MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia’s defense was down a starter for Saturday’s win over Kansas. Safety Toyous Avery, who started the first four games, sat out with an undisclosed injury.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers, his replacement performed even better than Avery has this season. West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson elected to move cornerback Derrek Pitts back to his old position, and it did not take long to see that the sophomore was confident to be there.
Pitts took down Kansas receiver Steven Sims for a 4-yard loss on the Jayhawks second play from scrimmage, the first of a career-high eight tackles.