No. 24 Kansas State vs West Virginia: Open Game Thread

They say all good things must come to an end, and for the Kansas State Wildcats, that meant a three-game win streak came to end last weekend when the Wildcats made the trip to Austin.

And speaking of streaks, the Wildcats were also unable to end the current Longhorn streak against the Cats that finally allowed UT to tie the overall series at 10-10. But they will have a chance to end another streak today, as the visiting West Virginia Mountaineers currently have a three-game win streak going against the Wildcats.

But these Mountaineers are not the same as the groups that have given the Wildcats so much trouble since joining the Big 12. Neal Brown’s new charges are struggling mightily in 2019, sitting at just 3-6 on the season, and ranking near the bottom in the country in multiple statistical categories. Pre-season roster losses due to graduation and NFL early-entry, plus in-season injury losses have created lots of problems for these ‘Eers. And luckily for them, they got KU early in the season to pick up their lone Big 12 victory before those injuries really started to rack up (and before the Jayhawks made their change at offensive coordinator).

On paper, this should be a great game for Chris Klieman to get some of top guys some rest, allowing guys like Malik Knowles, James Gilbert, and Jordon Brown (among so many others) to relax a bit while still getting some game reps, and allowing lots of freshman to get in on some game action. It would be really great if the Wildcats can get up big early, and then coast to the finish line without worry. But they still shouldn’t take the Mountaineers lightly, as this same unit still caused Baylor significant problems just a few weeks ago.

Just pound the stone, keep everyone healthy, and win comfortably. Let’s avoid last-second drama today, please.

Be sure and check out our pre-game content for you this week. AMS brought you this week’s How to Watch post with all the important details for today’s game and TB dropped his Kicking the Tires preview of the Mountaineers to get you caught up on the mess in Morgantown.

We remain in the afternoon time slot this week, with the 2:30pm CST kickoff airing on ESPN proper with Mark Jones (play-by-play), Dusty Dvoracek (analyst), and Olivia Dekker (sidelines) on the call. You might be able to stream the game via ESPN3/WatchESPN if you are in the correct market.

If you don’t get ESPN, or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across the 39-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst), and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game will also be on Sirius channel 137, XM Channel 200, and available on the TuneIn app. Live stats are available at k-statesports.com, and Twitter updates (@KStateFB) will also be a part of the coverage.

Go Cats!