Kansas State’s season has reached the point where every close game feels like a test of nerve, execution and maybe even memory. The Wildcats are trying to clean up the one area that keeps biting them as they head into Saturday’s matchup with the Oklahoma State Cowboys: finishing tight games.
The frustration is easy to see. After the momentum of beating the Kansas Jayhawks in the Sunflower Showdown last month, Kansas State has dropped two straight and gone from preseason Big 12 title and College Football Playoff talk to the middle of the pack. Still, the record doesn’t tell the whole story.
The Wildcats have been competitive in most of their losses, with the Houston Cougars game standing out as the exception. In that one, they were outplayed even before injuries and other issues entered the picture. But in the rest of their defeats, Kansas State has been right there, and first-year coach Collin Klein knows that’s the part of the story that matters most.
"Obviously, playing on the road, one-score games the last three years through a lot of different sets of circumstances, we haven't been good in those situations," Klein said at his weekly press conference.
That has been the pattern. Against the Cincinnati Bearcats, Kansas State led at halftime and had the ball to start the third quarter before a first-play fumble flipped the game. Cincinnati took over from there and pulled away in the second half.
Then came the win over Kansas, followed by a new problem: quarterback Avery Johnson suffered an undisclosed injury, and the offense lost the stability it had enjoyed for the previous three seasons. Without him, the Wildcats lost 28-17 to the Arizona State Sun Devils in a game that looked very winnable with Johnson available.
Last week brought another scramble. Kansas State started Dillon Duff, a sophomore who had never taken a college snap, on the road against the Colorado Buffaloes.
The move didn’t last long, as Duff was pulled before the first quarter ended. Blake Barnett stepped in and helped the Wildcats fight back from a halftime deficit, tie the game on the final drive of regulation and force overtime.
Some have argued Klein should have gone for two, given the way the momentum had swung.
So while the losses keep piling up, Kansas State’s bigger issue isn’t that it has been blown out every week. It’s that the Wildcats keep putting themselves in position to win and then letting those moments slip away.
In Other News...
Kansas State's Thinning Offense Faces Another Worry Before Oklahoma State
Kansas States offense is already trying to adjust without Avery Johnson, and now it may have another key piece in question heading into Oklahoma State. Running back Joe Jackson has landed on the injury report as questionable, adding uncertainty to a unit that has leaned on his versatility and production all season.
Jackson is the Wildcats third-leading rusher and one of the more flexible options in the offense, which makes his status worth watching closely as game day approaches. With the quarterback situation already settled for the long term because of Johnsons season-ending injury, any additional absence would only make the challenge of keeping the offense moving more difficult. [Read more 🡒]
K-State Faces A Brutal Test Keeping Up With Oklahoma State
Kansas State is heading into a matchup that figures to demand points in bunches, and the Wildcats are not pretending otherwise. With backup quarterback Blake Barnett set to run the offense in place of injured starter Avery Johnson, K-State knows it will need to keep pace with an Oklahoma State team that has been piling up yards and points behind quarterback Drew Mestemaker and the Big 12s top offense.
The challenge for the Wildcats is as much about staying aggressive as it is about surviving the matchup. Players and coaches have been clear that Oklahoma States attack can force opponents out of their comfort zone, which puts even more pressure on K-States offense to answer possession for possession. For a team already adjusting at quarterback, the margin for error against that kind of firepower looks awfully thin. [Read more 🡒]
Yamil Talib May Have Earned A Much Bigger Colorado Role
Yamil Talib turned in the kind of performance that can change how a player is viewed in a hurry, and he did it against Kansas State. The Colorado edge rusher piled up eight tackles in the win, including two sacks and two tackles for loss, then talked afterward about how much of the credit belonged to the defensive teammates and coaches around him. He also pointed back to the shoulder injury he had to work through, which makes the timing of the breakout even more notable.
Talib also offered a glimpse into the work behind the scenes, saying some of his preparation habits came from his uncle, former NFL cornerback Aqib Talib. For Colorado, the bigger question now is whether this was just a one-game flash or the start of a larger role for a player who looked ready for more responsibility. Against a Kansas State offense that had to account for him all night, he made a strong case that the next step should come quickly. [Read more 🡒]