Players of the game: Kansas State defeat West Virginia 34-17

On a day where Skylar Thompson and the offensive line were a bit inconsistent, Deuce Vaughn still found his way to another 100-yard performance on the ground and a touchdown against West Virginia.

With that said about Thompson, he did have one incredible pass on a fourth and long in the fourth quarter with the game still in doubt. It was the perfect touch and placement to Samuel Wheeler for a 35-yard strike and probably the most important play of the game.

We could give Wheeler the MVP based on that completion and his four-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter. However, Vaughn exploding for another 121 yards and a touchdown on the ground was too difficult to ignore.

He was the most consistent player for Kansas State.

His back-up Joe Ervin also ran the ball hard on his five attempts, that included a really impressive 22-yard run in the first quarter.

And for the record, DY would have chosen Thompson or Wheeler, based on the timeliness and magnitude of the plays that they did make late in the contest.

Russ Yeast's interception may have been a lucky break off a dropped pass that could have put West Virginia up 7-0 early in the game, but that along with a couple of other big tackles from him and three pass break-ups were enough to give him the nod.

The defense bent much of the game, but they rarely broke. A few Leddie Brown rushes got away from them and Jarret Doege found some throwing lanes in the RPO game at various points. But the scoreboard matters, and that is where the Mountaineers came up short.

Daniel Green, Cody Fletcher, Eli Huggins, Reggie Stubblefield and Felix Anudike-Uzomah are honorable mentions.

It was the first game in a while that Anudike-Uzomah didn't receive the defensive honors. West Virginia paid a ton of attention to him and made sure he couldn't wreak too much havoc. He did still manage to force a fumble, which tied Darren Howard's single-season school record.

Ty Bowman's blocked punt in the first quarter was critical. It was scooped up by true freshman safety Marvin Martin and he took it into the end zone for a score. If not for a missed Chris Tennant field goal, it would probably be the best special teams performance of the season for the Wildcats.

It still might have been, but it wasn't a complete game from that phase.

Malik Knowles had a pivotal kickoff return at the beginning of the third quarter to set up K-State nicely for a rare third quarter touchdown drive for the Wildcats.