Grades from Kansas State’s 20-10 loss against Baylor and a look ahead to Texas
There were times during his news conference following Saturday’s 20-10 loss against Baylor when Kansas State football coach Chris Klieman sounded like a fan who was getting a few things off his chest after a disappointing result.
When evaluating K-State’s offense, he said it was “unfortunate” that star running back Deuce Vaughn only attempted 11 rushes when he was averaging 11.6 yards per attempt. But he also pointed some blame at K-State’s defense for allowing the Bears to gobble up possession time and stay on the field for 81 plays. Later, he criticized K-State’s special teams for losing a fumble in the first quarter.
“They beat us in all three phases,” Klieman said.
It was one of the games where nothing worked well enough for the Wildcats to win.
K-State (7-4, 4-4 Big 12) was no match for Baylor (9-2, 6-2) and lost its first game in more than a month. When it was over, Klieman could do little more than tip his hat to the Bears.
“We have got a good football team,” Klieman said. “We were just beaten by a better one today.”
Here are grades from K-State’s loss against Baylor and a look ahead to Texas.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Deuce Vaughn was a one-man wrecking crew for K-State’s offense. The Wildcats gained 263 yards and he was responsible for 165 of them.
PLAY OF THE GAME
K-State began the night with a strong defensive stand that forced the Bears to punt the ball away after just three plays. It looked like the Wildcats were going to have a chance to take an early lead. But K-State return man Phillip Brooks fumbled the ensuing punt and Baylor recovered. The Bears scored soon after on a touchdown run from Trestan Ebner.
The Bears returned the favor later in the game with an offsides penalty on a K-State penalty, which led to a 65-yard touchdown run from Vaughn. But the Wildcats have struggled while playing from behind this season, and they were never able to climb out of that early hole.
STAT OF THE GAME
K-State technically had a more efficient offense than Baylor, as it averaged 5.2 yards per play while the Bears finished with 4.8. But numbers can be deceiving. The Wildcats gained 113 of their 263 total yards on two plays. Take those away and K-State averaged 3.06 yards on their other 49 plays.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“They won the time of possession and they won the play count. If you told me we were going to have 51 plays and they were going to have 83 plays I would have thought we got beat 50-10, which goes to show you the resolve of the defensive guys to stand up and make some stops there to keep it at least within reach.” — Chris Klieman.
GRADES
Offense: D. The Wildcats were just plain bad on offense outside of Deuce Vaughn. K-State gained 263 yards in the game, and Vaughn was responsible for 165 of them. Skylar Thompson played his worst game of the season, completing 15 of 29 passes for 158 yards before leaving the game with an injury.
“We needed to probably try to run it inside a little bit more,” Klieman said. “When we did we would get a second-and-five or something, and we would end up misfiring and being third-and-five or or whatever it may be. We just struggled to get in any rhythm offensively and it was really really frustrating.”
Defense: B+. K-State played well enough to win, holding the Bears to 4.8 yards per play and only 189 rushing yards. Ross Elder came up with several huge tackles in the second half. Nate Matlack was also strong at defensive end. But it wasn’t a perfect night. It was often hard for the Wildcats to get off the field, as they allowed the Bears to convert three times on fourth down. K-State also appeared to catch a break when Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon left the game before halftime with a hamstring injury, but it couldn’t stop backup Blake Shapen from moving the chains.
Special Teams: F. Take away a fumbled punt from Brooks and a missed field goal from Chris Tennant and the game could have been different.
Coaching: C. There is no shame in losing to a team like Baylor. The Bears are one of the best teams the Wildcats have faced all season and they will play for a Big 12 championship if they beat Texas Tech and Oklahoma falls against Oklahoma State next week. Still, the Wildcats could have been more prepared for this matchup, especially on offense.
NEXT UP
Kansas State’s final game of the regular season could be an interesting one.
Texas has lost six straight games and is no longer in contention for a bowl at 4-7. K-State has much more to play for. Under normal circumstances, the Wildcats would be an obvious pick to continue the Longhorns’ misery. But K-State might be without its starting quarterback when they meet at 11 a.m. on Friday in Austin.
In fact, odds are against Thompson playing. He was unable to walk off the field under his own power after suffering an injury to his left ankle/foot late in the Baylor game and needed to be carted into the locker room. Afterward, he was spotted moving around the K-State football complex on crutches with a walking boot wrapped around his left food.
Recovering in time to play on six days’ rest seems like a long shot for him.
That means Klieman may have to roll with either Will Howard or Jaren Lewis on Friday.
Howard did guide K-State to 38-17 victory over Nevada this season, but neither he nor Lewis could get anything going the following week during a 31-20 loss at Oklahoma State. K-State’s offense is much more efficient with Thompson at the controls.
K-State playing with a backup quarterback turns this game against Texas into a toss-up.
This story was originally published November 21, 2021 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Grades from Kansas State’s 20-10 loss against Baylor and a look ahead to Texas."