Grades from Kansas State’s blowout win against Missouri and a look ahead to Tulane
Another week, another blowout victory for the Kansas State football team.
The Wildcats continued their undefeated start to the season with a 40-12 demolition of Missouri on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
A day later, it is now time to look back on the action and hand out a few awards and grades. We also look ahead to next week’s game against the Tulane Green Wave.
Play of the game
Kobe Savage jump-started a string of four interceptions over the course of four drives for Kansas State’s defense when he baited Missouri quarterback Brady Cook into a deep pass in the third quarter and used his speed to pick off the pass.
It was a terrific play and it created unmistakable momentum for the K-State defense.
Savage is turning out to be a terrific spring addition from junior college.
Player of the game
Phillip Brooks gets the game ball this week.
An argument could made for junior running back Deuce Vaughn or some of K-State’s top performers on defense, but none of them did more than Brooks.
The senior receiver caught three passes for 57 yards with the offense and also returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown midway through the second half. This was a nice bounce-back effort for him after not catching a single pass in Game 1. He showed why he is the best receiver on the Wildcats’ roster.
Stat of the game
Four, as in interceptions from the K-State defense ... all in the second half.
The Wildcats had the Tigers out of sorts and made them look silly when they tried to play catch up by throwing the ball.
Quote to note
“The landscape of college football is changing. I know one thing. Kansas State wants to be a part of the haves, and wins like this I think elevate you as part of the haves. You ask those kids in that locker room. We have got a lot of guys with a chip on their shoulder down there, because we think we have the potential to be a good football team and continue to improve. “But this was no question a huge win. We talked about it extensively this week, how big this game would be.” - K-State coach Chris Klieman.
Grades
Offense: B. Deuce Vaughn rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Adrian Martinez was responsible for 153 yards and a score. Phillip Brooks caught three passes for 57 yards. Those were all positives. But the rest of the offense did ... what exactly? The Wildcats punted four times, settled for three field goals and lost a fumble. Maybe rain and lighting is to blame for the ho-hum showing, but K-State has yet to find its top gear on offense under Collin Klein.
Defense: A+. The Tigers gained 222 yards and averaged 3.1 yards per play. The Wildcats won’t lose many games if they keep up those numbers. K-State also forced four turnovers. Luther Burden and Dominic Lovett were non factors. Missouri had no chance.
Special Teams: B+. Brooks had a game-changing punt return for a touchdown and Ty Zentner recorded several nice punts. Kicker Chris Tennant once again had some issues with his accuracy, though. That could be a problem moving forward.
Coaching: A. K-State was far and away the better team in this game. The Wildcats also seemed to handle the elements much better than Missouri. They were undeterred by bad weather, while the Tigers looked ready to go home at halftime.
Next Up
It’s on to Tulane for the Wildcats in Game 3.
The Green Wave are off to a 2-0 start with easy home victories against Massachusetts and Alcorn State. They defeated Alcorn State 52-0 on Saturday.
Tulane is coming off its worst season under head coach Willie Fritz, but it has already shown signs of improvement this year.
The Green Wave are averaging 286 passing yards and 177.5 rushing yards through two games. They could be the best offense K-State will see during nonconference action.
On defense, Tulane is allowing only 33 yards per game through the air. That could pose a challenge for K-State’s offense, but that number could also be explained by the weak schedule that Tulane has played. Martinez hasn’t thrown for more than 101 yards in a K-State football uniform yet. Odds are good he will get opportunities to throw down field next week.
All in all, this figures to be one of the easiest games on K-State’s schedule.
This story was originally published September 11, 2022 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Grades from Kansas State’s blowout win against Missouri and a look ahead to Tulane."