MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Kansas used some off-hand comments from West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen and ran with it during their week of preparation leading into Saturday’s game.
During his weekly news conference, Holgorsen joked that the Jayhawks’ ability to force turnovers, at least looking at the stat sheet, may have something to do with facing lowly 1-5 Rutgers.
Kansas forced six turnovers in that game — three interceptions and three fumble recoveries — which was one of its two wins.
“How many of those came from Rutgers?” Holgorsen responded when asked about Kansas having eight players with interceptions so far this season.
Kansas also forced six turnovers against Central Michigan — another four interceptions and two fumble recoveries. The Chippewas are also sitting at 1-5, so most of the Jayhawks’ forced turnovers this year were in two games against teams with a combined mark of 2-10.
Holgorsen’s comment didn’t resonate well with the Jayhawks, who were going up against quarterback Will Grier, a tall task in itself.
“We heard something about the Rutgers effect,” free safety Hasan Defense said. “We just knew we couldn’t let it be a fluke. We had to make the big-time plays in a big game. We can make big plays in small games, but at the end of the day no one really remembers them. Or (they) try to joke about it.”
Although the Mountaineers still had 509 yards of total offense and Grier threw four touchdowns in the 38-22 win on Saturday, the Jayhawks got critical interceptions when it mattered — three in the red zone as West Virginia was pushing toward a score.
They also forced and recovered a fumble on a sack on Grier.
“I feel like they definitely slept on us,” Defense said. “We have a lot more talent than we get noticed for just because the score isn’t always the way it seems. Like today, the score kind of got away at the end, but that wasn’t the game at all. So I feel like they kind of just didn’t have that much respect for us and (Grier was) putting the ball into places that he know he shouldn’t put them.”
But facing a Heisman-contending quarterback and forcing him to have his worst game of the season is something to hang your hat on, and a lot of that was due to defensive lineman Daniel Wise.
Wise was in Grier’s face throughout most of the second half, recording two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. He exploited the Mountaineers’ issues at right guard, consistently blowing past either Isaiah Hardy or Jacob Buccigrossi.
“We got after it, the game plan was perfect,” Wise said. “We got after the quarterback today.”
Wise’s performance definitely caught the eye of head coach David Beaty.
“I think he played very relentlessly throughout the day. We challenged him and that defensive line to be able to put some pressure on Grier and I think they answered the bell pretty well.”