MORGANTOWN — It started badly and only got worse for the West Virginia defense Saturday against the Kansas State Wildcats.
WVU’s defense, which has been picked on several times this season, offered paper-thin resistance to an efficient and effective Kansas State offense en route to a 48-31 loss inside Milan Puskar Stadium.
The writing was on the wall early as the Wildcats went 65 yards in five plays to score an opening-drive touchdown. Subsequent drives were just as easy for the Wildcats as they reached the endzone in three, four and six plays before halftime.
“We played really poorly in the first half,” WVU coach Neal Brown said plainly. “We didn’t play well enough in the first half but then in the second half, I thought we came out and really fought. We struggled, we couldn’t get to the passer.”
WVU’s offense, led by first-time starter Garrett Greene, did an admirable job against a tough Wildcat defense, but the Mountaineers’ poor defense never allowed them to be in the game.
The Mountaineers fell down 14-0 early after Greene threw a pick-six, but the offense rallied to score a touchdown and Malachi Ruffin returned an interception of his own to cut KSU’s lead to 14-13.
The defense failed to seize any momentum, however, and allowed the Wildcats to score points on all five of their remaining drives before halftime for the disheartening 41-25 score at the break.
“Credit Kansas State,” Brown said. “They’re a really physical team and they made more plays.”
The Mountaineers’ best response was their own offense. K-State’s longest scoring drought came at the beginning of the first half, only because the WVU offense ran eight and a half minutes off the clock with a 16-play march that resulted in no points. Five of Kansas State’s scoring drives took less than two minutes.
Even when WVU’s defense got the Wildcats to third down, they converted 9-of-14 attempts. WVU did not force a punt until there were less than four minutes to play in the third quarter.
“I think schematically, the offense dialed us up a little bit in the beginning,” offered linebacker Jasir Cox. “It’s stuff we weren’t expecting…the little things, that’s something it’s kind of hard for our defense to adjust to.”
An unproductive defense has been the Mountaineers’ Achilles heel all season. WVU has allowed at least 30 points all but three games this season — against FCS Towson, 3-win Virginia Tech and Oklahoma in last week’s 23-20 victory.
The other outings have been a veritable bloodbath. Pitt and Texas both scored 38, TCU, Texas Tech and Baylor each topped 40 and Kansas put up 55 in an overtime win. Even offensively-inept Iowa State scored 31 against the Mountaineers two weeks ago in Ames.
WVU’s glaring weak spot has been its secondary this season, as teams have completed passes at will throughout the year. Losses in the transfer portal have decimated the team’s depth on the back end and injuries this season have made them pay for it.
No. 1 cornerback Charles Woods, who has missed most of this season with an injury, appears to be away from the team as the season draws to an end.
“I’ve seen him like twice in two weeks,” Brown said. “I try to protect these guys, but he’s shut it down.”
Also missing Saturday were Tykee Smith, Dreshun Miller, Nicktroy Fortune, Daryl Porter Jr. and Jackie Matthews — all former starters at WVU who have moved on to other universities.
As a result, WVU’s best defensive back down the stretch has been Ruffin, a former walk-on pressed into duty. That kind of depth does not hold up in the Big 12 as WVU’s defense has failed to make a positive impact throughout this season. Saturday was yet another example of it.
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