KC Replay: Big win and new offensive coordinator for KSU, special coins, masks + more
The K-State football program started the new year with gusto and then set itself up for an interesting season to follow.
The Chiefs did themselves no such favors in Cincinnati, losing the regular season’s penultimate game after leading the Bengals by two touchdowns. But then they pulled out a victory at Denver on Saturday, so they’re still in the thick of the chase for the AFC’s No. 1 seed in the NFL playoffs.
And yes, there’s more. Here’s this week’s recap of recent sports headlines around the region.
Wildcats’ wild week
It was a sea of purple at Houston’s NRG Stadium Tuesday night as Kansas State took on LSU in the Texas Bowl.
Only one of these grape — er, great — teams could prevail, and it wasn’t the team from the bayou.
KSU put a thumping on the Tigers from Baton Rouge, with senior quarterback and Fort Osage grad Skylar Thompson throwing for three touchdowns and super-soph Deuce Vaughn running for three more and catching a fourth. Final score: 42-20, and this sounds silly, but it wasn’t as close as the score would indicate.
The ‘Cats had more news to make before the week was through, too, with head coach Chris Klieman on Friday introducing former K-State QB and Heisman finalist Collin Klein, who’d been coaching the team’s quarterbacks, as the team’s new offensive coordinator.
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Chasting the top seed
The Chiefs showed vulnerability in their defensive secondary in the second-to-last game of their regular season, losing 34-31. Their cornerbacks had trouble covering rookie Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who scored three TDs and had two long catches as part of his 266-yard, 11-reception effort.
The outcome, coupled with the Chiefs’ 28-24 win over the Broncos on Saturday in Denver, set up only one scenario wherein they regain and clinch the AFC’s No. 1 seed: the Houston Texans must upset the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Read more about the NFL playoff outlook for the Chiefs here.
KC Current’s big hire
The Kansas City Current women’s pro-soccer team has a general manager, announcing on Thursday the hire of former Stanford and NWSL player-turned-exec Camille Levin to lead their front office.
Levin, 31, comes to the Current after a successful run as a sports management executive. Her portfolio includes time in a leadership role with WWE. She also played with current Current midfielder Lo LaBonta on the Stanford squad that captured an NCAA championship.
The club’s next order of business will be naming a new head coach before camp opens on Feb. 1.
Masks on at KU
Responding to what he called a waning wearing of masks for games at Allen Fieldhouse, KU chancellor Douglas Girod on Friday warned that if more people did not comply with orders to wear the face coverings at KU’s indoor sporting events — particularly the men’s and women’s basketball games — the school could begin limiting the number of fans allowed at home contests again.
Douglas County on Friday issued an emergency mask mandate for all indoor spaces.
“The reality is,” Girod wrote in a statement, “if the situation in our county continues to deteriorate, and if mask wearing continues to be a challenge inside the Fieldhouse, likely next steps include closing concessions and reducing fan attendance for men’s basketball games.”
Coins for a cause
The U.S. Mint on Thursday began taking pre-orders for a series of commemorative Negro Leagues coins, with a portion of proceeds benefiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City.
The coins are being offered in gold, silver and “clad” (think: plated) varieties that depict Negro League scenes and legendary players. For more information, go to usmint.gov.