West Virginia @ Kansas State preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 20, 2014 ) Kansas State 26, West Virginia 20

Kansas State hosts West Virginia on Saturday in a matchup of two teams that have followed similar paths to the middle of the Big 12 Conference standings. Both teams started the season with three consecutive victories, then struggled against the conference’s upper echelon before finding ways to win down the stretch.

The Mountaineers lost all four games in October but have won four in a row since, not allowing a touchdown the past two weeks in routing Kansas and Iowa State. “We anticipate finishing strong,” West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen told reporters. “Getting to eight wins in really important to us.” The Wildcats lost their first six Big 12 games and trailed by 21 points at Iowa State before rallying, then scored a season-high 45 points in downing Kansas last week to move within one win of becoming bowl eligible. “It is not just the bowl game,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder told reporters. “It is the idea of coming back and finishing the season the right way.”

TV: 4:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1. LINE: West Virginia -6.5

ABOUT WEST VIRGINIA (7-4, 4-4 Big 12): The Mountaineers have been outstanding on defense lately, allowing 13 points per game during their winning streak. Quarterback Skyler Howard has accounted for seven touchdowns (four passing, three rushing) in the past three games and ranks fifth in the Big 12 in total offense (256.7 yards per game). Shelton Gibson is second in the country in yards per reception (22.9) and hauled in a career-best 148 yards receiving last week.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (5-6, 2-6): Quarterback Joe Hubener and running back Charles Jones give the Wildcats one of the top rushing duos in the conference, with Jones rushing for 86.4 yards per game over the past five contests and Hubener totaling 88 yards or more three times in the past four games. Kansas State has shut down opposing offenses in the second half, allowing an average of nine points after halftime over the past five weeks. Morgan Burns recovered a blocked punt in the end zone last week, earning conference special teams player of the week for the third consecutive week.

EXTRA POINTS

1. West Virginia RB Wendell Smallwood has rushed for 100 yards or more seven times in the past nine games, and is third in the Big 12 with 1,306 rushing yards.

2. Burns ranks fifth in the nation in average kickoff returns (30.2) and has a pair of 100-yard touchdown returns this season.

3. Kansas State is the least penalized team in the Big 12, averaging 40.5 yards per game.

PREDICTION: West Virginia 24, Kansas State 21