Blue Gold Sports Staff Predictions: Kansas vs WVU

Kansas and West Virginia open their Big 12 schedule on Saturday, Sept. 10 at Milan Puskar Stadium. Our staff predicts the final score for the game and why.

Ashley O’Brien: For the first time in what feels like forever, the Mountaineers have a night game. If you’ve been to one, you know they’re something special. West Virginia is coming off an emotional loss last week and will be looking to make a statement against an improved Kansas team. Kansas is improving, but not enough to stop the Mountaineers from getting their first win of the season, at home too. 
WVU 35, Kansas 14

Wesley Shoemaker: The Mountaineer offense should have a great day. Expect JT Daniels and Bryce Ford-Wheaton to go off early and often. I think the Mountaineer defense will struggle in the first half especially without Wesley McCormick and possible Charles Woods. In the end, the Mountaineers will have a really good day on offense and give West Virginia a 1-0 start to conference play.
WVU 45, Kansas 17

Aaron Parker: In the home opener for West Virginia, I think the Mountaineers will feed off the energy from a night game, “gold rush” crowd. Though Kansas has improved under head coach Lance Leipold, I don’t think the Jayhawks are going to have much of an answer for WVU’s offense. I think JT Daniel will have a complete game in his first game at Mountaineer Field, and I think he will throw two touchdowns to Bryce Ford-Wheaton, along with a touchdown to Mike O’Laughlin. I think the Jayhawks will find the end zone a couple of times behind QB Jalon Daniels, but I don’t think it will be enough to make a difference.
WVU 45, Kansas 20

Rachel Libert: With WVU’s first home game also being its first conference matchup of the season, I think the Mountaineers will bring the pressure against Kansas. Although the Jayhawks finished at the bottom of the Big 12 last season, there have been speculations that they are a much-improved group this year. If West Virginia can perform the same way they did against Pitt, I think this game will be an easy win. JT Daniels needs to have another productive game, and I hope to see CJ Donaldson get some more action running the ball. On defense, the secondary has big shoes to fill with Charles Woods’ injury, but hopefully the group has made some adjustments this week to stop Kansas’ passing game. If the Mountaineers can get a big win against KU, they’ll start off conference play strong and make some noise early.
WVU 42, Kansas 28

Jenks O’Donovan: Neal Brown and West Virginia will look to rebound after a disappointing loss to Pittsburgh in the return of the Backyard Brawl. Morgantown should be electric for the Mountaineer’s first conference game of the season, but both teams will struggle to put up points early. However, CJ Donaldson will ignite West Virginia’s offense while rushing for over 100 yards on the day. JT Daniels also has more time to throw as Pittsburgh’s defensive line proves to be much more talented than Kansas’. While Sam James and Bryce Ford-Wheaton each catch a touchdown, the Jayhawks keep the contest close into the third quarter. Ultimately, with JT Daniels’ accuracy and an increase in touches for CJ Donaldson, West Virginia pulls away from Kansas late and wins their home opener by 13.
WVU 34, Kansas 21

Tyler Prusina: WVU has a really good chance to beat Kansas on Saturday night. I think the recipe for success is limiting the amount of dropped balls by receivers and handing off the ball to the most efficient running back. The defense is more than capable of limiting Kansas’s offense which would allow WVU to take this Big 12 opener by a big margin. 
WVU 24, Kansas 7

Matt Natriello: Coming off a long week after a heartbreaking loss to Pitt, the Mountaineers get their first home game of the season against Kansas. Kansas should be improved from previous years, but that just makes them normal bad now, instead of worse team in college football bad. West Virginia needs to come out with a statement in this game and dominate from start to finish. 
WVU 34, Kansas 13