Grading Kansas State’s football win over Cincinnati and looking ahead to Iowa State
The Kansas State football team got back to its winning ways with a 41-15 victory against Cincinnati on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
K-State (8-3, 5-3 Big 12) won in dominant fashion and stayed alive in the Big 12 championship race.
A day after the Cincinnati victory, it is time to look back on the action and hand out a few awards and grades. We also look ahead to a meaningful Farmageddon game at Iowa State next weekend.
Play of the game
Avery Johnson gained 34 yards with a quarterback keeper on Kansas State’s first play of the night. The sophomore quarterback sent a message to everyone watching that he was ready to run the ball in this game, and good things followed.
Player of the game
It’s a tough call between Avery Johnson and DJ Giddens.
Johnson rushed for 72 yards and threw for 147 yards while playing a role in three touchdowns. But Giddens rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on just 15 carries while adding 39 yards on three catches as a wide receiver.
This week we can let them share the honor.
Stat of the game & quote to note
K-State ran for 281 yards and averaged 7.1 yards per rush. The Wildcats are almost always going to win games when that happens.
As for the quote ...
“It felt like we hadn’t won in a month. Losing is never good, and it’s never something you want to have happen, especially reoccurring and over a long period of time. So just getting back in the win column this week was definitely big for us.” — Avery Johnson.
K-State football grades
Offense: A. K-State got back to its identity in this game. Conor Riley called plays from the sideline instead of the press box, Avery Johnson was aggressive as a runner, DJ Giddens bounced to the outside and made people miss and the Wildcats blocked with authority. Johnson also threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Where has this been all season?
Defense: B+. The Wildcats had nine tackles for loss and Brendan Mott grabbed an interception. Cincinnati struggled to move the ball against an aggressive K-State defense that played hard on senior day.
Special Teams: B. Kicking field goals is easy again for the Wildcats. Chris Tennant connected on both of his attempts in this game.
Coaching: A. Klieman did an impressive job getting K-State ready for senior day. The Wildcats made a few changes and they paid off. K-State is a much better team than Cincinnati and it showed in a blowout victory.
Next up: Iowa State
The Wildcats will hit the road for their final game of the regular season next Saturday.
K-State will play Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised on FOX.
The game will have Big 12 championship implications. Iowa State can earn a berth into the title game with a victory. K-State can do the same with a win if it gets the right amount of help elsewhere. The Wildcats also need two or more losses from Arizona State, BYU and Colorado.
That should make this one of the most intense Farmageddon games in recent memory.
Chris Klieman has traditionally struggled against Matt Campbell, as Iowa State has won three of the past four in this series.
But this could be a good matchup for K-State. Iowa State allows 5.1 yards per run, a number that ranks 15th in the Big 12. The Wildcats have beaten up on the other teams in the conference that were unable to stop them from running the ball.