How Kansas State squandered 250 yards from Alex Barnes in 37-34 loss at Baylor

Alex Barnes deserved to leave this game as a hero.

The junior Kansas State running back rushed for a career-high 250 yards and three touchdowns. He did his damage on 22 carries, breaking loose for scoring runs of 34, 48 and 55 yards. He was instant offense every time he touched the ball and the best player on the field.

Alas, he couldn’t celebrate his finest game in a K-State uniform because a plethora of missed opportunities in other areas cost the Wildcats in a 37-34 loss to Baylor on Saturday at McLane Stadium.

“It didn’t feel very good catching another loss,” Barnes said. “Individual performances don’t matter if you can’t win at the end of the day. That is the toughest part about it.”

Let’s examine the mistakes that spoiled a banner day from Barnes. There were quite a few of them, and as they built up they eventually became too much to overcome.

• Special teams is no longer a strength. For years, the Wildcats have used that segment of the game as a major advantage. But they accomplished little against the Bears. Isaiah Zuber lost a fumble on his lone kick return, Nick McLellan missed a 38-yard field goal and Baylor blocked an extra point. By game’s end, K-State was content to signal for a fair catch on every Baylor kickoff and take the ball at the 25.
• Missed tackles are a serious problem. Time and again, the Wildcats failed to bring down Baylor skill players at first contact and allowed the Bears to amass 557 yards. “We all just got to wrap up and stop going for the big play,” linebacker Justin Hughes said, “and just make the play.” Kendall Adams and Duke Shelley each grabbed an interception, but that wasn’t enough.

• K-State defenders were penalized for needless late hits. DaQuan Patton gave Baylor a boost on its final drive by colliding with Charlie Brewer after he was well out of bounds. And Reggie Walker was ejected for targeting on a play that Brewer had given up on and threw the ball away.
• Skylar Thompson threw two interceptions. The first came on a pass across the middle intended for Isaiah Harris in which Thompson didn’t account for Baylor safety Jairon McVea. He threw into triple coverage on the other. He also missed Barnes on what should have been an easy touchdown pass. This team is not talented enough to win while committing three turnovers and leaving points on the field.
• Fourth-and-short continues to be a problem for the Wildcats. They tried to convert a fourth-and-2 in the first half on a direct snap to Barnes, but he bobbled the ball and was tackled for a loss.

Last week, K-State played well on defense and came up short on offense. This week, they flipped. What can we expect from the Wildcats next week against Oklahoma State? Who knows.

Consistency is not this team’s calling card.

“The frustrating part is that the offense comes out and plays their tails off,” Hughes said. “We have been looking forward to that, one game when the offense comes out and puts up points. The defense just has to come out and match their intensity. The offense did what they needed to do and scored when they needed to score. Now we need to get stops when we need to get stops. We have to put blame on our shoulders.”

It will be fascinating to see where the Wildcats go from here. At 2-4 and 0-3 in the Big 12, the odds of extending their bowl streak to nine seem low. They project as favorites in only one remaining game — at home against Kansas.

But they did do some encouraging things on offense against the Bears. At long last, they seemed to establish an identity. New offensive coordinator Andre Coleman hoped to move away from the QB run game the Wildcats have relied on in the past and feature Barnes.

K-State’s front five paved the way for Barnes with its best game.

“Our offensive line did their job and executed beautifully,” Barnes said. “On most of my runs I was getting to the second and third level completely untouched. That is a huge improvement over the last couple weeks. Shout out to those guys, the coordinators, everybody. We had a great game plan.”

Still, it wasn’t enough.

This was a missed opportunity for the Wildcats. A frustrating season now becomes even more trying.

“I don’t think it’s a trademark of this football that we just come up short,” K-State head coach Bill Snyder said. “There’s a lot of things that enter into it, and that’s true every single game. I couldn’t put a tag on our football team that says we can’t win close ballgames, not by any stretch of the imagination.”

K-State will get another shot at winning a close game next week against Oklahoma State. Until then, the Wildcats can only think about what might have been after failing to take advantage of Barnes rushing for 250 yards.

“It felt good, but we still lost,” Barnes said. “At the end of the day, we are a 2-4 football team right now. That is not somewhere we thought we would be or want to be.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2018 at 8:35 PM.