Oklahoma State exposes K-State flaws that could linger beyond first loss for Wildcats
Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman had two interesting things to say about the Wildcats following a 31-20 loss against Oklahoma State that felt uglier than the final score may have indicated on Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium.
The first was optimistic.
“I really firmly believe we have got a good football team,” Klieman said before later adding, “It’s a long season with an awful lot of opportunities in front of us. If we learn from this and continue to improve we’ve got a chance to be OK.”
The other was on the opposite end of the spectrum.
“We were a step slow,” Klieman said. “We couldn’t get our footing. We couldn’t slow the game down enough, whatever you want to say. We just couldn’t get a stop, and it was frustrating.”
Those two statements perfectly illustrate where K-State may or may not go from here.
Maybe this result was a fluke that will later be explained by the absences of three usual starters (quarterback Skylar Thompson, defensive end Khalid Duke, tight end Daniel Imatorbhebhe), as well as playing in front of a large road crowd for the first time in two years.
Or perhaps it’s a sign of deeper issues that will linger all season.
The No. 25 Wildcats (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) entered this game riding high with a 3-0 record that featured impressive wins over Stanford and Nevada. They were averaging 225.7 rushing yards behind an experienced offensive line. They were limiting opponents to 15.7 points and 280 yards with a stingy defense. It seemed like they had established an identity on both sides of the ball.
But they looked lost against the Cowboys (4-0, 1-0).
K-State rushed for just 62 yards in this game. Star running back Deuce Vaughn was held under the century mark for the first time since last November and finished with 22 yards on eight carries. K-State also could do nothing to slow Oklahoma State in the first half and fell behind 31-10 before eventually surrendering 481 yards.
To put that in proper context, the Cowboys hadn’t scored more than 28 points or amassed more than 369 yards in a game this season. But they did enough damage in the first half against K-State to kick their feet up and play conservative during the final two quarters on Saturday.
“That first half was definitely surprising to us,” K-State linebacker Cody Fletcher said. “It was a shock to us. That hasn’t happened to us yet, but we knew eventually it might. We just didn’t play physical enough.”
Not even a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Malik Knowles and an improbable 55-yard touchdown pass from Jaren Lewis to Vaughn were enough to keep the Wildcats close.
But there were some positives. For example, K-State played hard the whole way and shut out Oklahoma State in the second half. Give the Wildcats credit for that.
“Overall, I thought we played our hearts out,” K-State quarterback Jaren Lewis said, “we have just got to get better.”
Re-establishing the running game should be priority No. 1.
K-State put up impressive numbers on the ground in its first three games, but that’s not going to be so easy in the Big 12. Several teams in the conference can stop the run this season, including Oklahoma State.
The Cowboys were allowing 2.6 yards per rush before Saturday, and that number barely put them in the top half of the league.
The Wildcats hoped to confuse the Cowboys by running Will Howard and Vaughn in different directions on read-option plays, and Howard did break free for an early 37-yard gain on a well-designed keeper. But he suffered an injury in the first half and was rarely used in the second. K-State went with Lewis instead, which severely limited its ability to move the ball on the ground.
Still, they could have done better.
“It’s very disappointing to see 62 rushing yards,” Klieman said. “We knew they were going to stack the box and try to stop the quarterback run with Will. Then we lost Will and then they obviously focused on Deuce. Then they just wanted to play man coverage and put good pressure on the quarterback. We didn’t have guys running clean and running free.”
A healthy Thompson would also help the offense.
That should happen sooner rather than later, as the senior quarterback warmed up with his team on Saturday and looked good both running and throwing. But Klieman said he didn’t know exactly when Thompson will take his next snap.
He could be healthy enough to play next week against No. 4 Oklahoma. But he might also require more time for his right knee to recover from the injury he suffered against Southern Illinois.
“He can throw it, but we have to make sure he can run before he can play,” Klieman said. “I don’t know if that’s in two weeks, I don’t know if that’s the open week, I don’t know if that’s in three weeks. We will just keep progressing.”
K-State will take its chances at defeating Oklahoma for a third-straight season if Thompson is in command of the offense.
But its confidence levels will drop with Howard or Lewis as the starter.
No matter what, K-State needs to re-establish its identities on both sides of the ball if it wants to avoid more games like this one. Otherwise there won’t be much mystery about how the rest of the season goes.
This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 11:47 PM.