We break down No. 24 Kansas State's disappointing home loss to West Virginia in The Analysis at KSO.
JIMMY GOHEEN
I said that West Virginia was arguably the worst team in the league coming into this game, but today the Mountaineers were the opportunistic team.
K-State's offense finished with an efficiency below 40 percent, points per drive under 2.0, and two turnovers. On top of that, WVU finished nearly plus-10 in average starting field position, and when you have numbers like that you set yourself up for failure.
Defensively, K-State had moments and finished with decent Havoc and success rate numbers, but a key breakdown led to WVU's 50-yard TD pass, which ultimately was the game winner. WVU also had K-State out-schemed early and took advantage, two touchdowns in its first three possessions.
When your TD rate is under 20 percent - and your turnover rate is equal to your TD rate -you are in trouble. K-State also had to settle for a pair of field goals on a couple of nice drives. This was simply a poor offensive showing and put the K-State defense into too many poor situations.
The defensive drive numbers weren't terrible, but this was a game where the Cats needed to force some turnovers, especially without any big plays on special teams.
It's pretty simple: When K-State can't run it, the Cats probably aren't going to win.
Not only did WVU thwart any running back run game for K-State, they also took away the QB run game. K-State got a couple of big pass plays early, but after a great start to the second half the offense simply couldn't move the ball consistently.
When Courtney Messingham gets into a play calling rhythm this team has been effective, but when it gets out of balance it gets ugly in a hurry. James Gilbert was solid at times, but his return wasn't enough, and Thompson couldn't find the late heroics needed to pull this one out.
Clearly the most disappointing loss of the Chris Klieman era, and one I didn't see coming. WVU was simply the team that made fewer mistakes and took advantage of K-State's. When you win field position and turnovers, you can play ugly and still win, and that's exactly what West Virginia was able to do to pull the upset.
