Kansas Football 2025 Opponent Preview: West Virginia Mountaineers

To open Big 12 play in the 2025 season, the Kansas Jayhawks will host West Virginia in the newly renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

The contest will occur after KU plays Fresno State, Wagner, and Missouri in nonconference play.

Head coach Rich Rodriguez is back at the school he led to prominence in the mid-2000s, but he is taking over a not-so-great roster.

West Virginia Offense

Garrett Greene’s departure leaves a void at quarterback for the Mountaineers, and junior Nicco Marchiol is expected to step in as the starter to begin the season.

Marchiol helped guide WVU to road victories over Arizona and Cincinnati while stepping in for Greene last season, though his performance wasn’t without question as he finished with just 412 passing yards over roughly two and a half games of action.

Leading rusher Jahiem White is back and figures to be the centerpiece of the offense after rushing for 844 yards and seven scores on 5.7 yards per carry last year.

Experienced transfer Jaylan Knighton will also get some touches in the backfield. He was a contributor at Miami (FL) for three years and ran for 745 yards at SMU in 2023.

WVU’s three leading pass catchers are off to the NFL or transferred away. 

The top returning option is Rodney Gallagher III, a former highly touted recruit who should see a lot of targets. However, leading the wide receiving corps will be Cam Vaughn, who followed Rodriguez from Jacksonville State after leading the Gamecocks in receiving yards in 2024.

Rich Rod will continue to employ his fast-paced, spread-option offense that he has become renowned for, and WVU will probably get a lot of chunk plays from it. Defense is when it gets tricky for the Mountainers.

West Virginia Defense

The defense will be led by coordinator Zac Alley, one of the best young minds in college football. He previously served under Rodriguez from 2021-2023 before making his way to Oklahoma last season and eventually reuniting with Rodriguez.

WVU returns one of its 11 defensive starters from last season. Granted, it was not an impressive unit by any means, but they are completely starting from scratch in Morgantown.

Edge rusher Jimmori Robinson transferred over from UTSA after winning AAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2024. He totaled 17 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks, making him a pass-rushing force to be reckoned with.

Defensive tackle Edward Vesterinen is back after suffering a season-ending knee injury and should help clog running gaps up the middle.

Chase Wilson is the top addition to the linebacker group. He totaled 205 tackles and 12 tackles for loss across the past two years at Colorado State.

Outside of Nevada transfer Michael Coats Jr., there is not much to look forward to from the defensive back room.

Like Kansas, WVU is relying on a slew of transfers to make up for its lost defensive production, but the Mountaineers’ situation is a bit more extreme.

Final Verdict

West Virginia is considered one of the weakest teams in the conference — in fact, ESPN ranked the Mountaineers dead-last in its latest Big 12 power rankings.

Coming off a bye week, it is crucial that the Jayhawks come out with a sense of urgency to ensure it doesn’t become a trap game.

Whether or not Kansas defeats Mizzou in the Border Showdown, opening league play with a victory against a team of this caliber is absolutely necessary. No excuses for a loss here.