Monday Rewind: Three thoughts from K-State's 34-19 win over KU

Lingering thoughts from Kansas State’s 34-19 victory against Kansas on Saturday, which went down as Bill Snyder’s 200th career victory:

1. K-State is wise to lean on its running game, but the passing game needs to improve.

You will almost never hear K-State football fans complain that the Wildcats ran the ball too many times in a game, but offensive coordinator Dana Dimel tested that line of thinking against the Jayhawks by attempting 58 runs compared to 11 passes.

Alex Barnes is K-State’s best offensive weapon and Charles Jones isn’t far behind. Jesse Ertz is also a better runner than he is a passer. Running the ball behind a physical offensive line is what the Wildcats want to do and should do. Over their past five games, they have averaged 281 yards on the ground and 137 yards through the air and gone 4-1.

But they got a bit too one-dimensional against KU, and that allowed the Jayhawks to load up defenders at the line of scrimmage and keep the Sunflower Showdown closer than it has in previous years.

“I’m not overly enthused about our passing game,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “We have to be better. We can be better. But by the same token, as we got along in the ball game, it was evident we probably didn’t need to take the chances of throwing because of some of the coverage.

“We could have thrown some things, I guess, and did on a couple occasions, but we also wanted to run the clock. We were running the ball OK, but I would like to throw the ball better than we have.”

Ertz sitting for the majority of the second half limited K-State’s passing options. Alex Delton looks as if he is only allowed to throw in emergency situations, and Joe Hubener completed two of four throws. Ertz went four for six in the first half.

A more balanced approach will help in the season-finale against TCU.

“You like to have that physical mentality as a football player where you just want to dominate your opponent physically,” Barnes said. “But, as a team, it would be better for us if we were more balanced and if we were able to execute as well through the air as we are on the ground.”

2. Bill Snyder was right to call this game “ugly.”

This was not one of K-State’s best games.

Kansas won the second half 16-14 and put up a surprising fight on the road, even making things somewhat interesting in the fourth quarter. Carter Stanley threw for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and K-State only outgained KU 441-403.

The Jayhawks covered the spread and lost a road game by less than 27 points for the first time all season. They stayed within two scores of the Wildcats for the first time since a 17-10 loss in 2009.

A win is a win, even if it lacks style points, so there is no major cause for concern here. And I’m sure the Wildcats lost some intensity after building a 27-3 lead early in the third quarter. Losing Ertz for much of the second half also limited their offense.

But the defense had no excuse for a poor second half.

3. K-State will likely finish the regular season without a single victory against a team with a winning record.

What do Florida Atlantic, Missouri State, Texas Tech, Texas, Iowa State and Kansas all have in common? They all have losing records and they have all lost to K-State this season.

The Wildcats’ only victory over a team with a winning record is Baylor, and that will disappear this weekend unless the Bears find a way to stop their implosion and win at West Virginia.

TCU, K-State’s next opponent, is currently 6-5, but will fall back to .500 if the Wildcats beat the Frogs in the final game of the regular season.

That means K-State will likely enter its bowl game without a victory against a team with a winning record.

I point that out not as a shot at the Wildcats (they can only play the teams on their schedule) but because I find it interesting. A few weeks ago, eight Big 12 teams were .500 or better. It looked like this conference had serious depth and a ton of bowl teams. Things didn’t play out that way.

Texas and Texas Tech both finished 5-7, Baylor has gone from 6-0 to 6-5 and TCU can’t seem to string two good games together.

K-State lost heartbreakers to Oklahoma State and West Virginia and beat up on the Big 12’s lesser teams.

There is a big drop off in quality from the top half of the league to the bottom half.

This story was originally published November 28, 2016 at 10:14 AM with the headline "Monday Rewind: Three thoughts from K-State's 34-19 win over KU."