Grades from Kansas State’s 35-10 victory over KU and a look ahead to West Virginia
Remember those old Staples commercials that made fixing a problem at the office as simple as pressing a red button with the word “easy” written on the top?
Well, that is how Kansas State’s 35-10 victory over Sunflower Showdown rival Kansas must have felt for Chris Klieman on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
The Wildcats averaged 8.8 yards per play, by far their highest mark of the Klieman era. Their previous high was 7.8 yards during a wild upset at Oklahoma last season. K-State also limited the Jayhawks to 4.6 yards per play and never trailed.
An easy victory was to be expected from K-State (6-3, 3-3 Big 12) against Kansas (1-8, 0-6), but maybe not that easy.
In any case, the Wildcats are now bowl eligible and have secured the Governor’s Cup for a 13th straight season.
Here are grades from K-State’s win over KU and a look ahead to West Virginia.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Deuce Vaughn rushed for a career high 162 yards and three touchdowns, while also grabbing six passes for 70 yards.
It was his finest game in a K-State football uniform. Finishing with 232 all-purpose yards and three scores should make him a strong contender for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
PLAY OF THE GAME
A blowout victory was assured when Vaughn broke free for an 80-yard touchdown on K-State’s opening drive of the third quarter.
K-State had a 28-3 lead at that point, and there was no turning back.
For some reason, the Wildcats have been abysmal on offense in the third quarter of games this season. If the Jayhawks were going to mount a comeback, they were going to do it in the third quarter. But the Wildcats slammed the door on them immediately.
STAT OF THE GAME
K-State defeated its in-state rival 13 straight times. Based on what we saw on Saturday, it might be a while before Lance Leipold’s team is able to end that streak.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“Big win, excited for our guys, excited for our team, excited for K-State nation, excited for all the former players because this one means an awful lot to those guys and it means an awful lot to the state.” — Chris Klieman
GRADES
Offense: A. It was a little disappointing that K-State was unable to score 40 points for the first time this season, but that’s the only possible complaint after this one. The Wildcats averaged a whopping 8.8 yards per play and moved the ball at will on the Jayhawks. They did it with great balance, rushing for 242 yards and throwing for 257 yards.
Defense: A. It can sometimes be hard to notice other K-State defenders when Felix Anudike-Uzomah is piling up sacks, and he added another one on Saturday, but Daniel Green is having a terrific season for the Wildcats. The linebacker had some bone-crushing tackles on Saturday and led a strong defensive effort that limited KU to 274 yards and 10 points.
Special Teams: C. Chris Tennant missed his lone field goal attempt and Ty Zentner had a short punt from midfield in the first half.
Coaching: B+. None of Klieman’s coaching decisions truly mattered given the non-competitive nature of this game. Still, it was puzzling to see K-State punt on fourth-and-two from midfield in the first half. Klieman defended the decision, saying he wanted to play things safe with a double-digit lead, but the Wildcats could have easily moved the chains with a handoff to Vaughn. The odds of KU stopping him were incredibly low. Overall, though, the coaching staff had K-State ready to go and took care of business.
NEXT UP
It’s to find out how good the Wildcats truly are.
They deserve lots of credit for winning their last three games, especially after starting Big 12 play in an 0-3 hole, but they were expected to beat Texas Tech, TCU and KU.
Things will be different during the closing stretch of their schedule. K-State will likely be favored against West Virginia at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, but the Mountaineers have owned the Wildcats in recent years. Klieman is 0-2 against them. K-State hasn’t beaten them since 2015. There isn’t a player on the K-State roster who owns a win against West Virginia.
The Mountaineers (4-5, 2-4 Big 12) are coming off a 24-3 home loss against Oklahoma State, but they defeated TCU and Iowa State in the two games before that.
Slowing down West Virginia running back Leddie Brown will be the top priority for K-State’s defense. He has 666 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
After West Virginia, the Wildcats will finish the year against Baylor and then at Texas. Those three games will determine the quality of bowl K-State plays in this postseason.
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Grades from Kansas State’s 35-10 victory over KU and a look ahead to West Virginia."