The Mountaineers finished the 2018 season 8–3, 6–3 in Big 12 play to finish in a tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Camping World Bowl where they lost to Syracuse.
Preseason
Big 12 media poll
The 2019 Big 12 media days were held July 15–16, 2019 in Frisco, Texas. In the Big 12 preseason media poll, West Virginia was predicted to finish in eighth in the standings.[1]
West Virginia was expected to take advantage of observing the Jayhawks offensive performance the prior week where Kansas had beaten Boston College.[3] When the game rolled around, the Jayhawk offense made two specific mistakes that impacted the game: A lost fumble and a fourth quarter interception. Kansas averaged 7.4 yards per play on offense. It also appeared that KU kicker Liam Jones faked an injury after a field goal to make way for Jacob Borcila to "replace" him at the next kickoff to execute an onside kick—which they recovered but then lost due to a penalty. West Virginia won the game 29-24.[4]
West Virginia's Jarret Doege started at quarterback and threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns. This was the first start at West Virginia for Doege who transferred from Bowling Green, as Austin Kendall had been the starting quarterback all season for the Mountaineers. Doege's biggest throw was a 50-yard touchdown pass on third-and-22 in the fourth quarter to take the lead.[5]
Kansas State started strong, holding West Virginia to "three-and-out" and then Skylar Thompson threw a 68-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage. Thompson ended up 24 of 39 for 299 yards passing with a touchdown but also gave up two interceptions. On the ground, the Wildcats ran the ball 32 times but averaged only 3.2 yards per attempt.[5]
West Virginia cornerback Hakeem Bailey intercepted Skylar Thompson’s pass toward the end zone in the closing seconds of the game. The Mountaineers left Manhattan with a 24-20 upset of the Wildcats.[5]
