Bill Snyder Family Stadium - Manhattan, KS
Kickoff: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET
Line: West Virginia -5.5, Total: 58

Kansas State tries to finish the regular season with a .500 record when it hosts West Virginia on Saturday afternoon.

The Mountaineers (7-4 SU, 5-6 ATS) are already bowl eligible, and are coming off a perfect November in which they went 4-0 and outscored their four opponents by a hefty 148 to 52 margin. The Wildcats (5-6 SU, 5-5-1 ATS) have also played well down the stretch with two straight wins over Iowa State and Kansas. Kansas State has won all three matchups (SU and ATS) since West Virginia joined the Big 12, but after blowouts in both 2012 (55-14) and 2013 (35-12), last year's meeting in Morgantown was a 26-20 decision. The amazing statistic in that game was that KSU won the game despite gaining only one rushing yard on 29 carries. WVU lost that game because it turned the ball over four times and allowed 400 passing yards. Most of the betting trends favor the home underdog Wildcats, who are 13-3 ATS under head coach Bill Snyder when facing a good team (60% to 75% win pct) and are 17-7 ATS after the first month of the season since 2013. The Mountaineers are 11-2 ATS on the road versus awful passing defenses (62% completion pct or worse) since 1992 and college football favorites of 3.5 to 10 points are 81-43 ATS (65%) since 1992 after holding their previous opponent to single-digits while also scoring 24+ points in the first half of that game. All the injury concerns for Saturday are with Dana Holgorsen's WVU club who has three main contributors questionable in WR Ka'Raun White (undisclosed), DL Yodny Cajuste (foot) and OL Adam Pankey (undisclosed).

Can Kansas State put an end to West Virginia's win streak and capture its all-important sixth victory of the season? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2015 regular season and bowl season. The experts combined for a 61% ATS (22-14) success rate last week, highlighted by StatFox Scott's 73% ATS mark (8-3). StatFox Brian was 71% ATS (5-2) last week, while StatFox Dave was 63% ATS (5-3).

West Virginia is a strong offensive team with 34.2 PPG on 465 total YPG, which is a nearly even split of 242 rushing YPG (4.8 YPC) and 223 passing YPG (7.3 YPA). Junior RB Wendell Smallwood is the engine of this offense with 1,306 rushing yards (6.5 YPC) and 8 TD plus 155 receiving yards this season. He has rushed for more than 110 yards in seven of the past nine games and will be hungry for more carries after last week when he gained a season-low 72 yards on 4.8 YPC, which is also his worst mark this year. He touched the football only eight times in last year's loss to Kansas State, but still picked up 48 total yards on his five carries and three receptions. Junior RB Rushel Shell (639 rush yds, 4.4 YPC, 8 TD) is the more powerful of the team's top two backs at 221 yards (20 more pounds than Smallwood) and he rushed for 60 yards on 15 carries versus KSU last year. The No. 3 rusher on the team is dual-threat QB Skyler Howard, who has picked up 492 yards and 6 TD on the ground. His passing numbers are average with 2,332 yards on 56% completions and 7.5 YPA with 20 TD and 12 INT. He has taken 25 sacks though, and needs to get the football out quicker to his go-to receiver, sophomore WR Shelton Gibson, who is coming off a season-high 148 yards on six catches and a touchdown. Defensively, WVU has been pretty stingy in limiting teams to 23.1 PPG on 395 total YPG, and those numbers have improved dramatically over the past three games to 8.7 PPG and 315 total YPG. However, the Mountaineers have been burned in their four road games where they have surrendered 36.5 PPG on 489 total YPG. For the season, they allow 171 rushing YPG (4.3 YPC) and 224 passing YPG (6.8 YPA) on a 53% completion rate. They have done an amazing job of creating turnovers in the past three games with 12 takeaways and should be able to force a couple mistakes against a Wildcats offense with at least one giveaways in 10 of 11 games this season.

Kansas State has gained only 344 total YPG this year, but has still been able to control the clock for an average of 32:41 and post a respectable 31.1 PPG. The points have ballooned in the past three weeks to 42.3 PPG, but none of those teams have defensive playmakers like West Virginia does. There isn't one explosive offensive player on Kansas State, but talent does exist with junior RB Charles Jones (612 rush yds, 5.0 YPC, 5 TD) and top WR Kody Cook (397 rec yds, 3 TD). Jones has rushed for at least 70 yards in five straight games, but was stopped cold in Morgantown last year when he totaled four yards on seven carries. The senior Cook has caught 16 passes over the past four weeks and had a big 32-yard reception versus WVU last season. Erratic QB Joe Hubener runs this Wildcats offense, but the junior has yet to complete 60% of his throws in any game this year. His completion rate is a dismal 49% with a 6.9 YPA, 9 TD and 7 INT. He did run very well in the month of November though with 340 yards on 4.3 YPC and seven touchdowns. The Kansas State defense certainly has room for improvement during a season in which it allows 31.0 PPG and 442 YPG overall, including 28.1 PPG and 490 total YPG in Big 12 play. The pass defense is mostly to blame with 283 passing YPG allowed on 8.1 YPA and 66% completions. The run-stop unit isn't terrible in giving up 159 rushing YPG on 4.3 YPC, but five of KSU's past seven opponents have compiled more than 230 rushing yards. The good news is that the defense is starting to make plays on the football with six takeaways in the past three weeks after zero forced turnovers in the previous three contests.