West Virginia’s game plan against No. 17 Kansas State was to limit the run in an effort to force a one-dimensional offense.
What did the Mountaineers fail to account for? The Wildcats are a multi-dimensional team.
After back-to-back weeks of relying on running back DJ Giddens, who still scored two touchdowns, K-State showcased an ability to beat formidable foes in multiple ways.
Here’s what we learned from the 45-18 road win.
Air Johnson
K-State ran away with the contest via the air, winning behind a career-high 298 passing yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Avery Johnson.
“The biggest thing is how well DJ rushed the ball last week, West Virginia had to respect that,” Johnson said. “They loaded the box tonight and said, ‘DJ wasn’t going to beat us.” [Our] receivers and tight ends stepped up and made big plays for me. That starts with the offensive lines’ dominance.”
With help from the guys around him, the sophomore known for his dual-threat capabilities displayed his passing prowess on national television.
“I thought he was really calm, really cool in the pocket,” head coach Chris Klieman said in a press release. “I thought we had a really good game plan to attack some things in the throw game that I thought we could get and we did. We attacked them.”
Johnson stepped up numerous times, notably on a fourth-down conversion in which he had to escape the arms and a sack from a Mountaineer tackler, still finding senior Ty Bowman for a first down.
“I just thought in critical situations on third down, he found ways to keep plays alive,” Klieman said. “The one fourth-down play he made to Ty Bowman was a great play.”
Johnson, who suffered a minor lower torso injury last week at Colorado, did not record a rushing attempt for the first time in his career.
He said it was a responsive scheme to attack the air as opposed to an effort by the coaches to not have him run this contest.
Defense wins … championships?
It’s no secret K-State’s expectations are a conference championship and thus a College Football Playoff berth this season.
Especially in the Big 12, with title competitors BYU and Iowa State owning dominant defenses, a fierce defense is paramount.
The Wildcats’ defense dominated the Mountaineers, forcing two interceptions while putting up 10 points off the two turnovers. The performance was highlighted by a 43-yard pick-six by safety Marques Sigle.
“We sent a good pressure, and we called out the play, we knew what was coming, and once the play went on, I went on my drop, read the QB’s eyes and saw the ball,” Sigle said. “Then I made sure No. 4 didn’t catch me.”
Sigle gave the Mountaineers’ offense headaches all game, racking up nine tackles, including two for a loss. His nine tackles were second on the team behind linebacker Austin Romaine with 12.
Wildcats: Far From Home
While the Wildcats’ mental clock may be out of sorts, their play on the field was far from it.
After crossing the Mountain Time barrier last week at Colorado, K-State came back home to Central Time before booking it to West Virginia’s Eastern Time zone.
“It stinks, I’ll be honest with you,” Kileman said. “I told the guys hats off to what you guys did the last two weeks to play as late as we did to get home at 6 a.m. We are going to get home at 4 a.m. [tomorrow]. We didn’t get any scheduling help on that, but we found a way to come away with two big wins.”
The back-to-back Big 12 road wins come after a disheartening loss to still-undefeated BYU in the conference opener.
“It was really impressive what our guys did,” Klieman said. “I think it’s going to help us grow as the season progresses.”
The two wins give K-State its best start under Klieman. The Wildcats had not started a season 6-1 since 2014.
Six wins also officially grants K-State bowl eligibility for the 13th time in the last 15 years. Outside of the 2020 COVID season, the Wildcats are 5-for-5 in gaining bowl bids under Klieman.
K-State will look to notch its seventh win next week against Kansas, hosting this year’s Sunflower Showdown. Kickoff will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, broadcasting on ESPN2.
The Jayhawks enter Manhattan coming off their first conference win, downing Houston to end a five-game skid that soured their season’s start.