No. 9 Kansas State loses 38-27 to No. 5 Baylor, which claims share of Big 12 title

A day that started with iconic college football analyst Lee Corso picking Kansas State to pull off an upset of Baylor and claim a share of the Big 12 championship ended in disappointment for the Wildcats.

The Bears defeated K-State 38-27 on Saturday in front of 47,934 at McLane Stadium in a fashion that will feel all too familiar for Bill Snyder and his team.

For the second time in three years, K-State’s top goal vanished in Waco.

“We wanted to win tonight really bad, just to get that trophy,” K-State tight end Zach Trujillo said. “Some of us guys on the team wanted two trophies while we were here at K-State. It would have been the first time in history. It didn’t work out.”

Still, this defeat won’t sting the way the last one did, when Baylor handed K-State its first loss after a 10-0 start and eliminated the Wildcats from the national championship race. This loss cost K-State a trophy and a potential spot in a playoff-affiliated bowl. But the Wildcats, who finished the regular season 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12, will now almost certainly land in the Alamo Bowl, where they will face a Pac-12 opponent.

Also, there was little question No. 5 Baylor, 11-1 and 8-1 in the Big 12, was the better team this time around. Sure, No. 9 K-State entered with quiet confidence, but the Bears scored effortlessly on the game’s opening drive and flashed superior athleticism while racing to a 14-0 lead.

They never looked back on a night they were auditioning for an invitation to college football’s inaugural playoff. The Bears had to win convincingly enough to leapfrog Ohio State, TCU, Alabama, Oregon or Florida State in the playoff rankings.

Regardless, it was enough for Baylor to split a conference championship with TCU, which it defeated 61-58 earlier in the season.

In many ways, this was a similar result to K-State’s last loss, a 41-20 setback at No. 4 TCU.

Baylor used as many as five receivers to spread out K-State’s defense and took advantage of open space created by defensive backs playing well off the line of scrimmage in predominantly zone coverage. The Bears marched up and down the field in the first quarter and could have led 21-0 if not for an interception in the end zone by K-State’s Randall Evans.

“I don’t think we sagged off any more than we have in the past,” defensive back Morgan Burns said. “Just their schemes … our play calls maybe didn’t match up with what they called. We didn’t execute. It might have been in the back of our head to protect the deep ball because that is what they are so good at. But they were just making great throws. Our defense was off-balance.”

Nevertheless, an early lead allowed Baylor’s defense to take chances with blitzes and force K-State quarterback Jake Waters into quick decisions. He rarely had time to look deep for big gains, and outside of a 36-yard touchdown pass to Trujillo in the second quarter, Waters did most of his damage on midrange passes to top receiver Tyler Lockett on the perimeter.

That approach wasn’t enough for K-State to mount a rally, but unlike in the TCU loss, the Wildcats never allowed the game to get out of hand.

Snyder’s offensive coaching staff never abandoned the running game, and K-State fought from start to finish.

Late in the second quarter, the Wildcats were down 21-14 and had the ball. And that was with two replay reviews that would have resulted in fumbles going against them. A quality drive could have sent them into halftime with a tie score and the opportunity to receive the opening kickoff of the third quarter.

But it wasn’t to be. K-State punted to Baylor with less than a minute to go in the second half. The Bears responded by moving upfield and kicking a field goal on the final play of the half for a 24-14 lead.

A 24-yard field goal by Matthew McCrane brought K-State back within one score early in the third quarter, but Baylor surged further ahead on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Bryce Petty to Antwan Goodley.

“There were a monumental amount of events that took place in the course of the ball game,” Snyder said. “It’s easy to say we weren’t well prepared on defense, which is a true statement, but if you get into a shooting match like that than you better be able to have some bullets in your gun, too. We didn’t have as many as we needed.”

K-State typically struggles on the road against high-octane offenses, and that was once again the case against the Bears. Petty, one week removed from a concussion, burned the Wildcats for 412 yards and a touchdown. He spread the ball around to seven receivers, with Goodley doing the most damage, finishing with 116 yards and a TD.

But Baylor was also effective on the ground, rushing for 172 yards behind Shock Linwood and Johnny Jefferson.

Snyder took the blame for the loss, saying he didn’t properly prepare his team and continually asked his players to line up in wrong formations.

Players blamed themselves, saying they didn’t execute the game plan.

Jake Waters threw for 300 yards, with Lockett serving as his favorite target. He grabbed 14 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. The Wildcats also rushed for 103 yards.

That kept K-State within shouting distance in the fourth quarter, but an interception by Xavien Howard allowed Baylor’s offense to take over and run out the clock.

Then Baylor’s students rushed the field and Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby presented the Bears a championship trophy.

The scene K-State hoped to be at the center of belonged to the Bears. The regular season didn’t end the way the Wildcats wanted.

“It all boils down to one game,” Snyder said. “That was tonight. We weren’t the team we wanted to be.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2014 at 8:48 PM with the headline "No. 9 Kansas State loses 38-27 to No. 5 Baylor, which claims share of Big 12 title."