Opinion
Takeaways: Kansas Humbled, Exposed WVU Football
Saying the WVU football team needs to flush their embarrassing 41-10 loss to Kansas would be an understatement. West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez even said it best after the game when he kept reiterating that “nothing was good” for the Mountaineers.
Before fully moving on to WVU’s next challenge – a home game against Utah, it’s time to fully unpack what the hell happened in Lawrence.
Offense
As Rodriguez said, nothing was good….
- West Virginia was manhandled in the trenches, as the offensive line had their worst day as a unit.
- Nicco Marchiol held on the ball too long whenever he did receive some protection and then looked “off” all game.
- Marchiol’s lack of speed was most apparent – he literally ran for -4 yards on six carries.
- Marchiol’s lack of speed makes it next to impossible for him to operate Rodriguez’s offense the way it’s supposed o be run.
- Jaylen Henderson showed signs of being able to run the offense to success for the first time, especially standing out as a much more effective runner than Marchiol.
- Rodriguez, who went to his quarterback rotation while leading against Pitt, waited way too long to turn to someone else.
- It’s now reasonable to ask if Henderson should start and assume most of the reps in practice and possessions during games.
- If Tye Edwards can’t return against Utah, WVU has minimal hope in the run game. Clay Ash is simply not able to handle the workload of a featured back at this point in his career. He’s also not physical enough.
- Cam Vaughn is a playmaker, but Kansas fully expected Marchiol to try to force feed him the ball and WVU doesn’t have another weapon like him to deter teams from throwing two defenders his way.
Defense
- The defense had their worst game after playing elite level ball through three weeks.
- The defense struggled to contain Jalon Daniels, allowing him to find open space and run for big first downs.
- The defense let Daniels extend plays by failing to bring him down at the point of contact.
- While the defense struggled throughout most of the game, they were also clearly exhausted from how often they were on the field. This problem existed in the Ohio game, but the defense was able to still force turnovers.
- WVU probably can’t win unless the defense is generating turnovers.
- Even though Fred Perry is an aggressive player, he has to be smarter and the targeting against him was the right call.
I don't want to hear any WVU fan try to defend Fred Perry. That's going to be called targeting every time. He knows better and it was just a dumb move by him.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) September 20, 2025
Special Teams
- Oliver Straw might honestly be one of the most underrated Mountaineers in recent memory.
- Without Straw’s leg constantly pinning Kansas back in their own territory, the game may have been more out of reach.
What’s next?
To no surprise, WVU is considered a massive underdog in their next game. Oddsmakers are now fully expecting West Virginia to drop to 0-2 in Big 12 play following their poor performance against Kansas.
Utah is also coming off a loss, the Utes fell to Big 12 favorite Texas Tech. Prior to their 34-10 loss to the Red Raiders, Utah beat Wyoming, Cal Poly and UCLA.
West Virginia now holds a 2-2 overall record, with wins over Robert Morris and Pitt and losses at Ohio and Kansas. The Mountaineers are undefeated at home through the first four weeks of season.
WVU and Utah will kickoff on Saturday at 3:30 pm ET from Milan Puskar Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on FOX.
Find more coverage of the WVU football program at WV Sports Now.
For related content, Mike Asti discussed what went wrong for WVU and the options moving forward on a postgame show immediately after the game.
