Three things we learned from Kansas State’s football loss against Texas Longhorns
Shortly after the Kansas State football team ended its regular season with a 22-17 loss against Texas on Friday, defensive tackle Eli Huggins took a deep breath and explained why it was an incredibly disappointing result for the Wildcats.
“We should have won that game,” Huggins said. “No doubt about it. We just didn’t do what we had to do. We just didn’t perform well.”
K-State (7-5, 4-5 Big 12) played well enough to take a 17-13 in the first half at Texas Memorial Stadium, but it let the game slip away in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were unable to do much of anything on offense with Will Howard starting at quarterback in place of an injured Skylar Thompson, and they were doomed by a pair of late failed fourth-down conversions.
In most years, there would be no shame in losing a road game against the Longhorns (5-7, 3-6), but things are much different this season. There is no sugar-coating this loss. Texas was on a six-game losing streak and near the bottom of the Big 12 standings in Steve Sarkisian’s first season.
“It’s frustrating because that is a game we could have won,” Howard said. “I feel like we were better than them.”
It was an offensive struggle for both teams.
K-State struggled to move the ball outside of the occasional big play from Deuce Vaughn, who finished with 143 rushing yards and a touchdown. Things weren’t much prettier for the home team, as Texas seemed hesitant to put the ball in the air with Casey Thompson serving as the Longhorns’ only healthy scholarship quarterback. But Roschon Johnson did have 179 yards and a score on the ground.
Both teams settled for field goals and punted the ball more than they found the end zone. The result was a slim victory for the Longhorns.
“It’s a frustrating loss, because I feel like we should have won the football game,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said. “We had opportunities to win the game and didn’t.”
Here are some key takeaways from the game.
Big trouble on fourth down
The Wildcats have been heroes on fourth down most of the season, but they were anything but that on Friday against the Longhorns.
K-State entered Friday’s action having converted on 13 of 16 fourth-down attempts. Things went much differently in this game.
Klieman opted to go for it on a pair of fourth-and-shorts in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats turned the ball over on downs both times.
Fans will be critical of offensive coordinator Courtney Messingham after this one. Rather than call a simple quarterback sneak with Howard charging forward with his 6-foot-5 and 235-pound frame, he gave the ball to Vaughn out of a wildcat formation on the first attempt, and he was promptly stuffed.
“I will take ownership on that one,” Vaughn said. “Whenever the head coach and the (offensive coordinator) say ‘We are giving you the ball, go get a first down,’ that is something you have to do no matter what.”
That was a costly play, because it allowed Texas to take over on the K-State 30 and kick a field goal to move ahead 22-17.
A few minutes later, K-State went with the same play call on third-and-short and got the same result. On fourth down, it went with an option run to the right with Howard. That didn’t work either.
In hindsight, Klieman admitted it might have been wise to call different plays in those situations. But he was also disappointed in his team’s execution.
“We should be able to get a yard,” he said.
Those plays doomed the Wildcats.
“Offensively, we just didn’t make enough plays,” Klieman said. “We were really poor on third downs. All that being said, as badly as we played, we got a first-and-10 at their 26 down 22-17 and have a chance to pull out the win and don’t get it done. It’s very frustrating. I know the guys are frustrated. We haven’t played our best football the last two weeks and that is disappointing. We have to do a better job as coaches.”
Will Howard had a highlight run, but not much else
The sophomore quarterback provided a must-see touchdown run when he scampered 71 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 14-13 lead.
It was a terrific play. Howard faked a hand off to Vaughn, and Texas fell for the misdirection, sending several defenders Vaughn’s way as he ran to his right without the ball. That allowed Howard to take off on a keeper, and he made the most of his opportunity.
But it was a forgettable day for Howard outside of that one play.
Howard completed 9 of 13 passes for only 63 yards.
K-State has struggled to move the ball without Thompson commanding the huddle over the past two seasons, and nothing changed as he watched this game from the sideline while nursing an injured left ankle.
The Wildcats never seemed to truly trust Howard in this game and asked Vaughn to take a number of snaps and run out of a wildcat formation.
Howard is 3-7 as K-State’s starting quarterback. He missed out on an opportunity to prove himself as K-State’s quarterback of the future.
“This was a game that I thought could build a lot of momentum going into next year and into the bowl game,” Howard said. “Obviously, things didn’t go well.”
What’s next?
The regular season has come to an end, but the Wildcats still have one more game to play.
K-State will learn its bowl destination after all the conference championship games are played next week.
It seems likely that the Wildcats will end up in either the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando or the Texas Bowl in Houston. K-State’s postseason destination may depend on how many Big 12 teams make it to major bowls.
The more the better for K-State. The Wildcats have never played in a Florida bowl game before. Perhaps that will change next month.
This story was originally published November 26, 2021 at 2:21 PM.