K-State fizzle extends beyond loss to Oklahoma

Here are the numbers Bill Snyder is fighting. The numbers he created. The numbers that once shocked everyone who is a fan of college football. The numbers that now make his job so difficult.

109-29.

63-21.

From 1993 through 2003 — 11 seasons — those were Kansas State’s overall and conference records. Snyder had taken a moribund football program with little hope and hardly any fan base and transformed it into one of the nation’s best programs and stories. There is no one other than Snyder who could have done this.

He deserves the stadium in his family’s name. He deserves the statue outside the entrance. He deserves the adoration of all K-State fans.

But those numbers are as dastardly as they are impressive. Because they’re the numbers Snyder and K-State are compared to, fair or otherwise.

K-State lost to Oklahoma 38-17 on Saturday. It was a blowout and the Wildcats struggled in every facet. They don’t have the high-charged offense many teams do and their secondary is inconsistent.

KSU dropped to 3-3 and is likely to be 7-5 or 6-6 this season if things play out the way we expect.

The Wildcats lost their starting quarterback, Jesse Ertz, to a shoulder injury. That pressed Joe Hubener into duty. Neither is the kind of QB so many have become accustomed to at K-State, though it’s too early to give up on them.

I wonder about K-State football. And about Snyder, who is 77 and whose grand legacy is in cement surrounded by steel in a titanium safe guarded by alligators.

Since 2004 — and remember, three seasons of Ron Prince are included — K-State is 86-69 overall and 51-53 in the Big 12. Teams coached by Snyder since ’04 are 69-49 overall and 42-38 in the Big 12.

There was a time when K-State would have killed for a record like that. There was a time when a winning record in a power conference over a significant period of time seemed unreasonable, unfathomable and downright foolish to consider.

Snyder changed all of that. He recruited and he made players better and the Wildcats were something to behold.

So I’m not saying Snyder can’t still coach. That would be foolish.

But K-State has slipped into a level of mediocrity, of just being average, that defies what the Wildcats were at the height of Snyder’s success.

Twice in Snyder’s past 10 seasons have the Wildcats reached double-digit wins. That happened in 2011 and 2012 with quarterback Collin Klein and a group of players that included Tyler Lockett, John Hubert, Chris Harper, Tramaine Thompson, Arthur Brown, Meshak Williams, Nigel Malone, Emmanuel Lamur, Ty Zimmerman, Tysyn Hartman, Randall Evans and Jarrell Childs.

In nine seasons from 1995-2003, K-State won 10 or more games seven times. At first there was shock, then simply surprise. And, after a while, expectation.

So what is fair to expect from K-State?

The Wildcats were 38-14 and 27-9 in the Big 12 during a stretch from 2011-14 with Klein, then Jake Waters, at quarterback.

Quarterbacks have been such a big part of who the Wildcats have been under Snyder. He has been able to recruit QBs who are as quick and shifty on their feet as they are dangerous with their arms.

But it’s been a struggle at that position the past two seasons and it doesn’t help that Ertz looks like he might have to go the sideline for a while with his injury.

Ertz, though, has not been dynamic when healthy. And Hubener, plagued by inconsistency in 2015, doesn’t look to be past that deficiency.

There’s been more fizzle than dazzle in the K-State offense. Yes, the Wildcats did score 44 in a six-point win over Texas Tech last week. But for the Red Raiders, defense is a frustrating necessity of putting a football team on the field.

In losses to Stanford, West Virginia and Oklahoma, Kansas State has scored 13, 16 and 17 points while averaging 319 yards of offense.

It’s not just a lack of O in this O age, either. The Wildcats’ secondary has a way of not covering receivers at times, which is never a good thing. It happened two or three times against the Sooners and allowed OU to put up points in a hurry.

The Sooners’ five touchdown drives covered 353 yards on 53 plays and OU needed only 13 minutes, 19 seconds to make them happen.

K-State is still good enough, even with its flaws, to beat some teams in the Big 12. The Wildcats will win more games, especially at home.

But they’re not a conference contender the way they were back in the day. There’s nothing to fear about these Wildcats, not even Snyder.

This story was originally published October 15, 2016 at 4:18 PM with the headline "K-State fizzle extends beyond loss to Oklahoma."