Matthew Difonzo

Follow along: Kansas State has its way in 48-31 win over West Virginia

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The final home game of West Virginia’s 2022 season comes against No. 19 Kansas State at 2 p.m. from a chilly Milan Puskar Stadium.

Snow was removed from the field and seats several hours before kickoff, but temperatures will hover from the mid-to-low 30s throughout the contest, which can be seen on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.

5:26 p.m. — FINAL: KANSAS STATE 48, West Virginia 31. The Mountaineers are assured of a third losing season in four years under head coach Neal Brown. The Wildcats are a victory against Kansas away from locking up a spot in the Big 12 title game.

5:03 p.m. — SCORE: Greene’s 13-yard touchdown run provides West Virginia with its first points of the second half. Greene is then sacked on the 2-point play, leaving the Mountaineers with a 17-point deficit. KANSAS STATE 48, West Virginia 31, 9:30 4th qtr

4:52 p.m. — SCORE: Howard throws a 43-yard touchdown pass to Malik Knowles, who worked against Ruffin and did the bulk of his damage after the catch on third-and-13. The Wildcats are in complete control and the Mountaineers are headed for their third losing season in four years. KANSAS STATE 48, West Virginia 25, 12:24 4th qtr

4:48 p.m. — Greene is intercepted by Julius Brents on the first play and K-State immediately gets the ball back at West Virginia’s 40.

4:45 p.m. — Kansas State makes a curious decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 from the WVU 19-yard line, but Howard’s pass to Sinnott falls incomplete. The Mountaineers take over there with 13:35 remaining.

4:35 p.m. — No points yet in the second half, and following an exchange of punts, the Wildcats will start at WVU’s 44 with 1:37 left in the third quarter. The Mountaineers have six offensive penalties on two second-half series, having been flagged for holding, illegal shift, false start, illegal formation and delay of game on their opening series before a costly ineligible man downfield penalty on the second series.

holding, illegal shift, false start, illegal formation, delay of game

4:22 p.m. — Official attendance: 37,055.

4:20 p.m. — West Virginia keeps the ball for 16 plays on opening drive of the second half, but comes up empty. Legg’s tough day continues when he misses a 44-yard field goal well short. There appeared to be an issue with the snap, which was low. Greene was sacked by Brendan Mott for a loss of 12 yards one play before the field goal try. The Mountaineers used up 8:35 of the third-quarter clock.

3:55 p.m. — HALFTIME STATS: Kansas State leads in total yardage, 312-241. Howard has thrown for 215 yards and the Wildcats have rushed for 97 more. Greene is 8-of-11 for 134 yards, while the Mountaineers have rushed for 107 yards on 20 attempts. K-State is 4 of 6 on third downs, while West Virginia did not convert one on four attempts.

3:40 p.m. — HALFTIME: KANSAS STATE 41, West Virginia 25. After the Mountaineers go three-and-out, the Wildcats drive 30 yards and get a 53-yard field goal from Zentner 1 second before halftime to lead by 16 at the break. K-State had a major kicking advantage in the opening half, and for all of WVU’s defensive struggles, special teams has loomed large in the margin.

3:30 p.m. — SCORE: The Wildcats get a 46-yard field goal from Ty Zentner to lead by 13. West Virginia has one timeout remaining. KANSAS STATE 38, West Virginia 25, 1:46 2nd qtr

3:10 p.m. — SCORE: Greene tosses a 5-yard touchdown pass to James. All three of the receiver’s receptions have gone for touchdowns. Brown elects to go for two, but Greene is stopped at the line of scrimmage on a quarterback draw. KANSAS STATE 35, West Virginia 25, 6:55 2nd qtr

2:58 p.m. — SCORE: Howard connects with Ben Sinnott for a 15-yard touchdown pass on third-and-14 and the Wildcats’ add to their lead. Sinnott was working against Ruffin. KANSAS STATE 35, West Virginia 19, 13:28 2nd qtr

