Grades from Kansas State’s lopsided win over KU and a look ahead to West Virginia
The Sunflower Showdown remains a one-sided rivalry on the football field.
Kansas State looked as dominant as ever while drubbing Kansas 55-14 on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It was a good way for the No. 20 Wildcats (4-1, 4-0 Big 12) to enter the second half of their season, which will ultimately determine whether they can push for a conference championship with difficult upcoming games against West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Baylor and Texas.
Here are grades from K-State’s latest victory and a look ahead to its next game against the Mountaineers.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Well, let’s see. There are so many candidates to choose from.
Just kidding. The obvious choice here is Phillip Brooks.
Without catching a single pass on offense, the sophomore receiver made an enormous impact on this game and sprinted his way into the K-State record books. Brooks was a one-man wrecking crew on punt returns. The Jayhawks kicked right at him most of the afternoon, and he made them pay by returning four punts for a school record 189 yards and two touchdowns.
The punt he returned for a touchdown on the final play of the first half was a back-breaker for the Jayhawks, as they didn’t play with any passion in the second half.
Brooks seems like a lock for Big 12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Seeing as how we have already covered K-State’s touchdowns on special teams, let’s give the nod to a defensive touchdown here.
Justin Gardner deserves lots of credit for perfectly reading an ill-conceived trick play from the Jayhawks and jumping in front of it for a pick six.
You want see any easier interception or waltz into the end zone. On the play, KU quarterback Jalon Daniels rolled to his right and then attempted to throw a screen pass to the opposite side of the field to Daniel Hishaw, but it failed miserably. Gardner read the play from the jump and scored his first touchdown with the Wildcats.
“I wouldn’t say that it was easy,” Gardner said. “I just saw two linemen coming out late with a running back peeking out behind them. As soon as I saw that, I knew something tricky was coming. I just triggered and shot it and ended up getting a pick.”
STAT OF THE GAME
The Wildcats only scored one touchdown on offense in the first half of this game and still led 34-7. You don’t see that every day. K-State found the end zone twice on special teams and once on defense (that’s three non-offensive touchdowns for those counting at home) to turn what should have been a close game into a blowout.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“It’s another aspect of the game. There’s offense, defense and special teams. I feel like we take pride in special teams. It’s Special Teams U. With the history of having great returners, I feel like I needed to contribute to that to the best of my ability.” — Phillip Brooks.
GRADES
Offense: B. The Wildcats were far from impressive in the first half, but they looked unstoppable in the third quarter when Will Howard got cooking. The freshman quarterback completed 17 of 24 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns, which was easily his best game in a K-State uniform. Deuce Vaughn had 152 all-purpose yards and a touchdown. Briley Moore caught a touchdown pass. Keyon Mozee looked good. Most encouraging of all, the Wildcats finally got their receivers involved with Chabastin Taylor, Malik Knowles and D.J. Render all catching passes.
Defense: A. The Wildcats forced nine punts and limited the Jayhawks to 320 yards. This was a strong effort from K-State’s defense, even if KU did occasionally move the ball a little too easily. Ross Elder led the way with six tackles, while the defensive line had Daniels scrambling out of the pocket on just about every play. A.J. Parker did suffer an injury of unknown severity on a punt return, though. That will be bad news for K-State if he misses any time.
Special Teams: A+. K-State got a flawless effort from this unit. In addition to Brooks’ heroics, Blake Lynch connected on a pair of field goals and Brock Monty delivered some excellent blocks.
Coaching: A+. Why do you call a timeout with 8 seconds remaining in the second quarter and force the other team to punt or come up with a creative way to kill the clock? Because there’s a chance they will screw up and your team will score. That is exactly what happened when KU foolishly punted to Brooks and he took one to the house. Chris Klieman has dominated Les Miles in the coaching department since both were hired last season.
NEXT UP
A road trip to West Virginia will serve as K-State’s most difficult game since traveling to Oklahoma in late September.
The Mountaineers (3-2, 2-2 Big 12) are coming off a 34-27 loss at Texas Tech, but they haven’t lost at home this season under coach Neal Brown.
They will be a difficult test for the Wildcats, because they play a defensive scheme that perplexed them a year ago during a 24-20 loss in Manhattan. The Mountaineers rank first in the conference in yards allowed (261.8 per game) and second in the conference in points allowed (21.8 per game).
If Howard can build off the sensational third quarter he had against the Jayhawks, the Wildcats will take their chances against any opponent. But it will take more than defense and special teams to beat West Virginia.