Kansas falls to West Virginia 33-14

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — This wasn't how interim Kansas coach Clint Bowen envisioned his first game would go.

The Jayhawks couldn't move the ball, couldn't stop West Virginia's offense early and fell to the Mountaineers 33-14 on Saturday.

Bowen took over after head coach Charlie Weis was fired on Sunday. Bowen called the defensive plays, but it was hard to counter West Virginia's punches and the Mountaineers had the outcome in hand by halftime.

"I think we took a step in the right direction," Bowen said. "Our players showed up in a difficult week. They were here to come together, stay together and fight. We will keep fighting. I think if they keep doing that, we will improve."

Kansas (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) lost its 26th straight road game. The Jayhawks were held to 176 totals yards and nine first downs.

The busiest player for the Jayhawks was Trevor Pardula, who punted 14 times.

Kansas quarterback Montell Cozart, who had four interceptions in a 23-0 loss to Texas last week, couldn't move the offense again and played only the first half. Cozart finished 4 of 10 for 42 yards. Two other quarterbacks had no better luck in the second half.

Kansas was penalized 11 times for 101 yards.

"You can't win against a good team like West Virginia on the road when you don't play smart," Bowen said.

West Virginia got some welcome balance on offense against Kansas as the Mountaineers prepare to enter a tough stretch of the Big 12 schedule.

Clint Trickett threw for 302 yards and a touchdown. Rushel Shell ran for 113 yards as West Virginia compiled 255 yards on the ground. Both were season highs.

West Virginia jumped ahead 26-0 at halftime and cruised from there.

"I was excited how we were moving the ball," said West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen. "We just didn't finish drives very good. Then it got frustrating in the second half and it probably has a little bit to do with them being a pretty good dang defense."

The Mountaineers (3-2, 1-1) got the expected results against a heavy underdog and now have three of their next five games on the road in Texas, starting next Saturday at Texas Tech. Three of those opponents are ranked — No. 7 Baylor, No. 21 Oklahoma State and No. 25 TCU.

"Next week's going to be a whole different deal," Holgorsen said. "They're going to throw the ball all over the place and we're going to have to get guys in position that are able to get to the quarterback."

West Virginia amassed 557 yards of offense but its special teams had an up and down day.

After the Mountaineers' Jordan Thompson fumbled a punt on his 18 that led to a short touchdown run by the Jayhawks' Corey Avery, Mario Alford took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a score to put West Virginia ahead 33-7 late in the third quarter.

Late in the game, the Jayhawks' Nick Harwell returned a punt 76 yards for a TD, the third straight game that West Virginia's special teams allowed a score.

The margin of victory could have been much greater. West Virginia had another field goal attempt blocked and Dustin Garrison fumbled the ball away at the Kansas 5 following a 28-yard run.

Trickett completed 20 of 35 passes with an interception. Several of his incompletions were long throws. Alford and Kevin White both let passes go off their hands in the end zone, resulting in two of Josh Lambert's three first-quarter field goals.

White got loose in single coverage late in the quarter and Trickett found him in stride for a 63-yard TD for a 16-0 lead. White finished with six catches for 132 yards and matched Stedman Bailey's school record of five straight games with 100 receiving yards.

Alford turned a screen pass into a 39-yard gain late in the second quarter, leading to Shell's short TD run. Lambert, who earlier had field goals of 42, 25 and 43 yards, capped the first-half scoring with a 53-yarder as time expired.