MORGANTOWN, West Virginia – West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen is not worried that quarterback Will Grier will be overwhelmed by the attention and pressure he has as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Grier has thrown far too many passes. Played in far too many games. Diagnosed too many defenses to let the threshing gear enter his head.

"I'm not worried about overloading it," said Holgorsen. "He's mature, he's anchored, he's comfortable where he is, he knows how to handle that, he's a professional who's in the university."

Looks like that

The 12th-ranked Grier and Mountaineers overcame a difficult start to the season by defeating Kansas 35-6 in the first game of the 12-team squad on Saturday. The senior completed 25 of 35 passes for 356 yards with five touchdowns, three of them against David Sills, and two interceptions while West Virginia (3-0) had a rare break against the Wildcats.

The four previous meetings between the two schools had been decided by a total of 13 points. Not this time. Once Grier and the Mountaineers rode late in the first half, it was over.

Grier, as he has done since taking office at the start of last season, has led the way. Having one of the best red zone targets in the country helps – the three Sills touchdowns are on 1-yard passes – but Grier also likes going deep. He found Marcus Simms for an 82-yard run to open the scoring and then offered a perfect rainbow to Tevin Bush that Bush turned into a 62-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

"Everyone looks at passing statistics, but I love how he handles a game," said Kansas State coach Bill Snyder about Grier. "They allow him to call the offense so to speak and he is doing a wonderful job on it."

Skylar Thompson completed 11 of 17 passes for 145 yards for Kansas State (2-2) and Alex Delton came in late with a 7-for-12 lead for 82 yards. Delton also added 28 rushing yards, but it was way too late for the Wildcats.

"We were just a bad offense, period," said Snyder. "I like sand football for a while."

TURNING POINT

Running 7-0 midway through the second quarter and facing fourth and fourth place at Kansas State 43, the Wildcats chose to move forward. Quarterback Skylar Thompson opted for a quick option and threw the ball to bearer Alex Barnes, who lost 4 yards.

Seven games later, Grier found Sills for a 1-yard score, which allowed the Mountaineers to increase their lead by 14-0. After forcing Kansas State to a hat-trick, West Virginia needed only 55 seconds to make 73 yards, the last coming from a nice shot in the backcourt by Sills, to reach 21- 0 at the break. .

When asked if he would repeat the same reading on the fourth day, Snyder simply replied "yes, yes, yes" before adding some of his subtle team.

"I went into the locker room and I accepted the responsibility of being half-time at halftime with our players as there were two touchdowns after that," Snyder said. "But I can not coach a team that can not have six inches on a game."

NO COASTING

The Mountaineers continued to point to the 28-23 breakout of last season on the road against the Wildcats – when West Virginia was cleared in the second half and had to hold back . They do not call it a byproduct of spending last weekend watching instead of playing while Mother Nature has wreaked havoc in the Carolinas.

After a goal on Kansas State's pitch (21-3), Grier found a Bush that pushed West Virginia to 25. The Mountaineers then converted a Kansas State fumble to another 1-yard touchdown.

"I think this week's break really humbled us a bit," said Sills. "We were watching football last Saturday, just wanting to be there, so we went out for that hungry match, I think when you play well on all three sides of the ball, that's what the result looks like. "

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas State: The Wildcats have serious problems in attack. They managed only 77 yards in the first half and did not cross the midfield before their first possession of the third quarter. Snyder has refused to nominate a starting quarterback for next week's game against Texas.

West Virginia: Mountaineers seem to be more comfortable going fast than slowing down. Four of their five landing drives took less than two minutes.

FOLLOWING

Kansas State: hosts the Longhorns next Saturday. The Wildcats have won the last five meetings with Texas at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

West Virginia: Travel to Tech Texas next Saturday. The Mountaineers have won four more victories than the Red Raiders.