K-State Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Five things to know about Big 12 football game
The Kansas State football team will put its winning streak to the test when it hosts Baylor at 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The Wildcats (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) are bowl eligible and on their way to a winning record after piling up consecutive victories against Texas Tech, TCU, Kansas and West Virginia, but they are still searching for their first signature win.
Beating the Bears (8-2, 5-2) would qualify as exactly that. Baylor is ranked 11th nationally and is coming off an impressive victory over Oklahoma.
Here is everything you need to know to start preparing for the game.
The details
Kickoff: 4:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan
TV: FS1
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KKGQ (92.3 FM) in Wichita
Line: Pick ‘em
Five things to know
1. Baylor is in position to reach the Big 12 championship game. If the Bears win their final two games of the regular season they will stand a good chance at earning a spot in the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas against either Oklahoma or Oklahoma State. They will be rooting for the Sooners to lose one of their final two games, because the Bears own a head-to-head tiebreaker against Oklahoma but not Oklahoma State. There’s a chance K-State can also finish in a tie for second in the league standings, but tiebreakers would prevent the Wildcats from reaching Arlington.
2. Final home game for Skylar Thompson. K-State fans will finally say farewell to Thompson at a ceremony before Saturday’s game. The “super senior” quarterback has started in a whopping 38 games for the Wildcats since he first arrived on campus in 2016. He has won 23 games as a starter. Other prominent K-State seniors include center Noah Johnson, linebacker Cody Fletcher, safety Jahron McPherson, defensive end Bronson Massie and several graduate transfers that joined the roster during the offseason.
3. Scouting report on Baylor. The Bears are playing stingy defense under second-year coach Dave Aranda. They are allowing 3.4 yards per rush and 7.5 yards per pass. They appeared to be at their best week while limiting Oklahoma’s high-octane offense to just 260 yards. Baylor is also skilled on offense, though. Abram Smith leads the Big 12 with 1,203 rushing yards and quarterback Gerry Bohanon ranks third in passing yards with 2,084.
4. Deuce Vaughn is about to hit a rushing milestone. The K-State running back enters this game with 975 rushing yards on the season. He should easily reach the 1,000-yard milestone against Baylor. That doesn’t happen all that often in Manhattan. No K-State running back has rushed for 1,000 yards since Alex Barnes in 2018. Before that, it was John Hubert in 2013.
5. Will a large home crowd show up for senior day? The Wildcats once again struggled to sell seats in the upper deck of its stadium last week and played in front of an announced crowd of 43,932 against West Virginia. K-State’s average home crowd is 46,786 this season and the Wildcats have yet to sellout any of their games out. But a larger crowd could be in attendance against Baylor, as it’s an afternoon kickoff and K-State has won four in a row.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 11:56 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats vs. Baylor Bears: Five things to know about Big 12 football game."