One win is all West Virginia needs to clinch a spot in a bowl game and they have three opportunities to get the job done. This Saturday is by far their best chance to hit that mark, considering they have two ranked teams waiting for them in the on-deck circle.

On this morning's episode of the In the Gun Podcast, we asked friend of the program, Phil Steele, what he sees playing out between the Mountaineers and the visiting Kansas Jayhawks.

Phil's thoughts on West Virginia vs. Kansas

“Kansas is better than their record. You go back to that Arizona State game in London; they had a 414-228 yard edge, a 22-13 first down edge, somehow lost that game. The Utah game, I had Utah minus the points; I feel very fortunate it made Scott Van Pelt’s Bad Beats that week, very fortunate to get that one- but they have been better.

"But I’m going to point out one thing about the yards that you may not know: they outgained Long Island by 467 yards. They outgained Middle Tennessee by 570 yards. In Big 12 play, they are only +10 yards per game, so they are +98 on the year, but those two games have a lot to do with it. And I also look at the fact that when they’re on the road, they give up 231 yards per game on the ground and 5.5 yards per carry.

"Who they taking on this week? Oh, Michael Hawkins and Cam Cook… holy cow, that is an incredible combination they got there. I love the way West Virginia played last week against Texas Tech. I thought they played a tremendous game. I like the fact that they came out of that TCU game on the road with the win.

"They’re catching Kansas traveling across the country, and twice this year, I’ve liked Kansas in a game where they really disappointed me. They played Missouri, and it was 14-14 at the half, but they got outplayed at the line of scrimmage and got outgained by 214 yards. Then I’m going to back to the game they played against Kansas State, and I thought that they could finally end that rivalry streak. Kansas State just dominated them at the line of scrimmage — they were outgained by 249 yards.

"So if you look at those two games, compare it to West Virginia, and you know what? If that third quarter West Virginia defense shows up…I mean, they had four possessions for Texas Tech last week and one first down in the second half in the first four drives. I think this is a West Virginia team that needs this win. They got Houston and Utah on deck; they’ll be underdogs in most likely. You need this win to get to six. I like West Virginia -3 as the play this week.”

Reasons to believe Phil will be spot on

Well, for one, it's Phil. He's the best in the business. But to build on what Phil said, Kansas has not played well on the road, losing all four of its games away from Lawrence, three of which were true road games. In those games, the Jayhawks have been outscored 122-81. Also, Kansas has allowed the most rushing yards to a quarterback of any defense in the Big 12, which bodes well for Mike Hawkins Jr., who sits just 76 yards away from 1,000 for the season.