LAWRENCE, Kan. — The West Virginia Mountaineers, fresh off of a thrilling come-from-behind overtime win against Pitt in the Backyard Brawl last week, began Big 12 play with a road trip to face the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday.

It was a rough outing for the Mountaineers, as they suffered their worst loss of the 2025 season by a score of 41-10 to the Jayhawks.

Nicco Marchiol struggled, only going 15/27 for 126 yards and an interception. WVU's lone touchdown came on a 13-yard run from backup quarterback Jaylen Henderson.

The stats for both teams look similar: Kansas had 388 total yards to WVU's 324, Kansas had 19 first downs to WVU's 18. Even time of possession was similar, with Kansas hanging on to the ball just seven minutes longer than West Virginia.

The two things that hurt WVU were turnovers and third down conversions. WVU went a measly 3/15 on third down while also having a fumble lost and the aforementioned Marchiol interception.

The Mountaineer defense also lost one of its top defenders in Fred Perry early due to a targeting call in the second quarter. Perry made forcible helmet-to-helmet contact with Kansas QB Jalon Daniels, leading to his ejection from the game.

WVU coach Rich Rodriguez did not mince words about his team's performance to open his post-game press conference.

“Yeah, not good," he said. "Nothing was good. Coaching was not good. Playing not good."

West Virginia falls to 2-2 on the season and start Big 12 play 0-1. The Mountaineers return to Milan-Puskar Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27 to host the Utah Utes, who just suffered their first loss of the season against now-No. 12 ranked Texas Tech. That game will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. on FOX.

Meanwhile, Kansas opens Big 12 play 1-0 and moves to 3-1 on the season. The Jayhawks will remain at home and face the 2-1 Cincinnati Bearcats at noon on TNT.