Kansas State vs. West Virgina Prediction
Number fifteen Kansas State heads to Morgantown to face unranked West Virginia at 2:00 PM ET on Saturday. Can the Wildcats cover the spread as 7.5-point road favorites?
Kansas State is 7-3 on the year, with their best wins coming against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. Their worst losses came against Tulane and Texas. The Wildcats are 6-3-1 ATS on the year.
West Virginia is 4-6 on the year with their best wins coming against Baylor and Oklahoma. Their worst losses came against Pittsburgh and Iowa State. The Mountaineers are 5-5 ATS on the year.
Game Matchup and Betting Odds
321 Kansas State Wildcats (-7.5) at 322 West Virginia Mountaineers (+7.5); O/U 54.5
2:00 PM ET Saturday, November 19th, 2022
Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV
Kansas State vs. West Virginia Public Betting Information
The public favors the Wildcats in this game. Our CFB Public Betting Page shows that 66% of public bets are on Kansas State -7.5. Do note that those numbers are subject to change and could be different once game time rolls around.
Kansas State Game Notes
Kansas State has won games with both Adrian Martinez and Will Howard playing quarterback for them this season. In K-State’s 31-3 win over Baylor last weekend, Martinez was knocked out of the game in the first quarter. Backup QB Will Howard stepped in and promptly threw for 196 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions. There doesn’t seem to be much of a dropoff between Adrian Martinez and Will Howard at the quarterback position for Kansas State, and that will come into play because Will Howard has been announced as the starter for the Wildcats in Saturday’s game against the Mountaineers.
The Wildcats will likely look to establish their ground game on Saturday against a West Virginia defense that’s allowing 4.4 yards per rush attempt on the year, a figure that ranks 87th out of 131 FBS teams. Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn is second in the Big 12 in rushing attempts (198), fourth in rushing yards (1,081), and sixth in rushing yards per attempt (5.5) among players with at least 100 carries. Vaughn has six 100-yard rushing games this season and has a good chance of making it seven on Saturday.
West Virginia Game Notes
West Virginia pulled off the upset at home against Oklahoma last weekend, winning 23-20 on a last-second field goal. The story of the game was the quarterback position. Starting quarterback JT Daniels was benched for the entire second half in favor of sophomore Garrett Greene. Greene had a terrific game overall running for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns and throwing for 138 yards and a score against the Sooners on Saturday. Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown hasn’t officially named a starter for Saturday’s game, but it would be hard to keep Garrett Greene on the bench with how well he led the team against Oklahoma last weekend.
On defense, the Mountaineers’ top pass rusher is senior defensive lineman Dante Stills. The 6’4” 285-pound Fairmont, WV native has 4.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and a pass defended on the season. He will likely have to put some pressure on Kansas State’s quarterback for West Virginia to cover this game.
Kansas State vs. West Virginia Betting Trends
Kansas State is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games against teams with a losing record.
Kansas State is 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games overall.
West Virginia is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following an ATS win.
The favorite is 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings between Kansas State and West Virginia.
Kansas State vs. West Virginia Betting Prediction
Kansas State is one of the best teams in the Big 12. They rank in the top 15 nationally in points per play margin (0.167) and yards per point margin (5.2). The Wildcats are also third in the nation with an average turnover margin of +1.1 per game. I think Kansas State is an immensely superior team compared to West Virginia, and I think they take care of business in Morgantown on Saturday afternoon. I’ll lay the points with the Wildcats.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 12 PREDICTION: KANSAS STATE -7.5
