United Bank Playbook - Kansas Preview - West Virginia University Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia is seeking a sixth victory on Saturday evening when it faces Kansas in a Big 12 clash at Milan Puskar Stadium.

The Mountaineers (5-4 overall and 2-4 in Big 12 play) were unable to pull off an upset at now-10^th-ranked Texas Tech last Saturday despite outscoring the Red Raiders 21-0 in the third quarter to take a 48-41 lead into the final period.

Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. ran for three more touchdowns at Texas Tech and now owns West Virginia's single season rushing touchdown record with 19, topping the 18 produced by Amos Zereoue in 1997 and matched by quarterback Pat White in 2006.

Older West Virginia records had All-American Ira Errett Rogers owning the rushing touchdown mark, but deeper research revealed that his touchdown total also included punt and kickoff returns.

Hawkins needs only 99 passing and 76 rushing yards to become the first quarterback in school history with 2,000 passing and 1,000 rushing yards in the same season. White exceeded 1,000 yards rushing twice, but his highest passing total was 1,842 yards in 2008.

The junior has already accounted for 31 total touchdowns rushing and passing, but he still has some work to do to match the 44 combined touchdowns Geno Smith generated in 2012 – 42 of those coming through the air.

Hawkins also has work to do to have a rare 20-20 touchdown season in rushing and passing. The last Big 12 player to accomplish the feat was Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts with 32 touchdown passes and 20 touchdown runs in 2019. Hurts also caught a TD pass that year.

Hawkins' backfield mate Cam Cook is also putting together a special season with 1,072 rushing yards with three regular season games remaining.

Cook is now 20^th in single-season rushing and needs just 74 more yards to crack the top 15 currently occupied by Adrian Murrell, who produced 1,145 yards in 1992. The senior is still a good ways away from reaching the top spot held by College Football Hall of Famer Steve Slaton, who ran for 1,744 yards during his sophomore season in 2006.

Senior DJ Epps currently leads the country with an average of 24.5 yards per reception, which is presently tied with Chris Henry (2003) for fifth all-time in school history. Rich Hollins averaged 27.1 yards per catch in 1982.

The 2026 Rich Rodriguez offense has also produced the first multiple 70-yard reception game in school history when LSU transfer Taron Francis did it last weekend at Texas Tech. In all, the Avondale, Louisiana, resident had three catches for 169 yards and a touchdown against the Red Raiders – his first three receptions of the year.

The Mountaineers this week rank sixth in rushing yards (263.6), 10^th in total yards (480.8) and 17^th in points per game (37.2).

Offsetting the impressive offensive production has been a defense ranked near the bottom of the country in several key categories, including passing yardage (138^th), pass efficiency defense (137^th), total defense (137^th) and points allowed (131^st).

West Virginia has allowed 70 plays from scrimmage of 20+ yards, the most in the country, and 35 of 30+ yards, also the most. The 70 explosives are six shy of the 76 given up by the 2012 defense that allowed 38.1 points per game and ranked near the bottom of the country in most defensive categories that year.

Explosives are a major cause for concern on Saturday considering Kansas ranks ninth in the country with 54 plays of 20 yards or longer. Sophomore Isaiah Marshall is yet another dual-threat quarterback West Virginia is facing this year who ranks near the top of Big 12 quarterbacks in depth of target while averaging 13.6 yards per completion.

The Southfield, Michigan, resident is also averaging 5.2 yards per rush but has been inconsistent throwing the football while facing constant pressure. Kansas quarterbacks have been sacked 12 times so far this season.

"Here we go again (with athletic quarterbacks)," Rodriguez said. "Unfortunately, we've made other quarterbacks look really, really good, and we've got to do a better job of containing their run game and playing the deep ball better."

Dylan Edwards leads the Jayhawks ground attack with 595 yards and five touchdowns for an average of 66.1 yards per game, while Cam Pickett is tops among the receiver corps with 36 catches for 360 yards and a touchdown.

