West Virginia, buoyed by a dramatic overtime victory against rival Pitt, travels to face a Kansas team seeking redemption in the Big 12 opener for both schools tonight in Lawrence, Kansas.
The Mountaineers enter the contest reinvigorated, while the Jayhawks are focused on avenging last season’s 32-28 loss in Morgantown. In that game, Kansas relinquished an 11-point lead in the final five and a half minutes, with West Virginia receiver Rodney Gallagher III catching the game-winning 15-yard touchdown with just 26 seconds left.
While Gallagher is one of the few remaining players for WVU from that matchup, Kansas returns a veteran lineup. Quarterback Jalon Daniels has historically challenged the Mountaineers, accounting for 652 passing yards, 106 rushing yards, and six total touchdowns in three career games against them.
“He’s a well-built, strong-looking player who breaks a lot of tackles,” West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said of Daniels. “You hate facing mobile quarterbacks like that who have a lot of experience. That’s the biggest concern when you play an athletic guy like that.”
The Jayhawks’ ground attack features Daniel Hishaw Jr., who has averaged 7.1 yards per carry against West Virginia, and Iowa transfer Leshon Williams, who ran for 821 yards for the Hawkeyes last season.
On defense, Kansas is led by a familiar face: former Mountaineer linebacker Trey Lathan. Through three games, Lathan leads the Jayhawks with 25 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. He is one of 13 starters for Kansas who began their collegiate careers at other universities.
“They do a lot – they’re very similar to us defensively,” Rodriguez said. “With two weeks, we’re probably going to see some stuff that we haven’t seen that we’ve got to be prepared for.”
West Virginia carries its own momentum into the conference opener. The Mountaineer defense ranks among the nation’s elite, placing fourth in sacks and in the top 35 in nine statistical categories, including turnovers gained and rushing defense. Offensively, WVU is the only team in the country with a perfect red-zone scoring record, converting on all 10 of its opportunities this season.
West Virginia holds an 11-2 all-time series lead over Kansas. The game will kick off at 6 p.m. at the newly refurbished David Booth/Kansas Memorial Stadium and will be televised nationally on FS1.
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