Grades from Kansas State’s stressful victory over SIU and a look ahead to Nevada
The Kansas State football team survived an upset bid from Southern Illinois and defeated the Salukis 31-23 on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It was a stressful game for the Wildcats, who lost starting quarterback Skylar Thompson to a knee injury in the first half and then had to sweat until the final whistle.
Thompson’s long-term health status is currently unknown, but K-State coach Chris Klieman is not expecting him to play for “the foreseeable future.” So that left many in a somber mood after this victory.
Still, Klieman went out of his way to say he was happy about the win, because, well, it sure beats the alternative.
Here are grades from the victory and a look ahead to K-State’s next game against Southern Illinois.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
It’s a close call between Deuce Vaughn and Felix Anudike, but the game ball should go to K-State’s best defender this week. The Wildcats won this game with their defense, and no one came up with bigger plays on that side of the ball than Anudike. The defensive end was a menace in the Southern Illinois backfield on his way to three sacks and two forced fumbles. He helped create two turnovers in the fourth quarter. Some worried K-State’s pass rush would struggle without Wyatt Hubert this season, but Anudike looked like a more than capable replacement in this game.
PLAY OF THE GAME
K-State defenders Ryan Henington and Jaylen Pickle combined for an interception that was worthy of ESPN’s top 10 plays of the day on Saturday. Here’s how it happened: Southern Illinois tight end Tyce Daniel had trouble holding onto a pass from quarterback Nic Baker, and he tipped the ball up into the air for anyone else to grab. Henington took advantage by diving and tipping the ball up again. Only this time it went straight into the hands of Pickle, who came up with a rare interception by a defensive tackle.
STAT OF THE GAME
K-State limited Southern Illinois to 276 yards of total offense. The Wildcats have held both of their first two opponents under 300 yards. They are allowing an average of 254.5 yards per game.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“We won the game, so we are always happy that we won but there are a lot of things that we and I need to clean up. I know that more than anybody.” — K-State quarterback Will Howard.
GRADES
Offense: D. The Wildcats turned the ball over four times in the first half and shifted to a run-heavy offense in the second half, rushing the ball on 26 of 33 plays in the final two quarters. Vaughn was terrific on his way to 120 yards and three touchdowns, but K-State didn’t have many other weapons without Thompson in the game. Howard only completed 8 of 17 passes for 76 yards.
Defense: A+. Another game, another high grade for K-State’s defense. The Wildcats didn’t look quite as good as they did against Stanford, but they also had to deal with poor field position on some drives that led to points for the Salukis. K-State allowed 2.5 yards per rush and 6.5 yards per pass. It also pitched a shutout in the second half. Julius Brents led the team with six tackles and also had a pass breakup.
Special Teams: C. Taiten Winkel connected made a 34-yard field goal, but also missed a 24-yarder. Phillip Brooks returned one kickoff for 31 yards. There wasn’t much else of note on special teams.
Coaching: B-. The Wildcats found a way to win after blowing an early 21-3 lead with Thompson on the sideline, which is commendable. But the offense seemed unprepared to play with Howard and looked hopeless for long stretches.
NEXT UP
K-State will return to Bill Snyder Family Stadium for arguably its most difficult nonconference game of the season on Saturday against Nevada (1 p.m. on ESPN+).
The Wolfpack are one of the best teams in the Mountain West, and they are off to a 2-0 start with victories of California and Idaho State. They demolished the Bengals 49-10 on Saturday behind 381 passing yards and four touchdowns from Carson Strong.
Nevada is coming off a 7-2 season in which it scored more than 35 points in more than half their games. Coach Jay Norvell oversees one of the most lethal offenses outside the power conferences.
Strong is a NFL Draft prospect and so is top receiver Romeo Doubs, who piled up 1,002 yards and nine touchdowns last season despite only playing nine games. Running back Toa Taua also rushed for 103 yards last week.
This will be the toughest test of the young season for K-State’s defense. The Wildcats may need to put up points to beat the Wolfpack, and that could be a challenge with Howard expected to start at quarterback.
This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 12:36 PM with the headline "Grades from Kansas State’s stressful victory over SIU and a look ahead to Nevada."