The team's top downfield threat is Nahzae Cox with 446 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 catches for an average of 27.9 yards per reception.

Former Mountaineer linebacker Trey Lathan leads the Kansas defense with 62 total tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions and 1½ sacks.

The Jayhawk secondary has been the strength of the defense, permitting just 186 yards per game through the air.

"They don't blitz a whole lot, but they will on third down just like everybody else," Rodriguez said. "But they're so athletic up front, and at the linebacker level, that they can get pressure with the guys that they have."

Another area to keep an eye on is special teams where Rodriguez said they have blocked four kicks and have returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns this season.

"That could be a big key to the game – who is going to make the big special teams play?" Rodriguez said.

The primary issues contributing to Kansas's disappointing 3-6 overall record are a struggling run defense that allows 157.8 yards per game and the inability to close out games.

Under coach Lance Leipold, Kansas has blown 12 fourth-quarter leads since 2024, including last Saturday's 33-32 loss to UCF in Lawrence when it could not preserve a 32-26 advantage with 1:06 remaining. Kansas had rallied from a 26-7 third-quarter deficit.

Other late leads squandered this year have come against TCU and Arizona State.

"They've had some tough luck," Rodriguez said. "They've lost some really, really close games at the end, so we've got a big battle."

Leipold's overall record at Kansas has dipped to 30-41 in his sixth season there. But one of those 30 victories was a 41-10 triumph over West Virginia in Lawrence last season. It's one of just three Kansas wins against the Mountaineers in a 14-game series that dates back to 1941.

"We're similar in a lot of the stuff that we're doing, but we're so different personnel-wise that we'll probably see a different deal (defensively)," Rodriguez said. "We won't really know exactly how they will play us until we get into the game, so we'll have to adapt in a hurry.

"They had great success against us, and we played awful against them last year, so I'm sure we'll see some of the same stuff," he added.

Saturday's game will kick off at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU (Chris Sylvester and Henry Burris)

Regular Mountaineer Sports Network radio coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning starts at 4:30 p.m., two hours after pregame coverage gets things started at 2:30 pm.

Before and during the game, West Virginia University will be recognizing former and active military personnel as part of "Heroes Day."

Fans can directly support our heroes as part of the West Virginia Heroes program, presented by the West Virginia Lottery. You can help provide local veterans, active-duty military, first responders and their families an opportunity to attend Saturday's game. Fans can sponsor a HERO by donating just $20. The West Virginia Lottery will match the first 500 donations.

To sponsor a HERO today, CLICK HERE.

Military veterans also can access potential tickets through Vet Tix. Vet Tix provides tickets to events for veterans which reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life.

For potential ticket opportunities, CLICK HERE.

Tickets for Saturday's Kansas game are still available and can be purchased through the Mountaineer Ticket Office by logging on to WVUGAME.com.

Tale of the Tape	KU (3-6)	WVU (5-4)
Points Per Game	29.4	37.2
Points Against	24.8	34.6
Rushing Yards Per Game	201.2	263.6
Rushing Yards Allowed Per Game	157.8	178.2
Passing Yards Per Game	240.2	217.2
Passing Yards Allowed Per Game	186.0	322.8
Total Yards Per Game	441.4	480.8
Total Yards Allowed Per Game	343.8	501.0
First Downs For	205	202
First Downs Against	166	215
Fumbles/Lost	15/7	10/6
Interceptions/Return Yards	3/30	5/5
Net Punting	38.9	40.6
Field Goal/Attempts	12/16	9/10
Time of Possession	31:18	28:13
Penalties/Yards	59/542	55/464
3rd Down Conversions	49/133	64/134
3rd Down Conversion Defense	41/123	48/114
4th Down Conversions	16/31	8/18
4th Down Conversion Defense	6/14	7/14
Sacks By/Yards Lost	17/90	20/138

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Players Mentioned

Cam Cook

DJ Epps

Taron Francis

Michael Hawkins Jr.

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