas has 25 tackles for loss as a team.

Daniel Wise has six stops in the backfield, as well.

Dineen is the conference’s leading tackler and has recorded at least 11 tackles in each game. His 38 stops are third best in the nation.

Despite being a team that’s good at stopping plays in the backfield, the Jayhawks have recorded just two sacks this year.

Big Play Ability 

Kansas has given up eight plays that gained 30-plus yards this season, and West Virginia’s offense has run 12 such plays.

Opponents have scored at least 40 points in each of the last two games against the Jayhawks. Meanwhile, the WVU first-team defense has surrendered just one touchdown over its last two contests.

 

Holgorsen Press Conference News and Notes, Kansas Week

September 19, 2017 by Ryan Decker

West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen displayed a lot of respect for his team’s upcoming opponent – Kansas – during his weekly media session Tuesday.

He mentioned the familiarity between the two programs, having been conference foes for the last five years, as well as a number of coaches on both sides that have crossed paths more than once during their tenures.

“Can’t face an opponent that we know more about,” Holgorsen said.

Here are some additional notes:

WVU Getting Healthy

When asked to update the status on a few injured players, Holgorsen perked up all ears in attendance when he said players like Brandon Lingafelter, Toyous Avery and, most notably, linebacker David Long, are all progressing well in their returns from injury.

All three will make the trip to Kansas this weekend, though it remains to see if any will be active.

Grier Garners “QB Gene”

Asked about WVU’s starting quarterback, and the relationship his has with the players, Holgorsen said that Will Grier has that “starting quarterback gene” that allows him to not only be a good quarterback but also has guys gravitate towards him.

Wellman Doing Well. CFB Shift?

One player in particular that Holgorsen seems to be pleased with thus far is halfback Elijah Wellman.

The head coach stated he’s done a good job blocking and acting as a “sixth O-lineman out there.”

Along those lines, he mentioned that he has seen a shift in college football of coaches using players like Wellman more often. This is because of their athleticism and versatility of being able to get out and block, as well as pass catch, out in space.

Wellman certainly fits that mold.

Jayhawks to Watch

With a slight smile on his face, Holgorsen said he didn’t want to leave anyone out when asked to highlight a few of the key players on Kansas, saying he didn’t want to motivate any Jayhawk player he didn’t name outright.

However, he did highlight a few.

Both No. 11’s – safety Mike Lee and wide receiver Steven Sims Jr. – were highlighted.

Sims racked up a conference-best 207 all-purpose yards against SE Missouri St. Lee averages seven tackles a game.

Junior linebacker Joe Dineen Jr. paces the Big 12 in tackles with 38, nine more than any other player.

Big 12 Notebook: Week 2

September 8, 2017 by Ryan Decker

Seven of the 10 teams in the Big 12 started the season on the right foot with wins last weekend. Arguably the biggest story line from the conference was Texas’ loss at home to Maryland, and that’s where we start this week’s Big 12 Notebook.

Longhorn Defense Anything but Perfect

After Tom Herman said in his Monday press conference that he thought his players tried to play “perfect” in their loss Saturday, almost every available player was asked about that Tuesday during Longhorn player availability.

Although some players denied that the team tried to play perfect, others agreed with the head coach.

“Definitely, it was more a sense of trying to be perfect, trying to be 100 percent on each and every play,” said linebacker Naashon Hughes.

Others agreed that during film review earlier this week, there were plenty of things that stood out.

“We didn’t look like (a) team,” said PJ Locke III. “Just didn’t look confidant, didn’t go full speed, kind of overthinking basically.”

Texas’ defense surrendered 263 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground to the Terps. One positive was that the Longhorns limited Maryland to just 3 of 11 on third downs.

Baylor loses RB for next month

Sophomore running back JaMycal Hasty is expected to miss a “minimum of four weeks” with a straight right knee. Hasty carried 11 times for 56 yards before sustaining the injury in Baylor’s 48-45 loss to Liberty, which was playing in its first game at the FBS level.

New QBs shine in Week 1

Many wondered what the status of the Texas Tech offense would be in the first season after Patrick Mahomes.

Early indications show that not much has changed.

In his first career start, Nic Shimonek completed each of his first 14 passes and ended the day with 384 passing yards in TTU’s 56-10 rout of Eastern Washington.

Kansas and West Virginia also saw good things out of their new QBs.

Jayhawk passer Peyton Bender completed 23 of 37 attempts for 364 yards and four scores in the Kansas win.

Will Grier, named Big 12 Player of the Week, was asked to throw the ball 53 times, completing 31 of those throws for 371 yards and three trips to the end zone. He also showed the ability to extend plays with his feet.

Bender’s showing is especially exciting for Jayhawk fans because of this: