MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Kansas didn’t feature a Gayle Sayers, or even a James Sims for that matter, but at least its running game had been functional this season.
West Virginia completely shut down that functionality Saturday.
Despite missing defensive end Dontrill Hyman, the Mountaineers allowed only 65 yards rushing—about 130 below the Jayhawks’ average.
Coincidentally, West Virginia had given up 198 yards rushing in its first four games, being overmatched by the likes of Oklahoma and Alabama and caught out of position against Maryland.
For one week at least, the run defense stiffened like Mountaineers units of yesteryear.
“That was the big thing coming in,” said defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. “I thought our linebackers and D-line played much more physical tonight.”
With Hyman sidelined by a knee injury that may linger for weeks, Gibson frequently shifted Will linebacker Brandon Golson to defensive end, which allowed Edward Muldrow to become an every-down linebacker.
Muldrow, the junior college transfer, previously was used primarily in nickel packages on passing downs.
“The linebackers, we were on every key. We knew everything they were going to do,” Muldrow said. “We’ve got so many different athletic kids on our team, there’s a lot of combinations.”
Kansas hadn’t done much on third downs this season, converting only 38 percent. That average took a dip after the Jayhawks converted only 3-of-17 at West Virginia.
Kansas netted just 2.8 yards per play and was forced into 14 punts, the most ever by a West Virginia opponent.
“We played well, but we can always get better,” said Wes Tonkery, who closed out one third-down try with a 14-yard sack of Montell Cozart. “Was it good? Yeah. Was it perfect? No.”