Grades from Kansas State’s last-second loss at Baylor and a look ahead to Texas
The Kansas State Wildcats lost their fourth consecutive football game when the Baylor Bears kicked a walk-off field goal for a 32-31 victory on Saturday at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.
It was arguably K-State’s most painful loss of the season. The Wildcats played well enough to lead most of the night, but they let a win slip through their fingers with some mistakes in the fourth quarter.
Here are grades from K-State’s latest defeat and a look ahead to its next game against Texas.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
It has to be Charlie Brewer. The Baylor quarterback completed 31 of 39 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns to guide the Bears to a come-from behind victory.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Two plays swung momentum Baylor’s way in the second half. With K-State leading 17-9 early in the third quarter, it seemed like the Wildcats were about to force a Bears punt and get an opportunity to pull ahead by more than one score when Brewer ran into a wall of defenders on a key third-and-4 play at midfield. Brewer was running to his left and decided to reverse field when he saw no room against K-State’s defense. There wasn’t much space to his right, either, but he created some by diving over a would-be tackler for a first down.
On the next play, Brewer connected with R.J. Sneed for a 35-yard pass up the sideline that was questionably upheld on replay review. The Bears scored moments later to pull within 17-15. It’s hard to see them winning without that series of events.
STAT OF THE GAME
K-State committed a pair of turnovers, while Baylor only had one. The Wildcats simply aren’t good enough right now to win most games without first winning the turnover battle.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“In the end, we have to find a way to get a first down with four minutes left on offense, and we have to find a way to get a stop.” — Chris Klieman.
GRADES
Offense: C. The Wildcats surprisingly rushed for a season high 256 yards despite the absence of starting offensive linemen Ben Adler and Josh Rivas. That was impressive. Deuce Vaughn (102 yards and a touchdown), Malik Knowles (81 yards and a touchdown and Will Howard (41 yards and a touchdown) were all strong on the ground. But K-State’s passing game was once again non existent, as Howard completed nine of 18 passes for 88 yards and threw a pair of interceptions.
Defense: C. K-State’s pass rush was dominant in the first half and piled up seven sacks behind defensive end Wyatt Hubert. Linebackers Cody Fletcher (eight tackles) and Daniel Green (13 tackles) also looked good filling in for Justin Hughes and Elijah Sullivan, who missed their second straight game. But the secondary couldn’t stop anything in the second half and the Bears threw the ball at will for big yardage.
Special Teams: B. Blake Lynch connected on his lone field-goal attempt and the Wildcats recovered a fumble on a muffed Baylor punt in the first half.
Coaching: C. Klieman and his staff deserve credit for guiding the Wildcats to a 31-22 lead while playing without four starters. But they also deserve some blame for the way K-State unraveled in the final moments. The Wildcats have lost three times while leading in the fourth quarter this season. That’s never a good sign for the coach.
NEXT UP
K-State can secure a winning conference record by defeating Texas on senior day next week at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
That isn’t what the Wildcats were hoping to play for in their final game of the regular season when they began Big 12 play with four consecutive victories, but it’s something.
The Longhorns will also be searching for secondary sources of motivation this week after they were all but eliminated from the league championship mix following a home loss to Iowa State. There is lots of speculation about Tom Herman’s job security at the moment, which could add another element of intrigue.
This game might come down to which team wants it more.