K-State Q&A: Basketball scrimmage details, early bowl projections and Halloween candy
It’s time for another K-State Q&A.
Before we get to your questions this week, I would like to take a moment to say a few things about Halloween.
First of all, candy corn is delicious. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Mix it in with peanuts and you’ve got the ultimate fall snack.
Second of all, Kit Kat bars are the worst. They rank at the bottom of my candy rankings behind Milky Way, Snickers, Twix, Dots, M&M’s, Peanut M&M’s, Three Musketeers, Reese’s, Sour Patch Kids and just about anything else you can think of. Maybe they are better than a Tootsie Roll. But that’s about it.
Third of all, if you choose to dress up as Bill Snyder on Sunday make sure to have someone walk behind you holding the base of your wired headset. The costume isn’t truly complete without two people.
Hopefully these words of wisdom enhance you holiday. Now, let’s dive into your questions. Thanks, as always, for providing them.
Zach Barnett over at Football Scoop uncovered an amazing stat from Kansas State’s 25-24 victory over Texas Tech.
The Wildcats became one of three teams this season to win a game while allowing the other team to score first, trailing at halftime, gaining fewer rushing yards than their opponent and losing the turnover battle.
Incarnate Word beat Texas State 42-34 under the same circumstances. South Carolina used the same formula to beat East Carolina 20-17.
That’s it. That’s the list.
On the season, teams have gone 3-160 in that scenario.
So you can kind of see why Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt was angry enough to fire coach Matt Wells after losing in that fashion.
To answer your question, though, I think option five is the most impressive part about K-State’s victory. The Wildcats made several bone-headed plays in that game that resulted in 12 penalties and a pair of fumbles.
K-State very rarely overcomes that many blunders and wins. Usually, it is the team winning when the other team beats itself.
Skylar Thompson came up huge with 306 passing yards and the defense played a terrific second half. Texas Tech also imploded, gifting K-State a first down via penalty when it was facing a third-and-34, but credit the Wildcats for being in position to take advantage of such an implosion.
The silver medal goes to Felix Anudike-Uzomah for his safety. That was the best defensive play I have season from any college football player this season.
Yes, I have some details to share about Kansas State’s “secret scrimmage” against Oregon a few days ago in Denver.
The game was considered more or less a draw. The Ducks and Wildcats didn’t go at it for 40 minutes in a traditional sense. They set up lots of different situations, with Dana Altman and Bruce Weber requesting the other team go zone, man or junk on defense for certain stretches so they could see how their teams responded.
One source told me the final score was an exact tie in the low 60s. Another source told me neither side paid attention to the score. So calling it a “draw” makes sense.
Missouri transfer Mark Smith was the top performer for K-State. He reached double figures in scoring and had quite a few rebounds, from what I hear. If you go look at the photo gallery K-State shared afterward, he even went between his legs before throwing down a fast break dunk.
I was skeptical that he was actually K-State’s best player, as Bruce Weber has suggested, but maybe that is truly the case.
Ismael Massoud was another good performer for the Wildcats. I hear the Wake Forest transfer played terrific as a stretch four.
Nijel Pack didn’t play much, if at all, while recovering from a minor injury. Freshman guard Maximus Edwards sat out.
I hear Markquis Nowell and Selton Miguel had off games, but the Wildcats are still very confident in both players.
All in all, it was an encouraging exhibition against a team picked to finish second in the Pac-12 preseason poll.
And, finally, I can tell you that Dana Altman wore black pants and a black polo shirt, tucked in. Bruce Weber wore gray pants and a purple polo, but he went with a more casual untucked look.
Hopefully that sets the table for their exhibition opener against Pittsburg State on Nov. 4.
There is no such thing as a must-win game before March in college basketball.
Case in point: The last two times K-State lost to Tulsa in nonconference play the Wildcats went on to reach the Elite Eight and share a Big 12 regular season championship.
But there are some notable games on K-State’s nonconference schedule this year. The Wildcats play Arkansas and then Cincinnati or Illinois. I suppose if the Wildcats play the Illini that could be close to a must-win, given the whole Bruce Weber vs. Brad Underwood dynamic. Otherwise, winning one of those games seems acceptable.
Wichita State and Nebraska will both be big games. But both will be on the road. Marquette comes to Bramlage Coliseum again this year. K-State will travel to Mississippi for the Big 12/SEC Challenge.
A realistic goal should be to split those six games and win the other seven for a 10-3 record outside of Big 12 play.
I endorse that plan.
We could call it The Play for Purple.
There aren’t many schools in the nation that wear purple as one of their primary colors, so it would be fun to incorporate that more into this K-State/TCU “rivalry.”
TCU has a bunch of alternate uniforms to switch to. Black vs. purple would be fun. Boring old purple vs. white would also be fine. As long as the Horned Frogs don’t wear their weird uniforms that feature red, I’m happy.
