At one point during its 39-14 victory over Texas, Daniel Thomas said one of the Longhorns’ defensive backs began complaining of boredom.
That pretty much sums up what happened Saturday night. The Wildcats ran the ball so effectively and often that Texas cornerbacks and safeties had little to do. The plan caught the Longhorns by surprise and K-State easily picked up its sixth win of the season and became bowl eligible.
Here’s a deeper look:
THE GOOD
1. Collin Klein added a whole new element to K-State’s rushing attack. The sophomore quarterback made the first start of his college career and rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He made good reads throughout the night, and his speed was a nice complement to Thomas’s bruising running style. He also committed no major mistakes. Hard to screw up when you’re only asked to throw it four times, right?
2. Give Bill Snyder credit. When he saw the straight forward running game was working, he stuck with it. Coming into the game, both he and Klein said rushing the ball 50 times wasn’t necessarily the plan, but Texas couldn’t stop the run. And consistently good field position and a big lead meant the Wildcats didn’t have to go to the air. By halftime, K-State had attempted two passes and completed none. By the end of the game those numbers were four and two. Afterward, Thomas said he would have liked to see his wide receiver teammates get more involved, but added “we didn’t really need to throw the ball.”
3. K-State’s defense has come a long way since allowing Nebraska to run all over it and Baylor to set a school-record for yards gained in a game. A week ago the Wildcats played well against Oklahoma State’s high-powered offense, and on Saturday they intercepted Garrett Gilbert at every turn. It helped that Texas abandoned its running game early on and finished with only 140 yards on the ground, but K-State deserves credit for that. It made the Longhorns go with a one-dimensional attack and enjoyed the benefits. Ty Zimmerman and Tysyn Hartman each intercepted two passes, and Stephen Harrison also made a pick. That secondary will be confident heading into Missouri this week.
4. Hartman was asked if he considered his big game against Texas special.
“Oh yeah,” he replied, “especially after this drought that I’ve been in.”
Saturday had to feel like old times for the junior safety. Last year he was a threat to make an interception in every game, but he has mostly struggled this season. Coming into the Texas game, he had zero interceptions on the year and often was pulled in favor of Zimmerman or Emmanuel Lamur. But he has put two straight solid efforts together and is optimistic about the rest of the season.
5. At this time last week, Snyder admitted K-State was struggling to come up with big plays on offense like it was in the early part of the season. But the Wildcats had several long gains against Texas. Thomas ran in a 34-yard touchdown in the game’s opening moments, Klein rattled off a 22-yard run and William Powell broke free for 20 yards on a run.
THE BAD
1. It didn’t matter this time, but K-State will likely need to attempt more than four passes to win the remaining games on its schedule. Klein had the option to throw a few more times than that against Texas, and even had some wide open receivers on some of those plays, but chose not to take any chances. That won’t always be an option.
2. The Wildcats walked away from this game banged up at several positions. Alex Hrebec missed portions of the game with an injury to his arm, William Powell walked out of the locker room on crutches and punter Ryan Doerr limped off the field. Snyder offered no insight into the seriousness of any of the injuries. Add those injuries to Brodrick Smith and Tramaine Thompson, who watched Saturday’s games on the sideline in crutches.
3. Gilbert isn’t what you would call a fast quarterback, but he found a way to rush for 93 yards on mostly draw plays. Snyder wasn’t upset with much after the game, but Gilbert’s yardage definitely irked him.
4. K-State went an entire offensive series with fullback Braden Wilson (who is more skilled at blocking and catching passes than running downhill) in the backfield instead of Thomas. It was the only time the Wildcats struggled to run all day.
5. Any section titled “THE BAD” has to include Texas today. What a disastrous season the Longhorns are having. With three games remaining, they are under .500 and in jeopardy of missing out on a bowl. A year ago, they were playing for a national championship. Unbelievable.
THE INTERESTING
1. Snyder said the decision to play Klein over Coffman was made Saturday morning. He chose to go with Klein because he thought his mobility would bring a spark to the Wildcats’ offense, and because Coffman was somewhat injured. The senior hurt his ankle against Oklahoma State, and didn’t practice much throughout the week while it was healing. Will he return to action against Missouri? Will he split time with Klein, and come in as the throwing quarterback? Both are good questions, but Snyder said he wasn’t yet sure how he will handle the position.
2. K-State fans celebrated the win with a familiar chant: “We own Texas!” The Wildcats have won three straight against the Longhorns.
3. The Wildcats are bowl eligible, but with all the weird scores in the Big 12 this week it’s looking like the Big 12 will have more bowl eligible teams than it has bowl tie-ins. That means K-State will need more wins to improve both its bowl appeal and bowl chances. It should be favored against Colorado and North Texas. If the Wildcats win both those games and finish with eight victories, they will be headed to a nice destination.
4. A reader asked that I use this phrase somewhere in my blog today. His wish is granted: “Lollygagging Longhorns Limp, Leave as Lopsided Losers.” Good use of alliteration.
5. Tre Walker is the second freshman to give K-State’s defense a major lift this season. The linebacker led the team with 11 tackles against Texas.