Five key storylines as Kansas State Wildcats prepare for West Virginia Mountaineers

The first half of the 2024 football season couldn’t have gone much better for Kansas State.

The Wildcats (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) are ranked No. 17 in the national polls and they are in the mix for a conference championship. Take away a disastrous six-minute stretch of costly errors against BYU and Chris Klieman’s team might still be undefeated.

But a quality start won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things without a solid finish.

K-State’s season will be defined by its final six games, starting with a trip to West Virginia (3-3, 2-1 Big 12) on Saturday.

Here is everything you need to know to start preparing for this week’s game:

Kansas State at West Virginia: Game details

Kickoff: 6:30 p.m. Central, Saturday

Where: Milan Puskar Field in Morgantown, W.V.

TV: FOX

Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita

Betting line: K-State by 3 with an O/U of 54.5

Five things to know

1. West Virginia is undefeated against teams that aren’t undefeated. This is one of the strangest stats you will see at this point of the season. The Mountaineers are off to a 3-3 start, and all three of their losses have come against teams that are currently undefeated: Penn State, Pittsburgh and Iowa State. Neal Brown’s team has faced a difficult schedule. But when West Virginia has faced lesser competition (or opponents with a loss on their records) it has defeated Albany, Kansas and Oklahoma State.

2. It’s time to respect DJ Giddens. Some continue to act like it is a surprise that Kansas State’s starting running back has rushed for 786 yards and two touchdowns this season (plus one receiving). But the college football world should have seen this coming. Giddens rushed for 1,226 yards and 10 touchdowns last year. He’s one of the best rushers in the Big 12, if not the country. If you are only just now noticing Giddens after he amassed more than 200 yards against Colorado, you weren’t paying attention.

3. West Virginia will present a new kind of challenge for K-State’s defense. The Wildcats had to defend one of the nation’s best passing attacks during a 31-28 victory at Colorado over the weekend. Now they must try and stop a potent rushing attack at West Virginia. The Mountaineers have already rushed for 1,263 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, with Jahiem White, CJ Donaldson and quarterback Garrett Greene all topping 370 yards on the ground.

4. Kansas State owns a winning streak against West Virginia? That hasn’t always been the case. The Mountaineers reeled off five straight victories over K-State between 2016 and 2020, with a few blowout wins mixed in for good measure. But the Wildcats have been the better team in this series lately, as they have won the past two meetings 34-17 and 48-31.

5. Jayce Brown has quietly emerged as Kansas State’s top wide receiver. The sophomore exploded with six catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns against Colorado. But we should have seen a big game like that coming. Brown has been consistently strong for the Wildcats all season. He had four catches for 78 yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma State. And he has eclipsed 50 receiving yards in four straight games. He is up to 398 yards and three touchdowns on the season. K-State quarterback Avery Johnson trusts him to make big plays in big moments.