Why KU rivalry feels ‘light years’ different for K-State football coach Chris Klieman
The Sunflower Showdown hasn’t played out like much of a rivalry since Chris Klieman took over as Kansas State’s head football coach five years ago.
Klieman led K-State to a 38-10 victory in his debut game against Kansas in 2018 and then he followed that up with three more decisive victories (55-14, 35-10, 47-27) over the Jayhawks. This rivalry has belonged to the Wildcats since 1993, and that hasn’t changed under new leadership. K-State has won 14 straight in the series. KU has only won four of the past 30.
It’s been more of a beatdown than a showdown.
Still, Klieman has too much respect for KU coach Lance Leipold to overlook Saturday’s game in Lawrence. Despite recent results, he is quite adamant that the Jayhawks are closing the gap on the Wildcats, as both enter this year’s matchup with identical records of 7-3.
“Oh, it’s light years different,” Klieman said of the rivalry. “It’s even light years difference from Lance’s first year ... To see what they have done in the past few years is really impressive. It doesn’t surprise me.”
Indeed, this is one of the most anticipated Sunflower Showdown football games in recent memory.
Both teams are bowl eligible. Both teams remain alive in the race for a Big 12 championship. Both teams have been ranked this season.
The only bummer about this matchup is that Kansas may have to play third-string quarterback Cole Ballard instead of Jason Bean, who was injured last week, or Jalon Daniels, who has missed the past six games.
No one can chalk this up as an automatic victory for the Wildcats, even though they are favored by eight points. That should add more excitement than usual to this rivalry, which has only featured one game decided by single digits in the past decade.
“As somebody who is obviously from state of Kansas, this is a game every year that you have to make sure you watch because it’s always fun,” K-State offensive lineman Cooper Beebe said, “especially this year. You know it’s going to be a super competitive game. They have got a really good team. I think it’s good for the state of Kansas. This will probably be the most competitive Sunflower Showdown in probably 20 years or so.”
K-State and KU could stand to be more competitive in their two biggest sports.
The Wildcats have owned the rivalry on the football field. The Jayhawks have dominated on the basketball court, having won 57 of 64 games during the Big 12 era.
It seems like both sides of the rivalry are starting to even out, even if results don’t show it yet. Jerome Tang led K-State to a win over Kansas last season at Bramlage Coliseum. Leipold has guided KU to back-to-back bowl games.
In another few years, maybe the Sunflower Showdown will feel like a coin flip in both sports.
For now, K-State holds an edge on the football field. The Wildcats obviously want that to continue, but they aren’t afraid of stronger competition when they travel to Lawrence.
“It’s a great opportunity,” K-State center Hayden Gillum said. “There is going to be a great amount of energy this year. I’m excited for the atmosphere and what it means to have both football teams playing good football.”