2:50 p.m. SCORE: Greene’s 71-yard touchdown pass to James continues an extremely high-scoring first quarter, but Legg missed his second point-after kick of the day, and the Mountaineers trail by nine. KANSAS STATE 28, West Virginia 19, 1:22 1st qtr

2:45 p.m. — SCORE: Howard scores from 1 yard on a QB sneak and the Wildcats are back on top by two scores. KANSAS STATE 28, West Virginia 13, 2:17 1st qtr

2:39 p.m. — West Virginia tries a quarterback sneak with Greene on fourth-and-1 from its own 34, but he’s stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the Wildcats’ Daniel Green. Brown is irate with the officials and removes and tosses his coat on the sideline after the the Mountaineers tried to hustle to the line of scrimmage, but an official prevented Greene from snapping the ball for several seconds. When he did, there was little push and no gain. West Virginia had gained 8 yards on its first play of the drive, but the next three netted only 1.

2:32 p.m. — SCORE: DJ Giddens takes a handoff and races 49 yards for a touchdown, giving the Wildcats two quick-strike scoring possessions on their three series. KANSAS STATE 21, West Virginia 13, 5:12 1st qtr

2:30 p.m. — SCORE: Malachi Ruffin intercepts Howard and returns it 43 yards for a touchdown. However, a delay of game follows before the point-after attempt, which Casey Legg then misses, allowing the Wildcats to still lead. KANSAS STATE 14, West Virginia 13, 6:41 1st qtr

2:20 p.m. — SCORE: West Virginia answers and Greene bounces back in a big way with a well-placed 26-yard touchdown pass to Sam James, who continues his strong play of late. One play prior to the touchdown, Greene extended a fourth-and-4 play and found Cortez Braham for 15 yards. KANSAS STATE 14, West Virginia 7, 8:26 1st qtr

2:11 p.m. — SCORE: A nightmare start for West Virginia on both sides of the ball. Greene’s third-and-8 pass is intercepted by Cincere Mason, who returns the pick 37 yards for a touchdown. KANSAS STATE 14, West Virginia 0, 11:51 1st qtr

2:06 p.m. — SCORE: Kansas State needs only five plays to produce a 69-yard touchdown drive. Deuce Vaughn scores on a 15-yard run. Will Howard’s 33-yard pass to Sammy Wheeler was the long play of the series. KANSAS STATE 7, West Virginia 0, 12:52 1st qtr

2 p.m. — West Virginia’s captains: Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Doug Nester, Exree Loe and Dante Stills. Kansas State wins the toss and elects to receive. The high temperature for today is 34 degrees, which is also the current temperature.

1:25 p.m. — Pregame Notes: Garrett Greene is the expected starter at quarterback for the Mountaineers after the redshirt sophomore led a come-from-behind 23-20 win over Oklahoma last week with a strong second-half showing.

West Virginia will be without wide receiver Kaden Prather and cornerback Charles Woods for its home finale. Woods has battled injury throughout the season and played in only four games. This is the second straight contest he’s missed. Woods would not lose a year of eligibility without playing in another game and earlier today, he took to social media with a message suggesting he will transfer. It read: “Thank you WVU, commitment coming soon.”

Prather has played in all 10 games to this point, and is the team’s third-leading pass-catcher with 487 receiving yards on 50 catches, including three touchdowns.

West Virginia will honor seniors prior to its final home game, though head coach Neal Brown has repeatedly said not to put too much stock into who does or doesn’t walk. Regardless, it’s the final home game for one of the more decorated defenders in Mountaineer history — lineman Dante Stills, who became the school’s all-time leader in tackles for loss earlier this season.

Your essential pregame links:

Setting the scene

Game preview

Rimac settling in at left guard

Three Guys Before the Game – Kansas State preview

Deuce Vaughn poses significant challenge for WVU defense

Brown not announcing starting QB, but Greene has earned opportunity to play more

Brown hurting for former Director of Athletics Shane Lyons

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