The Mountaineers are faced with another tough task this week as they host No. 17 Kansas State.
The Wildcats are 5-1 this season, coming off a 31-28 victory over Colorado. K-State head coach Chrlis Kliemean spoke on West Virginia and what he expects from them in the week eight matchup.
“This week, we’re playing a really, really good West Virginia team that I’ve got tons of respect for, for Neal (Brown) and what he’s done,” Klieman said. “He’s doing a really good job down there.”
Klieman went on to discuss West Virginia’s offense, highlighting running backs CJ Donaldson and Jahiem White.
“They run the ball and they run the ball really effectively with three different players. Both tailbacks are really good and can beat you inside or outside. And they’re two maybe different size backs, but they both run inside, they both run outside,” Klieman said.
WVU quarterback Garrett Greene was also a key point of his analysis, as he noted his playmaking ability and competitiveness.
“Greene, he’s one of my favorite kids to watch play. Now I don’t know if I’m going to really like watching him on Saturday night, but he’s a competitor and he makes plays. He makes plays with his arm he makes plays with his legs,” Klieman said. “Been impressed with him. I think maybe it was his first start was against us in ’22, somewhere around there. And I was impressed with him then and then I think he’s taken probably about every snap since then. And I know that Neal has been really impressed with him. And you can tell his energy sparks their team.”
Flipping it to the defensive side of things for the Mountaineers, Klieman spoke highly of West Virginia’s defensive front. He also made note of the experience of their defense.
“They’re going to pressure you. I think they’re really disruptive up front. I think they’re really physical,” Klieman said. “A lot of veteran guys and that’s the thing that you see now with the transfer portal and kids coming back. I mean every every team seems to have a lot of older players.”
When asked about what he thinks of a Neal Brown-coached team, Klieman emphasized toughness and the atmosphere of playing West Virginia in general.
“100% toughness I mean 100% toughness. And mentally tough as well as physically tough. And really disciplined teams that play the game the right way, they play hard. Neal’s had a ton of success happy for him.” Klieman said. “It’s a tough atmosphere to go into, we know that. In West Virginia, we know it’s a really good atmosphere and it’s really good football down there and they’re going to give us everything.”
Saturday’s game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on FOX.
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