Kansas State Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Kickoff time, TV, five things to know
The Kansas State Wildcats will try to end a two-game losing streak and pick up their first Big 12 win of the season against the Baylor Bears at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in McLane Stadium.
The Bears (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) are favored, but this feels like a toss-up game. Baylor is coming off a 66-33 loss to Oklahoma and doesn’t have a truly impressive win on its resume.
The Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) haven’t looked consistently good in any of their first five games, but they did show some signs of life in the second half of a 19-14 loss to Texas over the weekend. K-State trailed 19-0 at halftime and nearly pulled off a comeback attempt in the final two quarters. That built some internal confidence heading into this game.
The details
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: McLane Stadium, Waco, Texas
TV: FS1
Radio: KQAM (1480 AM) in Wichita, KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City
The line: Baylor by 4 1/2
Five things to know
- The Bears are one of the nation’s best passing teams behind quarterback Charlie Brewer. He has already thrown for 1,262 yards and eight touchdowns this season. His favorite targets are Jalen Hurd and Denzel Mims. Baylor is averaging 331.4 passing yards per game, which ranks 12th nationally. This will be a difficult game for K-State’s secondary.
- On the flip side, the Bears have struggled to run the ball in their first five games. Some of that can be explained by game script. For example, they threw the ball 60 times to try and come back against the Sooners during a 66-33 loss at Oklahoma. John Lovett and JaMycal Hasty both average more than 5.3 yards per carry. But the Bears are only averaging 156.6 yards on the ground each game.
- This looks like a good matchup for K-State quarterback Skylar Thompson. The Bears are allowing 231.6 yards through the air this season. Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray threw for 432 yards and six touchdowns against them last week. Thompson could hurt Baylor’s defense with his arm.
- Reggie Walker is trending up for the Wildcats. K-State was unable to establish a pass rush and rarely made tackles behind the line of scrimmage in its first four games, then Walker went out and had two sacks and a forced fumble against Texas. His play led to six tackles for loss from K-State, easily its best game of the season in that regard.
- This game could have big bowl implications for both teams. K-State can ill afford to slip two games below .500 if it hopes to extend its bowl streak to nine. This is one of the least difficult games remaining on the Wildcats’ schedule. A win would give them some margin for error as they push for six wins. A loss would leave them in a tough spot. Baylor can pull within two victories of bowl eligibility with a win.
This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 3:09 PM.