Kansas State football grades: What went wrong for Wildcats in loss to Oklahoma State
Chris Klieman wasn’t happy after the Kansas State football team lost 29-21 at Oklahoma State on Friday.
As a head coach, Klieman just about always says nice things about his quarterback, defense and coaching staff in a public setting. Even when things aren’t going well he usually finds a way to put a positive spin on things.
But he took a different approach this time.
“A couple things really stick out,” Klieman said. “We we have turned the ball over, which we can’t do. We don’t create any turnovers on defense. So it’s not like we’re getting any short fields for our offense. We give up too many chunk plays on defense, and we’re not getting enough explosive plays on offense. It starts with me and it starts with our coaching staff. We’ve got to be better for these kids.”
He went on to say: “We’re not a very good football team right now.”
It may be a long week for K-State (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) as the Wildcats prepare for their next game at Texas Tech.
Now, it’s time to analyze the loss against Oklahoma State (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) and to look ahead to the Red Raiders.
Play of the game
This game was so ugly that there aren’t a lot of great highlights to choose from. Oklahoma State only scored one touchdown on offense. K-State was in catch-up mode all night and only gained 372 yards.
So let’s go with the interception that OSU defender Cameron Epps returned 35 yards for a touchdown late in the first half. That was the biggest momentum changer of the day for Oklahoma State.
Player and stat of the game
Alex Hale connected on five field goals for Oklahoma State. That made him the leading scorer on Friday, and the player of the game.
As for the stat, Will Howard threw three interceptions.
The K-State quarterback has been a turnover machine this season. He has thrown seven picks in five games.
Quote to note
“I feel like we kind of came in here and listened to the outside noise a little bit too much. They hadn’t put really good stuff on film and we thought we’re a better team than them. I still think that when we’re at our best we’re a better team than them, but we didn’t play our best and they played well tonight. They played better than us.” - Will Howard.
K-State football grades
Offense: F. The Wildcats didn’t do much of anything well. Howard was 15-of-34 for 152 yards with three interceptions as a passer. K-State rushed for 220 yards but needed 37 attempts to get them. Take away one 70-yard scamper from Howard and those numbers don’t look good at all. This was a rare dud from Collin Klein’s unit.
Defense: B. Kudos to the K-State defense for forcing Oklahoma State to attempt six field goals. That was the only reason this game remained close until the end. The Cowboys were in scoring position all night and only managed 22 points on offense.
Special Teams: B. Jack Blumer averaged 48.5 yards per punt and Marques Sigle blocked a field goal for the Wildcats. But K-State also committed some costly penalties on returns.
Coaching: F. K-State was favored by nearly two touchdowns on the road against a struggling team, but you wouldn’t know it based on the way the Wildcats played. Both Oklahoma State and K-State were coming off an open week, and Mike Gundy came up with a much better plan for this game than Klieman.
Next up: at Texas Tech
It appears that K-State will play Texas Tech at the wrong time.
Early on this season, the Red Raiders looked like a mess and lost games to Wyoming, Oregon and West Virginia. They also lost starting quarterback Tyler Shough with an injury.
But Texas Tech has stabilized itself since then and is now on a winning streak. The Red Raiders are coming off back-to-back conference wins over Houston and Baylor. Now they will host K-State at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Lubbock.
Texas Tech beat Baylor 39-14 over the weekend thanks to 180 yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Behren Morton. It’s safe to say the Red Raiders will have lots of confidence when return home against the Wildcats.