The only thing that would make this idea better: force the losing team to wear alternate uniforms the following year so K-State has no choice but to break out something new in the event it takes a “L” in this series.
The odds of TCU giving Gary Patterson the Matt Wells treatment following his next loss are basically zero.
Patterson has been the head coach in Fort Worth since 2000, and he’s arguably THE reason why the Horned Frogs were able to earn a conference invitation from the Big 12 after previously being left out in the cold when the Southwest Conference crumbled.
TCU is in the middle of a mediocre stretch of football. The Horned Frogs haven’t won more than seven games in a season wince 2017. So there is definitely some unrest.
It honestly feels a little bit like Bill Snyder’s last few seasons, when bowl games and the occasional big win were still on the table but conference championships were not.
Patterson has also said a lot of silly things at press conferences this year. I can see TCU leaders trying to talk him into retirement if he can’t turn things around in the next few seasons. Or maybe he looks for a new job himself.
It might be time for a reset down there.
But Patterson is still bringing in talent. TCU won 12 games in 2014, 11 games in 2015 and 11 more in 2017. It’s not like his good years are that far in the rear view mirror. After all he has done over the past 21 years, TCU will be looking for reasons to keep Patterson rather than dump him.
K-State could win this game by 50 and he would still be the coach next week.
Wells had already lost to Texas (70-35) and TCU (52-31) in embarrassing fashion. K-State was his best shot at getting another win this season. He felt like a lame duck on Saturday. The only thing surprising about his dismissal was the timing.
I appreciate your honesty.
Oh man, I wish.
Alas, my wife has convinced me to dress up as Ted Lasso for Halloween this year. She wants to dress up as Rebecca and have our youngest three boys wear soccer gear and be Jamie Tartt, Roy Kent and Dani Rojas.
Our oldest son has his own Halloween plans with friends.
My wife originally suggested I go as Coach Beard and let one of the kids go as Ted Lasso. Nuts to that!
I haven’t shaved my beard in weeks. My mustache game should be strong. We’ll see how it goes.
The best part about fall and winter are the seasonal beers you get to drink when it starts to get chilly outside.
This time of year, I’m drinking one of two different kinds of beer.
1. Octoberfest. Just about any brand will do. Some are obviously better than others, but Octoberfest beer is a lot like pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty freaking good.
2. Pumpkin beer. I like the ones that taste like pumpkin pie. I like the ones that have a small hint of pumpkin flavor. I’m always on the lookout for new ones.
I don’t know that I will actually drink either of them while I am walking around the neighborhood with my kids, but you better believe I will be sipping on one or both at the end of the night.
Dana Dimel has improbably turned UTEP into a scary opponent this season.
I suppose that makes the former K-State offensive coordinator a spooky coach these days.
He signed a contract extension in March that lasts until 2027, so I don’t think Gene Taylor is feeling much heat at the moment.
It’s never too early to predict where K-State will end up during bowl season.
The Wildcats (4-3, 1-3 Big 12) only need two more victories to become bowl eligible. With TCU, Kansas and West Virginia up next on the schedule, they are likely to reach six wins in the near future.
I can see K-State playing in the Texas Bowl, Guaranteed Reed Bowl or the Armed Forces/First Responders Bowl. If it can be avoided, I think the Liberty Bowl will look elsewhere for a Big 12 representative, given that the Wildcats were previously there in 2016 and 2019.
Playing in the Texas Bowl would require a strong finish and perhaps a final record of 8-4. If K-State finishes 7-5 or 6-6 the other two bowls are more likely.
The Guaranteed Rate Bowl against a Big Ten opponent on Dec. 28 in Phoenix seems like the early front runner.
K-State has already played in that bowl when it was called the Cactus Bowl, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Insight.com Bowl and the Copper Bowl.
Might as well go back now that it has a new name.
1. I have no idea.
2. Knock on wood, but there’s a chance K-State might need Jake Rubley and Max Marsh to play as emergency quarterbacks if a perfect storm of injuries forces them into a home game. You can’t have them up in the press box on the slight chance that happens. Skylar Thompson was hurt and could not play last year. He had to watch the games from somewhere, so the press box was as good a place as any.
3. See above.
Another week. Another question about when Courtney Messingham will no longer serve as K-State’s offensive coordinator.
I don’t get it.
The Wildcats have out-gained their opponents in five of their seven games. They are averaging 6.1 yards per play, a number that ranks 40th nationally. Skylar Thompson is coming off the best three-game stretch of his career.
And you want to replace him with a coach who just blew a 24-10 halftime lead ... against Messingham?
I’m not trying to put the guy up on a pedestal here. K-State could definitely have a more efficient offense. If you could trade him for say, USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, then that would definitely be an upgrade. But he’s not the problem some fans are making him out to be.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "K-State Q&A: Basketball scrimmage details, early bowl projections and Halloween candy."