Effort, execution, coaching all problems for K-State in 51-14 loss to Oklahoma

As hard as it was for the Kansas State football team to endure a humbling 51-14 defeat against Oklahoma, the final score didn’t carry as much pain as some of the words that were thrown at the Wildcats on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The harshest critique of the afternoon came from Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt, who absolutely lit into K-State on national TV.

“I have never seen Kansas State play with this pedestrian of effort and this lack of discipline and character,” Klatt said during the second half of the broadcast. “Never in my life. This is as low as it has gotten for Kansas State in a long time.”

That has to be hard for K-State players to hear. But here’s the thing: No one inside the locker room is standing up to dispute those claims.

This was the type of defeat that brought back memories of Bill Snyder’s early years as a head coach, when the Wildcats were regularly on the wrong end of lopsided losses as he was in the early stages of transforming a once moribund program into a consistent winner. But this game felt different than some of those, because at least back then they were obviously playing hard.

Effort was an issue here.

“We kind of gave up and let up,” K-State defensive back Walter Neil said, “and that has to change.”

It couldn’t have been easy for K-State players to stay invested for four full quarters the way Oklahoma was executing on offense. Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray (352 yards, three touchdowns passing; 46 yards, one touchdown running) toyed with K-State’s defense, leading the charge to 51 points and 702 yards on 68 plays.

Oklahoma was the picture of efficiency, averaging .75 points and 10.3 yards ... per play.

“I know the defense that we have,” Neil said. “I know we can stop teams and I know that we can compete with these guys. We just gave up. I started feeling that when I saw those big plays coming constantly.”

Of course, defense was hardly K-State’s only weak spot. The Wildcats were also unable to move the ball against a defense that had previously surrendered at least 27 points to every other Big 12 team on the schedule.

Skylar Thompson and Justin Silmon both scored on touchdown runs, but there were few other positives. Alex Barnes, who entered the day as the Big 12’s leading rusher, was held to 28 yards on 13 carries. K-State receivers combined to grab 13 passes for 108 yards.

The Sooners loaded defenders near the line of scrimmage and made it difficult for the Wildcats to run the ball as efficiently as they have in recent games. Thompson couldn’t take advantage through the air. Oklahoma outgained K-State by 457 yards, and once they took a big lead the Wildcats couldn’t make the adjustments to keep up.

“We were not very good anywhere,” Snyder said.

It was an eye-opening day for the 79-year old coach. He was asked what it’s going to take to get the ship turned around on a disappointing season that currently stands at 3-5 and 1-4 in the Big 12. With upcoming games against TCU and Kansas, there’s a realistic path back to .500 and maybe even a bowl. But he wasn’t sure how to respond, because he couldn’t recall if the ship “has ever been in this condition before.”

“I can’t tell you that I have the immediate answer,” Snyder said.

One thing is for sure: He will challenge his players to give more effort.

“It’s an individual thing,” Snyder said. “I can’t speak collectively for everyone in the room. I think each player has to do some soul-searching and decide how important it is to them, how much they care, how much they want to compete, whether they want to give up or not. There are all kinds of those values that are significant right now to do some in-depth soul searching. Some will come out of it with the right response and will make us better, others may not.”

To be fair, the Wildcats needed a lot more than effort to beat the Sooners. Oklahoma had more talent and depth. It also had the better game plan and home field.

Snyder didn’t have any compliments for the offense and said the defense tackled like kindergarteners. Still, K-State could have brought its A game and lost. The Sooners are playoff contenders for a reason.

And it’s not as though K-State’s entire roster played with lackluster energy.

“I am walking off the field knowing I didn’t leave anything out there,” Thompson said. “I gave it everything I’ve got. I tried to do my best today. I can truly say that.”

A combination of bad things led to this result.

Much will need to change for K-State to turn this season around over the final five games.

This story was originally published October 27, 2018 at 8:25 PM with the headline "Effort, execution, coaching all problems for K-State in 51-14 loss to Oklahoma."