MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Kansas State's Avery Johnson had a feeling several months ago that running back DJ Giddens was going to regularly wear down opponents.
Giddens has proven his quarterback right. The junior has two straight games of at least 182 rushing yards and is fourth in the nation with 786 yards.
A year ago, Giddens rushed for 1,226 yards and scored 10 touchdowns but only garnered honorable mention honors on the all-Big 12 team behind a bevy of solid running backs. Giddens averaged 83 yards through nine games, then finished with four straight 100-yard efforts to give him the third-best sophomore season in school history behind only Darren Sproles and Deuce Vaughn.
Giddens hasn't slowed down in 2024 and is in a race with Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, Texas Tech’s Tahj Brooks and UCF's RJ Harvey for the Big 12 rushing title.
“I tried to warn everybody before the season started. I told you he’s a different animal,” Johnson said. “He’s doing it week in and week out. The guy’s special, man.”
Thanks to Giddens, No. 17 Kansas State (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) is eighth in the Bowl Subdivision with 241 rushing yards per game, an average of 6.4 yards per carry. The Wildcats can earn their best start to a season in 10 years with a victory on the road Saturday night against West Virginia.
The Mountaineers (3-3, 2-1) have lost twice at home this season and have dropped eight straight to ranked opponents, including three such matchups this season.
Johnson and the Mountaineers' Garrett Greene are two of the Big 12's top dual-threat quarterbacks, who will have the opportunity to throw the ball this week against some susceptible secondaries.
Greene's 382 rushing yards are first among the league's quarterbacks but he doesn't hesitate to throw the ball downfield. Kansas State is holding opponents to a league-low 72 yards on the ground per game and allows an average of 268 passing yards, second worst in the league.
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman has been impressed with Greene since his first career start against the Wildcats in 2022 when he had three TD passes and ran for a fourth score in a 48-31 loss.
“Greene’s one of my favorite kids to watch play. He’s a competitor," Klieman said. "You can tell his energy sparks their team.”
Johnson had two TD passes and a scoring run last week against Colorado and will go up against a West Virginia defense that has allowed 12 TD passes, most in the Big 12.
West Virginia coach Neal Brown said he believes center Brandon Yates is healing from a hand injury that caused problems snapping the ball against Iowa State last week. Brown said the injury contributed to 11 high snaps, many leading to timing issues with handoffs and running backs getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage.
Brown said Yates has "got to get it fixed, and we believe he will.”
Lost somewhat in the focus on two run-first teams is the pass catching of Kansas State's Jayce Brown. He had six receptions for 121 yards and two scores against Colorado, including a 50-yard TD catch with 2:14 remaining to give the Wildcats a 31-28 win.
“I feel like I've been dreaming about this since I started playing football,” Brown said. “I feel like I was ready for the moment.”
Brown leads the Wildcats with 23 catches for 398 yards. Klieman said he's impressed with the sophomore's “confidence in which he’s been playing and how fast he’s been playing.”
Linebacker Ty French transferred to West Virginia this season after compiling a school-record 34.5 sacks over three seasons at FCS Gardner-Webb. He's still working on getting his first for the Mountaineers.
While he's still getting adjusted to the bigger size and better techniques of opposing offensive linemen, French's greatest challenge might be keeping up with his daughter, who turned 1 in April.
"She's gets into everything.” French said.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football