MANHATTAN, Kan. _ A late-season test against a middling opponent could easily be defined as a trap game for the Kansas State football team, and the Wildcats fell directly into it.
West Virginia played one of its best games of the year and surprisingly defeated K-State 24-20 on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The Wildcats entered the game as 14-point favorites over a team that had lost five straight games and hadn't scored more than 17 points in more than a month, but none of that mattered on this clear and sunny afternoon in front of a less-than-capacity crowd.
K-State (6-4, 3-4 Big 12) suffered its head-scratching loss of the Chris Klieman era against West Virginia (4-6, 2-5).
Skylar Thompson guided K-State to within 30 yards of a come-from-behind victory, and it briefly looked like he might save the day when he scrambled to his right and receiver Dalton Schoen got open behind the West Virginia secondary. But Thompson didn't throw the ball quite hard enough, and Mountaineers defender Hakeem Bailey came up with an interception that clinched the game for his team.
Another key play came on West Virginia's final scoring drive of the afternoon. The Mountaineers trailed 20-17 early in the fourth quarter and faced a third-and-long at midfield when Jarret Doege connected with Bryce Wheaton for a 50-yard touchdown pass.
K-State nearly sacked Doege on the play, but he extended things to his left and K-State's secondary forgot about Wheaton, leaving him all alone behind the defense.
West Virginia took a 24-20 lead and never looked back. K-State twice crossed midfield and had opportunities to score but was unable to capitalize on both.
It was a shocking result of the Wildcats, who seemed in control when they began the third quarter with a 7 minute, 4 second touchdown drive that spanned 70 yards and was capped by a touchdown run from James Gilbert on an option pitch from Thompson.
K-State amassed 421 yards on the day, well above the 319 that West Virginia had on offense. But it didn't matter.
K-State was better than West Virginia in most areas in the first half, but the Wildcats trailed on the scoreboard 14-13 when the half was over.
It was a strange dynamic. K-State gained 259 yards and moved the ball efficiently behind Thompson and Gilbert while holding West Virginia to 197 yards, but the Mountaineers cashed in on a pair of red-zone trips with passing touchdowns and took an early lead.
The presence of Doege at quarterback might have come as a surprise to Klieman and his team. West Virginia had started Oklahoma transfer Austin Kendall at quarterback in every other game, but coach Neal Brown opted to roll with Doege in this one.
It was a good move. West Virginia entered Saturday on a five-game losing streak and hadn't eclipsed 17 points in more than a month, but it played with new energy in the first quarter behind a new quarterback.
Doege completed 11 of 17 passes for 120 yards and a pair of touchdowns to George Campbell. K-State's defense has been particularly stingy against the pass in scoring situations, allowing just five passing TDs in its first nine games, but it had trouble against the Mountaineers.
The first touchdown pass was an impressive 19-yard throw over double coverage. The second was made possible by a personal-foul penalty against K-State defensive tackle Trey Dishon on a field-goal attempt from West Virginia. Casey Legg missed the kick, but the penalty gave the Mountaineers a first down that they ultimately parlayed into a touchdown.
But K-State answered with some offensive success of its own.
The Wildcats opened the day with a 68-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to senior receiver Schoen on their first play from scrimmage. It was a big play that K-State fans hoped would set a positive tone for the remainder of the game. But the Mountaineers didn't let the Wildcats pull away.
K-State managed to get a pair of field goals from Blake Lynch in the first half to pull within 14-13 at the break.
Once Klieman made some adjustments, it looked like K-State might pull away in the second half. But West Virginia made more plays when it mattered most.
The Wildcats will try and bounce back next week at Texas Tech.
