Live blog: West Virginia pours it on Wildcats, 35-6

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The No. 12 Mountaineers opened Big 12 action with a 35-6 throttling of Kansas State

Recapping the live updates throughout the afternoon:

Final notes

— West Virginia led in total offense 464-318.

— QB comparison: Grier was 25-of-35 for 356 yards with five TDs and two interceptions. Skylar Thompson was 11-of-17 for 145 yards with 12 carries for only 18 more. He gave way late in the third quarter to Alex Delton, who was 7-of-12 for 82 yards.

Fourth quarter

WVU TURNOVER: After throwing for 356 yards, Grier gave way to Jack Allison, who threw an interception on his third snap.

K-STATE MISSED FG: Blake Lynch has been the highlight for K-State and even his perfect day ended with a misfire from 50 yards out.

WVU PUNT: With this one in the bag, the intensity has drained.

FIELD GOAL: Blake Lynch 38-yarder (10:51) West Virginia leads 35-6
Grier’s second interception of the game gave K-State’s offense a chance at the WVU 31-yard line, prompting a quarterback switch from Thompson to Alex Delton. The backup reeled off an 18-yard run and converted a third-and 4 pass to Isaiah Zuber, before a holding call set up a long-yardage scenario. Two incompletions and a sack led to another appearance by Lynch. (Drive: 18 yards, 8 plays in 2:18)

Third quarter

WVU TURNOVER: Grier looked for Sills again but made a poor read, failing to see safety Johnathan Durham peeling off to undercut the out-route.

K-State PUNT: After using more than 5 minutes, the Wildcats stalled upon reaching the WVU 26-yard line. Sacks by David Long and cornerback Keith Washington and a false start flag left K-State facing fourth-and-19 at the 35. Instead of

TOUCHDOWN: David Sills 1-yard pass from Grier (7:39) West Virginia leads 35-3
On the heels of a fumble by K-State’s Justin Silmon, the knockout blow featured Grier targeting Sills three times, with a nice 7-yard run by Leddie Brown mixed in. Sills caught his third touchdown of the afternoon. (Drive: 17 yards, 4 plays in 1:08)

K-State TURNOVER: An innocent-looking run up the middle by Silmon turned huge when David Long stripped the ball. Defensive end Reese Donahue recovered at the Kansas State 17.

TOUCHDOWN: Tevin Bush 68-yard pass from Grier (9:01) West Virginia leads 28-3
West Virginia finally hit the home-run shot to its smallest weapon. Bush’s first career touchdown saw the 5-foot-6 slot receiver zip past the defensive back on a sideline route. On the previous play, Grier converted a third-and-2 by hitting Sills for an easy 7-yarder. (Drive: 77 yards, 4 plays in 1:45)

FIELD GOAL: Blake Lynch 25-yarder (10:51) West Virginia leads 21-3
A nice drive coming out of halftime but K-State should’ve had more. Tight end Blaise Gammon dropped a wide-open 8-yard touchdown pass, and Zach Reuter bobbled away a scoring catch on the ensuing play. Faced with fourth-and-goal from the 8, Bill Snyder took the sure three points but should’ve gambled. After all, K-State still needed three scores. (Drive: 70 yards, 11 plays in 4:50)

Hafltime notes

— WVU has outgained K-State 320-77.

— QB comparison: Grier is 19-of-25 for 258 yards with three TDs and one interception. Thompson is 7-of-10 for 57 yards.

— The Mountaineers have 14 first downs to K-State’s four.

Second quarter

TOUCHDOWN: David Sills 1-yard pass from Grier (0:02) West Virginia leads 21-0
Starting at his 27-yard line, Grier went 6-for-6 against soft coverage — the first three completions coming on sideline outs to T.J. Simmons that reached K-State’s 42. Then came a 17-yard deep cross to Jennings and a 23-yarder to Sills. Though situated was at the Wildcats’ 2 with two timeouts and 15 seconds left, Holgorsen didn’t use one initially, and when McKoy was stopped at the 1, the clock ran down to 0:05. That still left enough time to throw the back-corner fade to Sills. He used a 5-inch height advantage to make a tough snatch over cornerback A.J. Parker. (Drive: 73 yards, 7 plays in 0:55)

K-STATE PUNT: A three-and-out left West Virginia 57 seconds.

TOUCHDOWN: David Sills 1-yard pass from Grier (2:31) West Virginia leads 14-0
Starting at K-State’s 39 after a regrettable fourth-down decision by Bill Snyder, Grier threw deep only to see Gary Jennings drop it at the goal line. After three Kennedy McKoy runs pushed WVU to the 1, Grier chased down a high snap and suffered another goal line drop, this one by tight end Trevon Wesco. Finally, on third-and-goal came the trusty slant to Sills. (Drive: 39 yards, 7 plays in 2:31)

K-STATE ON DOWNS: A big gamble went belly up for K-State on fourth-and-1 from its own 43. A seriously desperate move backfired when West Virginia defenders swarmed Alex Barnes for a 4-yard loss on a wide pitch.

