The "preseason" is over. West Virginia begins its pursuit of the program's first Big 12 title today.

 

It's fitting that West Virginia begins its quest for a first Big 12 title against a team it has not beaten since joining the league. They must get this "first" to stay alive for the next "first." 

 

As Dana Holgorsen said earlier this week, Kansas State has been a thorn in the side of the Mountaineers. The Wildcats are extremely well coached, generally disciplined and rarely beat themselves. Did I miss any cliches there?

 

This game is far from a ;gimme', but also one that West Virginia simply must win. There are only league schools West Virginia has yet to defeat. Kansas State and Oklahoma. 

 

Had I told you that would be the case back when WVU joined the Big 12 you wouldn't have believed me.

 

Oklahoma, you can kind of understand given its tradition, talent and recent success. Kansas State though? No way. I don't mean that to be as disrespectful as it sounds. I think Bill Snyder is one of college football's all-time great coaches. What he has done in building the Wildcat program is unmatched anywhere else in the country. It's just that being winless against Kansas State in four tries is something I would not have imagined. 

 

Heck, just take last year. K State entered the game with a backup quarterback. By the end of the game they were playing a wide receiver at the position and West Virginia still couldn't find a way to win. 

 

The special teams advantage K State owns against most opponents was obvious last year. Morgan Burns returned four kickoffs for an average of 52.2 yards per return. That gaudy average included a 97 yard return for a touchdown that sealed the win. 

 

Add to that a failed fourth down run by Skyler Howard late in the game on what Dana Holgorsen described after the game as "I thought he had a broken ankle" and you can see why last year's loss had so many WVU fans scratching their heads. 

 

It seemed to be Mountaineer mistakes that gave K State the win. 

 

What will today bring? The easy guess is more of the same. 

 

Kansas State's defense gave West Virginia problems last year and returns  seven starters. 

 

The Wildcats held Stanford's Heisman hopeful, Christian McCaffrey, to 166 yards combined rushing and receiving in the 2016 season opener. They are currently number one nationally in total defense. 

 

However, K State has not faced an offense as balanced as West Virginia's yet. 

 

Skyler Howard had been terrific, completing nearly 70 percent of his passes through three games.The ground game has been very good, leading to opportunities down the field for Shelton Gibson. We've seen West Virginia pick apart a good defense (Missouri) underneath when they decided to take away the deep ball. 

 

West Virginia has shown an ability to take what the defense has given them. They have taken Dana Holgorsen's offensive mission statement and put it into practice. 

 

The keys for a Mountaineer win today would seem pretty simple:

 

1) Find a way to slow down the Wildcat power run game. BYU had a ton of success running right at West Virginia. K State not only saw that, it's what they like to do. Can the WVU defense answer?

 

2) Eliminate special team breakdowns. Specifically, on the coverage teams. Morgan Burns killed WVU last year with kickoff returns. Two years ago it was Kevin Lockett taking a punt to the house. Watching WVU's coverage teams last week against BYU doesn't give you confidence, but Dana Holgorsen claimed special teams were a priority this week. We'll see if it worked. 

 

3) Do what you do on offense. Run the ball effectively, take the underneath passes and hit big plays when they present themselves.

 

Easy, right? It sounds easy, but history has shown its anything but against Kansas State. 

 

What do you think will be the key to the game today?

 

Tweet me @BradHowe07 or leave a comment below and let me know. 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo of Dana Holgorsen and KSU's Bill Snyder by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com. Bottom photo of WVU action from this year by Joe McNeMar of D-Max Photography.