The talk all week was about how Kansas would handle West Virginia’s lightning-fast tempo on offense.
As it turned out, the WVU temp proved to be no issue whatsoever, as Kansas dominated the game from start to finish en route to opening Big 12 play with a 41-10 win over the Mountaineers.
More from Saturday's win...
While the final score doesn’t quite show it, the first couple of quarters had people in the press box starting to look up the last time the Jayhawks pitched a shutout.
The answer? The year was 2008, and KU beat Louisiana Tech 29-0 at home, with then-KU safety Darrell Stuckey running down a La Tech running back nearly the entire length of the field to preserve the shutout.
There was no shutout in this one, but there also was no doubt who the better team was.
Kansas rolled to 41 points and nearly 400 yards with its offense merely being pedestrian for at least half of the game. They made plays when they were there and took advantage of their opportunities to blow the game open as things went on.
So, yeah, they should feel good about the win. Especially after the bye week and on the heels of a loss, and double-especially because it means they open Big 12 play at 1-0.
KU is now 3-1 overall and 1-0 in Big 12 play, with a home game against Cincinnati slated for next Saturday.
Game time will be announced on Monday.
Here’s a look back at some of the highlights and memorable moments from Saturday night.
LIKES
• KU D-Line – The big boys up front set the tone for this one immediately, overwhelming WVU’s O-Line in the middle and on both edges, which was merely a sign of things to come for the rest of the game. Dean Miller ended WVU’s first drive with a sack on third down and his teammates in the trenches followed that all night long, stacking the line against the run and harassing WVU QB Nicco Marchiol all night – when he looked for an opening to run, when he dropped back to throw and when he scrambled.
• Starting field position – The numbers don’t look quite as overwhelming as it felt, but even when KU had to punt they usually pinned the Mountaineers back fairly deep in their own end, adding to the lack of hope the WVU offense had throughout the night. KU’s average starting spot was the KU 36-yard line, while WVU’s was its own 22-yard line.
• Leshon’s tough yards – You’ll likely look at the long touchdown run that was among the best single runs I can ever remember seeing from a KU running back. And you should. But don’t overlook the tougher yards that Williams got in the game leading up to that moment. On the drive that truly put an end to it, Williams got tough yard after tough yard on every carry in leading Kansas down the field and to a 34-3 lead. It was good to see Williams deliver in that way for a couple of reasons. First, because it showed he’s fully healthy and capable of carry the load. Second, because he was asked to do more with Daniel Hishaw Jr., watching in street clothes from the sideline for a good chunk of this one. Williams finished with 129 yards and a touchdown on the ground on 19 carries. He also added a 39-yard TD reception on his lone catch & target of the night, giving him 168 yards of offense and 2 TDs for the game.
• Opening drive touchdown – You never know how things are going to go after a bye week. Especially to start a game. But the KU offense backed up the defense’s 3-and-out stand to open the game with a quick-strike score on its first offensive possession. KU marched into WVU territory with a few routine plays and then faced 4th-and-1 at the 41-yard line. The third-down play hinted that the Jayhawks would go for it if they didn’t get it there. And they did, with Daniels hitting Levi Wentz over the middle — and wide open — with an easy pitch and catch touchdown to get the party started. No rust on that drive.
• Protect your guy – After taking a vicious hit on a first-down run in the second quarter, KU quarterback Jalon Daniels watched several of his teammates come to his aid by retaliating against the guy who hit him. That guy, WVU defender Fred Perry, was called for targeting and ejected. But not before KU lineman Kobe Baynes knocked him to the ground while fellow-lineman Tavake Tuikolovatu took a shot at him, as well. Baynes was flagged for a personal foul, making the penalties offsetting. But the targeting call stood and Perry, who entered the game tied for the team lead in tackles, was ejected.
DISLIKES
• KU’s 1st quarter offense – It wasn’t super-exciting, but that’s beside the point. The bigger issue was how the Jayhawks just could not find a way to capitalize on how terrible the West Virginia offense was playing. The Mountaineers were 0-for-5 on 3rd down in the first quarter and never mounted anything resembling a drive. Yet, after each punt that came after the first, the Jayhawks failed to do much with their offense to make the Mountaineers pay.
• Injuries – Daniel Hishaw Jr. was absent from the offense for much of the latter part of the first half and then was spotted on the sideline in a hoodie and street clothes for the latter part of the game. Hishaw was on the Big 12-mandated KU injury report earlier in the week, but was not on it Friday night. We’ll find out more about his status after the game, but it’s never good to lose one of your front-line guys in a blowout win like this. Obviously.
WHAT THE?
• KU head hunting – I’m old enough to remember when it was KU’s opponents who delivered vicious blow after vicious blow, knocking smaller KU players to the ground on several pass plays per game. My, how things have changed. In this one, it was the Jayhawks doing the heavy hitting. And, frankly, it was good to see. Particularly from safety Lyrik Rawls, who was in position to make a few big-boom-type hits against Missouri two weeks ago but seemed content to merely be there to make the tackle instead of lowering the boom to try to break up the completion. In this one, Rawls absolutely obliterated a WVU receiver in the 2nd half, showing (perhaps) that he learned a thing or two from watching that Mizzou film and that this Kansas defense is here to hit. Devin Dye also lowered the boom later in the game, but he was called for targeting and ejected from the game. He’ll miss the first half of next week’s game against Cincinnati. You don’t love the penalty and you’ve got to find a way to keep it as clean as possible. But you do have to love the mentality.
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