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Nov 12, 2019

Wildcats host West Virginia on Saturday

Posted Nov 12, 2019 4:14 PM

Game 10

West Virginia at 16/rv/rv Kansas State

Date: Saturday, November 16, 2019

Kickoff: 2:30 p.m.

Location: Manhattan, Kan.

Stadium: Bill Snyder Family Stadium (50,000)

Series: K-State leads, 5-4


CATS RETURN HOME TO HOST WEST VIRGINIA ON ESPN

K-State will look to bounce back from a narrow three-point loss at Texas this week as the Wildcats welcome West Virginia to Manhattan for an afternoon Big 12 match up. The game, which kicks at 2:30 p.m., will air on ESPN with Mark Jones (play-by-play, Dusty Dvoreck (analyst) and Olivia Dekker (sidelines) on the call. The contest 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 can also be heard on SiriusXM (S: 137, X: 200, Internet: 954) in addition to the TuneIn app.


A LOOK AT K-STATE

  • K-State has won three of its last four games and is bowl-eligible under first-year head coach Chris Klieman.
  • K-State has rushed for 1,789 yards this year on 387 carries which includes 25 rushing touchdowns after tallying only 20 rushing scores a year ago.
  • The Wildcats are on pace to finish the 2019 season in the top 10 in school history in team rushing yards.
  • K-State’s 11 rushing scores over the Oklahoma and Kansas games were the most in the nation over that stretch. Quarterback Skylar Thompson had seven of those scores, also the best in the nation during that stretch.
  • Thompson’s seven rushing scores against OU and KU were the most over a two-game stretch by a K-State quarterback since Collin Klein in 2012.
  • Thompson – who has four career game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or later – has thrown for 1,589 yards and nine touchdowns with one interception. His current 0.5% interception percentage ranks as the best mark in Big 12 history.
  • With 29 rushing yards against WVU, Thompson can become the fourth signal caller in school history with 3,000 career passing yards and 1,000 career rushing yards.
  • Receivers Dalton Schoen and Malik Knowles each have over 300 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
  • The K-State defense enters the week ranked highly in many statistical categories, including third down defense (3rd; 26.0%) and first downs allowed (17th; 152).
  • K-State has given up just five passing TDs this season, which are tied for the fewest nationally this year (Ohio State).
  • The Cats have surrendered only 25 total third down conversions this season, which are tied for the fewest in the FBS, while they were the final team to allow a fourth-down conversion when they did so last week against Texas.
  • Linebacker Elijah Sullivan and safety Denzel Goolsby lead the team with 40 tackles apiece.
  • Ten different Wildcats have at least 2.0 TFLs – led by Wyatt Hubert’s 7.5 – and Hubert leads the team with 5.0 sacks.
  • Cornerback AJ Parker has a team-high three interceptions to tie for fourth in the Big 12.
  • The Wildcats possess a great kicker/punter duo as Blake Lynch ranks 10th nationally in field goal percentage (91.7%, while Devin Anctil ranks 18th in the nation with a 44.9-yard punting average.

A LOOK AT WEST VIRGINIA

  • West Virginia is coming off a 38-17 setback to Texas Tech and enters the game with a 3-6 overall record and a 1-5 mark in Big 12 play.
  • The Mountaineers are averaging 329.7 yards per game on offense, which includes 253.9 through the air.
  • Former Oklahoma quarterback Austin Kendall has thrown for 1,989 yards and 12 touchdowns on 187-of-304 aim.
  • Kendall’s favorite target has been Sam James, who has 58 catches for 623 yards and two touchdowns. T.J. Simmons and George Campbell each have a team-high four receiving scores.
  • Running backs Leddie Brown (227) and Kennedy McKoy (220) lead the team in rushing with McCoy having a team-high three touchdowns on the ground.
  • Defensively, Josh Norwood has 61 tackles to lead the way, while Darius Stills ranks second in the Big 12 in both sacks (7.0) and tackles for loss (12.0).

CATS ARE BOWL BOUND

  • With the win over Kansas, K-State got win No. 6 and became bowl eligible for the 22nd time in school history.
  • Since 1990, K-State has qualified for the postseason 21 times, including this season.
  • Chris Klieman became the second coach in school history to take the Wildcats to a bowl in their first year as coach and the fourth overall to do so.


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