Upset Minded Kansas Visits WVU
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MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson has a lot of memories about last year's 56-34 victory over Kansas University.
Many of them are not good.
"A lot of the stuff was self-inflicted," Gibson explained as No. 9 WVU prepares to host the Jayhawks today on Homecoming Day. "We had a lot of new guys that day. I was just looking at the film. Obviously, I've watched it.
"Going into that game, they had not shown power one snap all year, and they ran it 31 times against us. Then on the third play of the game, we lose Kyzir (White). David Long (Jr.) was out, Toyous (Avery Jr.) was out. Marvin (Gross), who replaced Toyous, went out.
"I think, at one point, we were playing with nine freshmen. We were playing with guys that aren't here any longer. I try to forget about what happened last year and move on. Scheme-wise, we looked at a bunch of it. We also looked back at TCU, with (Doug) Meacham and how he tried to attack us when he was there. There's a little bit that goes into it, but we're more focused on what they're doing right now. But we will be working the power a bunch."
And, what David Beaty's Jayhawks (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) are doing is running the football and playing as many as three different quarterbacks.
"What we need to do is prepare for all three," Gibson said. "No. 8 (Miles Kendrick) is more of a runner, No. 7 (Peyton Bender) and No. 9 (Carter Stanley) are very similar. They all take care of the ball.
"They don't have an interception this year. We have to do a good job. They have explosive wideouts. The Sims kid (Steven Sims Jr.) is a really good player. They can get you. They scored 34 on us a year ago. Our kids have to come ready to play, because if not, they'll light the scoreboard up."
West Virginia's defense is coming off a solid outing as well as sophomore safety Kenny Robinson Jr. picked off a pair of Red Raiders' passes while redshirt junior Keith Washington Jr.'s Pick 6 was the only points scored by the Mountaineers (4-0, 2-0) during the second 30 minutes in Lubbock.
"When you watch the film, it's even more impressive, because it was all day long," Gibson said. "But the one play that probably goes unnoticed, it was in the third quarter. We were in a cloud coverage, rolled up the corners, and he was out on the numbers towards the field. They ran a draw to the boundary side, and he made the tackle on that hash for a 6-yard gain. It was second-and-long after a penalty.
"He's physical. He plays hard, plays fast. We're really impressed with where he's at right now. We need him to continue doing that."
And, the defense will need to be physical against a KU offense which is run heavy behind the play of true freshman Pooka Williams Jr. and junior Khalil Herbert.
Williams makes his first appearance at Milan Puskar Stadium as the Big 12 Conference's top rusher with 474 yards and four touchdowns on 60 carries while Herbert ripped the Mountaineer prevent unit apart a year ago, rushing for a game-high 291 yards.
"I'll tell you this -- the (Pooka) Williams (Jr.) kid and (Khalil) Herbert are both explosive backs," Gibson said. "Their quarterbacks do a good job, too, on the zone read with pulling it and keeping you off balance. But those two backs are as good as any backs we'll play all year long. Williams is the fastest back that we'll play all year long."
Fortunately, for Mountaineers fans, that duo will be going up a defense that has surrendered only 150.8 yards per outing.