Bob Lutz: What could have been for K-State

MANHATTAN – Well, it’s going to take Kansas State a while to get the taste of this loss out of its mouths.

Auburn 20, Kansas State 14. But the real winner was missed opportunities. K-State threw away what should have been 16 points and might have risen to as many as 23 with a lost fumble on its first possession, two interceptions – one of which came on a bobbled pass by Tyler Lockett in the end zone – and three missed field goals by Jack Cantele.

A defense that sparred with a powerful Auburn offense for 60 minutes finally started to wilt late under pressure. A third-and-nine conversion with 2:06 left finally sealed the deal for the Tigers, whose 359 yards were less than they piled up last season against LSU, Mississippi, Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri and in the national championship game against Florida State, a 34-31 loss during which Auburn gained 449 yards.

On one hand, K-State has nothing to be ashamed of. On the other, the Wildcats are kicking themselves for not pulling off the upset. They dominated the first half, yet trailed 10-7.

K-State was ready for this one. After a curious showing against Iowa State on Sept. 6, in which the Cats had to rally to eek out a 32-28 win, there were feelings of anticipation and a little fear concerning Auburn. The Tigers averaged nearly 550 yards in beating Arkansas and San Jose State in their first two games. Under coach Gus Malzahn, they’ve built an aura of offensive invincibility.

Give K-State’s defense a lot of credit. The Wildcats were the aggressors, flying around and making plays and forcing Auburn to go to the air more than Malzahn probably wanted.

True, the Tigers made it a priority to improve their passing attack, as if their offense needed more horsepower. But making something a priority and actually doing it are two different things. And nobody has ever confused Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall as a pocket passer. He’s been average, at best, during his career.

If K-State was going down in this one, it was going down while trying to slow down that Auburn running game. And for the longest time, there wasn’t much the Tigers could do about it. Marshall was victimized by a strong pass rush and his own receivers’ bad hands. But Auburn kept trying and eventually it was a passing attack that helped serve up the game’s deciding touchdown early in the fourth quarter, a 9-yard pass from Marshall to D’haquille Williams that gave the Tigers a 20-7 lead.

Losses are never fun, but this one will play more mind games with K-State than some others.

The Wildcats are at home against Texas-El Paso and Texas Tech the next two weeks. UTEP next week, then are at home against Texas Tech on Oct. 4. It doesn’t take a vivid imagination to determine that K-State can win those two, then take a week off before going to Oklahoma on Oct. 18. And we all know what K-State coach Bill Snyder can do with a week off. We saw more evidence of that Thursday night with team’s defensive effort.

“Three steps forward, one back,” Snyder said of his team’s defense, obviously mindful of Auburn’s passing success in the second half, when Marshall completed 8 of 13 attempts for 113 yards. “We played hard and we were responsible. (Auburn) has the kind of offense that you have to have some discipline against in order to execute your responsibilities well and I thought we did that for the most part. We gave up some plays late.”

Defense, though, wasn’t K-State’s issue. Nobody could have expected the Wildcats to hold Auburn to 20 points. The Tigers had averaged 37.2 points since the beginning of the 2013 season.

K-State gave away size and speed to the Auburn offense. But the Cats’ smaller corners and safeties stood up against the squadron of fast, 6-foot-2, 210-pound receivers. It was fun to watch David attempt to slay Goliath, except that David couldn’t stop shooting himself in the foot.

What if the normally sure-handed Lockett holds on to that pass in the end zone? He’s done it a million times. What if Cantele, who had made 15 of 18 field-goal tries in his career, doesn’t misfire on all three Thursday? Snyder blamed bad snaps and bad holds for two misses. Whoever is to blame, those misses can’t happen. Not in a game like this.

It’s still too early to determine what K-State has. Or what Auburn has, for that matter. Nobody left Thursday night in awe of the Tigers, that’s for sure.

K-State proved it could play with what we think is a powerhouse college football team Thursday night. Thanks to an inspired defensive effort, Auburn was there for the taking. But the Wildcats were too busy giving away to take anything.

This story was originally published September 18, 2014 at 11:07 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: What could have been for K-State."