MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia focused on quitting DJ Giddens and No. 17 Kansas State's vaunted running attack. Avery JohnsonGiddens and the Wildcats still reached the end zone.


Johnson threw for a career-high 298 yards and three touchdowns, Giddens rushed for a season-high two scores and K-State brushed aside the Mountaineers 45-18 to stay in the thick of the Big 12 Conference race.


Bowl-bound K-State is off to its best start in six years at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12 Chris Klieman Epoch.


The Wildcats defeated West Virginia 3-4 and 2-2 with their best passing attack this season at a time when the Mountaineers were looking to stop Giddens, who is fourth in the nation with an average of 131.0 rushing yards per game FBS came into play.


Giddens had 19 carries for 57 yards and scored two touchdowns, a season-high, and a catch for 53 yards, helping the Wildcats outscore the Mountaineers 28-8 over the final two quarters at Milan Puskar Stadium.


“We didn't play particularly well in the first half, but we had a 17-10 lead and challenged the guys a little bit at halftime to get to the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Klieman said. “They had a good game plan for us in the run game, so we had to throw the football, but eventually we were able to break them down a little bit with the run.”


Johnson completed 19 of 29 passes, hitting nine different pass catchers. He hit along Jadon Jackson for a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter. He came to a close end Garrett Oakley on a seam route for a 16-yard score in the third quarter. Then he found another close end, Will Anciauxraces through the end zone and scores another point later.


“I was really happy with the plan we had for the throwing game,” Klieman said. “We beat them to some things we thought we could do, and Avery was really on point and really calm in the pocket and made some great throws.”


K-State, which came into the game ranked eighth in the FBS with an average of 241.0 rushing yards, managed just 114 yards on 26 carries, but the Mountaineers couldn't keep Giddens out of the end zone. Giddens' 1-yard run made it 38-10 and his 18-yard run provided the final points for both teams.


K-State defeated West Virginia 412-294. West Virginia had 74 offensive plays and K-State had just 55. The Wildcats entered the game averaging 6.77 yards per play, on pace to be K-State's best offense in a season. Against the Mountaineers, they averaged 7.50 yards per play.


The victory gave K-State back-to-back road wins at Colorado and West Virginia before returning home to face Kansas in the Dillon's Sunflower Showdown in Manhattan, beginning next Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.


“We didn't get any scheduling advantages over the last two weeks because we were playing late like in two different time zones, but I'm so proud of how the guys stuck together and didn't let that bother them,” Klieman said. “In the end they got two big away wins in difficult environments and found a way.”


K-State scored touchdowns on five of its last eight possessions. West Virginia threw two interceptions and turned it over four times on downs.


K-State took a 17-10 lead into halftime Chris Tennant 44-yard field goal, a 60-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to Jackson and a pick-six by safety Marques Sigle.


K-State broke an early 3-3 tie when Jackson got behind the West Virginia defense with a 60-yard touchdown catch. Deployed as a slot receiver, Jackson raced past defenders and outran safety Anthony Wilson Jr., hauled in the ball at the 20 and raced the rest of the way to the house.


“When I turned around and saw the ball, I thought, 'Man, Avery trusts me, I've got to make this play,'” said Jackson, who had two catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. “It was a very nice pass. Everyone was so focused on DJ that we just surprised them.”


Sigle and the lightning-quick defense contributed to that result as he retreated into zone coverage and jumped in front of Hudson Clement to make an athletic interception. Sigle darted 43 yards down the sideline for a pick-six to extend the Wildcats' lead to 17-3 with 13:14 left in the second quarter.


“We applied good pressure and called the play, we knew what was coming and as the game went on I made my drop, read the QB's eyes and saw the ball,” Sigle said. “Then I made sure No. 4 didn’t get me.”


West Virginia refused to give up as quarterback Garrett Greene capped a 13-play, 70-yard drive by firing a pass seven yards to Clement in the end zone on third down. Red zone touchdowns were rare against K-State, allowing opponents to score a touchdown inside the red zone on just 8 of 18 trips (44.44%), which ranked 15th in the FBS .


Although West Virginia cut the lead to 17-10, the Mountaineers could have done more damage just before halftime. However, K-State stiffened despite Greene driving the Mountaineers 89 yards on 12 plays. On a fourth-and-2 at K-State's 4-yard line, Green saw his pass fly incomplete to tight end Kole Taylor just before the teams headed to the locker room.


K-State opened the third quarter with a big score, achieved by an 11-yard catch by the wide receiver Ty Bowman ranked fourth and fifth in the West Virginia area. Johnson capped off the 11-play, 74-yard drive by giving Oakley the lead with a 16-yard scoring strike.


The Wildcats led 24-10 – but only for a few minutes. That's because Giddens caught a pass at the West Virginia 45-yard line and ran downfield until Anthony Wilson tackled him at the 1-yard line for a 53-yard gain. Three plays later, Anciaux caught his second career touchdown to build a 31-10 lead.


Giddens' 1-yard touchdown run made it 38-10 with 12:09 left in the fourth quarter.


The celebrations continued as the Wildcats picked up another important road win.


“It's hard to win in the Big 12, especially on the road, but if you want to be a dominant team, you have to win on the road,” Jackson said. “That was our attitude going in and out.”