WVU MISSED FG: After Grier was sacked on third-and-4, Evan Staley’s 51-yard attempt faltered wide right. (The bigger trend is West Virginia has four drives in K-State territory that have produced only seven points.) The series netted 44 yards thanks to third-down completions to Simms and Sills. The run game, however, hasn’t generated much.

K-STATE PUNT: A 17-yard catch Isaiah Zuber gave the Wildcats momentum before a hands-to-the-face penalty negated it. WVU used a two-man return formation to catch the punt at the 22.

First quarter

WVU PUNT: Good field position netted nothing for WVU. Two runs by Kennedy McKoy preceded Grier’s third-down incompletion for T.J. Simmons, on which cornerback Duke Shelley jumped the route and nearly had an interception.

K-STATE PUNT: After Toyous Avery forced Thompson out of bounds for a minus-3 run, the Wildcats faced third-and-6. Thompson had time but no one open, throwing incomplete for Isaiah Harris. A 62-yard punt by Andrew Hicks led to more magic from Simms, whose 25-yard return reached the WVU 49.

TOUCHDOWN: Marcus Simms 82-yard pass from Grier (4:46) West Virginia leads 7-0
A 14-yard catch-and-run by Simms provided some cushion on the drive’s first play. It also set the stage for a double-move route that fooled cornerback AJ Parker. Simms hauled in the bomb along the sideline and made a wiggle to avoid Parker’s diving attempt at an ankle tackle. A career-long catch by Simms showed the Mountaineers’ quick-strike capability. (Drive: 96 yards, 2 plays in 0:35)

K-STATE PUNT: Cornerback Josh Norwood ambushed Skylar Thompson on a Cowboy blitz but a horse collar turned a 10-yard sack into a 15-yard gain. After seven straight runs, the Wildcats threw on third-and-11 where Mike linebacker Dylan Tonkery sniffed out the screen for a 1-yard loss. Hicks followed with a 55-yard punt to pin WVU at its 4.

WVU TURNOVER: West Virginia started at its own 45 but wasted the field position. A botched exchange from Grier to Leddie Brown on second-and-3 led to a fumble that Wildcats defensive lineman Jordan Mittie recovered at the K-State 28. The turnover followed a 15-yard sideline completion to tight end Jovani Haskins.

K-STATE PUNT: Starting from their 6, the Wildcats ran it five straight times before punting from their own 24.

WVU TURNOVER: A miscommunication on Grier’s deep attempt to Simms ended in an AJ Parker interception at the K-State goal line. (As Simms angled inside the throw sailed toward the sideline.) Grier underthrew a deep shot for David Sills on the game’s first play from scrimmage, but hit on 3-of-4 underneath passes to pick up two first downs.

Pregame notes

— MetroNews was the first to report that running back Alec Sinkfield (leg) is out today. He’s not among the West Virginia skill players warming up.

— Per SID Mike Montoro, there are 10 NFL scouts in attendance, which is one shy of a press box record.

— Dana Holgorsen is 17-13 when his team has more than seven days to prepare.

— Nose guard Kenny Bigelow on how the Mountaineers spent their impromptu off week thanks to Hurricane Florence canceling the game at N.C. State:

“We didn’t just sit on our asses — it was physical. We had chance to get after each other. Knowing that we didn’t have a game we are able to push ourselves harder.”

— WVU safety Kenny Robinson reflecting on the defense’s so-so performance in a 52-17 win over Youngstown State:

“We took a little step back. We could’ve performed better. As a defense we gave up too many points and too many yards to a team like Youngstown. Even though they’re a good [FCS] team with a great program, they shouldn’t have did a lot of the things they did to us. It was like, mentally we were out if it. I feel like we took them too lightly.”

— Had fun talking to Will Grier, David Sills, Jake Spavital, Holgorsen and even left tackle Colton McKivitz about last year’s ridiculous 30-yard touchdown bomb leading into halftime at K-State. In case you missed it, read up. (By the way, consider the downstream effect if that mistake-turned-miracle didn’t happen: WVU went scoreless in the second half and barely hung on to win 28-23. If that becomes a loss, does 7-6 turn into 6-7? Does that put a different offseason spin on the program?)

— Here are our MetroNews staff picks, should you care to peruse/bicker/agree.

My personal prediction? West Virginia wins it 41-20.





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