Grades from Kansas State’s 22-17 loss against Texas and a look ahead to bowl season
Now that Kansas State’s regular season has come to a close following a 22-17 road loss against Texas on Friday, it’s easy to look back and identify a few statistical trends that helped and hurt the Wildcats in Chris Klieman’s third year.
For starters, K-State tends to win and lose according to expectations. The Wildcats were dominant as favorites (5-1) and as a Vegas pick’em (1-0) this season, but they struggled as underdogs (1-4). Their only loss as a favorite came against Baylor. Their only win as an underdog came against Nevada.
The lack of a signature victory makes K-State’s 7-5 record seem a bit underwhelming, even it is enough to send the Wildcats to a decent bowl game.
It is also interesting to note that K-State has never stopped a losing streak at one game under Klieman. Losses have come in bunches the past three seasons. This year, the Wildcats won three in a row, lost three in a row, won four in a row and then ended with a pair of losses.
K-State limped to the finish line on offense, and that attributed greatly to late losses against Baylor and Texas.
With Skylar Thompson and Deuce Vaughn leading the way, the Wildcats averaged 6.4 yards per play in their first 10 games and went 7-3 while amassing at least 300 yards in nine of those games. But with Thompson limited or sidelined, the Wildcats averaged 5.6 yards per play and failed to reach 300 yards against Baylor and Texas.
The Wildcats held both of those opponents to a combined total of 42 points. That is usually good enough to win in the Big 12, but K-State couldn’t put up enough points to take advantage and finish the regular season with a bang.
Here are grades from K-State’s loss against Texas and a look ahead to bowl season.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
On a day when both teams struggled to consistently move the ball, Texas running back Roschon Johnson was the MVP. He rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown while touching the ball 31 times. K-State had all kinds of trouble stopping him when he took direct snaps out of the wildcat formation.
PLAY OF THE GAME
It was mostly a game to forget for Will Howard, but he did have one incredible play. The sophomore quarterback out ran everyone on the field 71 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to give the Wildcats a 14-13 lead.
STAT OF THE GAME
K-State’s offense was only able to stay on the field for 48 plays. Texas did a much better job of sustaining drives and ran 68 plays. That has been an issue for the Wildcats in recent losses.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“We should have won that game. No doubt about it. We just didn’t do what we had to do. We just didn’t perform well.” — K-State defensive tackle Eli Huggins.
GRADES
Offense: D. It wasn’t all bad. Deuce Vaughn rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown. Howard had an incredible highlight run that resulted in a score. K-State routinely started drives in good field position and averaged 6.1 yards per play. But the Wildcats needed more, especially in the second half, to beat Texas. Howard only threw for 65 yards on 13 attempts. For whatever reason, this offense can’t pass without Thompson commanding the huddle. Going 1 for 9 on third down and getting stuffed on back-to-back fourth downs in the fourth quarter doomed the Wildcats. This was not one of Courtney Messingham’s finest efforts as a play caller.
Defense: B. Daniel Green had a terrific game that included 11 tackles and T.J. Smith came up with an early interception that helped the Wildcats take a 17-13 lead at halftime. The Wildcats played well enough to win on defense, but they were also going against a crippled offense that was down several starters, including star running back Bijan Robinson. They could have done better, especially against Johnson when he ran out of the wildcat formation.
Special Teams: A. Malik Knowles returned a pair of kickoffs far enough that Texas kicker Cameron Dicker had to tackle him out of bounds. Chris Tennant also connected on a 51-yard field goal.
Coaching: D. Many of the coaching decisions that worked brilliantly for Klieman backfired against him on Friday, such as going for it on fourth downs. It’s also surprising that K-State still hasn’t found a way to be a more competitive team when Howard starts at quarterback. He has played in 14 games for the Wildcats, yet he has never thrown for more than 184 yards in a game that wasn’t against Kansas. Klieman should have developed better depth behind Thompson over the past two years.
NEXT UP
Kansas State will learn its bowl destination on Sunday, Dec. 5 after all of the conference championship games are played.
Four bowl games seem like potential landing spots: The Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando, Florida; the Texas Bowl in Houston; the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee; and the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix.
The Wildcats finished fifth in the Big 12 standings, which means they are most likely headed for Houston. If two Big 12 teams reach the playoff or play in a major bowl, the Texas Bowl will likely be choosing between K-State and Texas Tech. The Wildcats would be the probable pick.
But there is also a chance three Big 12 teams could play in a major bowl, which would bring the Cheez-It Bowl into play. Otherwise that game will be choosing between Iowa State and K-State. The Cyclones were just there in 2019, so it’s possible the Cheez-It Bowl looks elsewhere. But Iowa State has the better conference record and beat K-State this season.
The Liberty Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl will only come into play if the Big 12 sends only one team to the playoff or a major bowl.