West Virginia’s quest for ’13th game’ begins in Lawrence

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Their “13th game” offseason mantra planted the seed for reaching the Big 12 championship, and this weekend West Virginia can take the first step.

“There is a little more juice, a little more fire,” said linebacker Al-Rasheed Benton about the start of conference play.

As the Mountaineers (2-1) unpack their gear in Kansas (1-2), we unpack a Great Plains edition of Four-Down Territory:

Bosch has fever to go back to KU

While most of the West Virginia veterans fondly recall their 49-0 romp in Lawrence two years ago, it was a miserable experience for guard Kyle Bosch, who played with a 103-degree fever.

Trying to conceal the illness from offensive line coach Ron Crook proved difficult when Bosch said he “looked like I had just crawled out of a morgue.”

While the kickoff temperature registered a few degrees above freezing, 30-mph gusts made the sunny day feel bitter.

“I’m from Illinois so I’m used to flat and cold and windy, but that day was a whole different type of cold,” Bosch said. “Felt like negative-10 with the wind chill to me.

“I was just dying the whole game. We got to the third quarter and we were up by quite a bit when I finally got pulled. I just buried myself in a jacket and blanket on the sideline. It was terrible. I had body aches for like a week after that.”

Considering West Virginia racked up three 100-yard rushers, I joked with Bosch about overcoming his sickness for a “Jordan moment.” He couldn’t accept the analogy, though.

“I didn’t play that great,” he said. “If I had a 103 fever and graded out at 93, that would’ve been one thing, but I graded like an 81. Not my best performance.”

Finding their pressure points

The Jayhawks’ Dorance Armstrong was among the Big 12 sack leaders last season. West Virginia’s Adam Shuler had designs on blossoming into one of the best this year. So far neither defensive end has a sack through three games.

Both have been subjected to extra attention by offensive lines, particularly Armstrong, who was the preseason pick for defensive player of the year.

“I mean, my mom knows that she’s not going to just put one guy on Dorance Armstrong,” said KU coach David Beaty. “She’s 88 years old, and she’s not going to block him with one guy. She calls, tells me: ‘They’re not going to block him with one guy, you know that, right?” And I’m like, ‘Yeah, mom, we know that.’”

Armstrong has three quarterback hurries so far, while Shuler, a redshirt sophomore, has one.

“It is kind of obvious that I get held a couple of times a game,” Shuler said. “I have to find ways to get around it. It is going to happen.”

Defensive coordinator Tony Gibson typically dials up a variety of safety blitzes but must be cautious amid cornerback issues of his own.

Silence in the stands

For the season opener against Southeast Missouri, the Jayhawks drew 32,134 fans. The attendance dipped to 28,531 in Week 2 when Kansas fell to Central Michigan.

How sparsely populated will Memorial Stadium look after last week’s loss to Ohio dropped the Jayhawks to 3-24 under Beaty?

A coach known for his energy as Texas A&M’s recruiting coordinator, he’s now trying to recruit fans by spinning the promise of a team with only two senior starters.

“There’s a lot of youth here, so I would say that the future looks bright,” Beaty said.

“The good thing is we’re 1-2 — that’s where we’re at. There’s a bunch of teams out there that are 1-2. I would just say, hey, listen, don’t make it more than it is. We got a great opportunity this Saturday against West Virginia. Show up, be there, bring five friends, let’s get after ’em.”

God bless Beaty if his incentive clause relates to ticket sales, and bless some of the sportswriters this week who tried to spin KU’s small crowd as an obstacle for opposing teams. Quite a reach.

Expect an avalanche of points?

Kansas features three sophomores in the secondary — cornerback Hasan Defense, and safeties Bryce Torneden and Mike Lee. The other corner, Shakial Taylor, is newly arrived from junior college after beginning his career at South Dakota State on the FCS level.

The group hasn’t tackled or covered well, as evidenced by KU ranking 124th in pass-efficiency defense, though Beaty said the linebackers haven’t helped the situation.

“We’ve got to do a much better job of carrying routes that first to second level,” Beaty said. “We probably have a little bit too much air in that second to third level area. Not telling you anything you’re not seeing. I’m a coach, and watching our film, I’m looking at the air between the second and third level. Let me get in there because there’s a lot of air in there. We know that.”

West Virginia ranks 76th in pass-efficiency defense, giving rise to a potential shootout between two quarterbacks who are among the top 10 in passing yardage.





More Sports

High School Sports
Odds and ends: Free-throw shooting, experience major factors in Charleston; shot clock discussion surfaces again
A look back at some key figures and memorable soundbites over the course of two state tournaments that featured 56 games in 10 days.
March 18, 2024 - 5:53 pm
WVU Sports
3 Guys Before The Game - Searching For Mr. Right (Episode 539)
What factors will determine how long the search lasts for WVU's new basketball coach?
March 18, 2024 - 3:05 pm
Sports
Charleston's Osborne, Fairmont State's Anderson first recipients of MetroNews Joe Retton MEC Coaches of the Year
The Golden Eagles men's squad and Falcons' women's team garnered Mountain East Conference regular season and tournament titles, while both squads surpassed the 25-win mark for the season.
March 18, 2024 - 12:00 pm
Sports
WVU heads to Iowa City as a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament, potential matchup with Caitlin Clark awaits
WVU will face Princeton in the NCAA Tournament opener Saturday.
March 17, 2024 - 10:56 pm