Grades from Kansas State’s 31-12 victory over TCU and a look ahead to Sunflower Showdown
The vibe inside Kansas State’s football locker room could best be described as a party following a 31-12 victory over TCU on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Players danced. Coaches hugged. Everyone smiled.
There wasn’t much to complain about after the way the Wildcats (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) thoroughly outplayed the Horned Frogs (3-5, 1-4) in what was expected to be a close game. Their 0-3 start to conference play never felt further away.
“Going on that stretch, losing three in a row, it hit us in the gut man,” K-State defensive back Julius Brents said. “We had to sit down and come together as a team and decide what kind of defense we wanted to be. And we just continued and took that on the field and practice and just worked hard. And now we’re finally getting the ball rolling in the right direction and keep improving.”
With Kansas up next on the schedule, the Wildcats will be heavily favored to do exactly that next week.
Here are grades from K-State’s win over TCU and a look ahead to Kansas.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
There’s no doubt about this one. Felix Anudike-Uzomah was arguably the top player in college football this week.
The sophomore defensive end had a spectacular effort against TCU on his way to four sacks and a pair of forced fumbles. The Horned Frogs could do nothing to stop him.
PLAY OF THE GAME
Deuce Vaughn broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter that gave the Wildcats a 14-3 lead.
The play came on a fourth-and-one and Chris Klieman showed no hesitation with his decision to go for the conversion.
Not only was the play perfectly blocked, allowing Vaughn to sprint untouched to the end zone, but it set the tone for the remainder of the game. K-State possessed a healthy lead for the remainder of the afternoon.
STAT OF THE GAME
Anudike-Uzomah was excellent in this game, but so was K-State’s entire defense. The Wildcats finished with 10 tackles for loss.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“I really feel like we are getting better after going through a little bit of a rut.” — Chris Klieman
GRADES
Offense: B+. It was another strong game for Skylar Thompson (13 of 21 for 242 yards and a touchdown) and Deuce Vaughn (109 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries). The Wildcats have found an offensive identity behind them and averaged 7.1 yards per play against TCU. An interception and a third-quarter lull prevented this grade from being higher.
Defense: A. K-State appears to have turned a corner on defense. The Wildcats have only allowed 12 points in their past six quarters of play. They are getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks with a three-man rush and playing with confidence after a slow start to conference play. Daniel Green played excellent behind Anudike-Uzomah with nine tackles, including 2 1/2 for loss.
Special Teams: B. Chris Tennant took over kicking duties for the Wildcats and he responded by connecting on a 42-yard field goal and making all four of his extra points.
Coaching: A. Beating Texas Tech and TCU in back-to-back games isn’t all that special, but give Klieman and his staff credit for having the Wildcats ready to play against both opponents after an 0-3 start to conference play. K-State benefited from a coaching advantage in both games.
NEXT UP
It’s been a while since the Sunflower Showdown has felt like an exciting football rivalry, and things are unlikely to change next weekend when K-State hits the road for a game against Kansas at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
The Wildcats have won 12 straight in this series. There is no reason to think that streak will come to an end on Saturday.
Kansas has lost seven straight games since opening the year with a victory over South Dakota. It appeared to gain some momentum when it played Oklahoma to a close game but the Jayhawks took a big step back over the weekend and lost 55-3 at Oklahoma State.
Klieman is 2-0 against KU with those victories coming by scores of 55-14 and 38-10.
The Wildcats can become bowl eligible with a victory.