Grades from Kansas State’s loss against Arizona State and a look ahead to Cincinnati
Two alarming trends continue to haunt the Kansas State football team under Chris Klieman’s leadership.
1. The Wildcats have a 2-5 record (excluding the COVID season of 2020) when they are coming off a bye week. College football teams are supposed to be at their best when their players are well rested and their coaches have extra time to prepare. But K-State struggles in those scenarios. It benefited from a week off against Arizona State but still lost 24-14 on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
2. K-State has lost eight times as a favorite of a touchdown or more since 2019. That means the Wildcats are losing, on average, 1.3 games per season that they are fully expected to win. They lost to Houston as a 13.5-point favorite two weeks ago and lost to Arizona State as a 7.5-point favorite on Saturday. Watch out. K-State opened as a favorite of 8.5 points ahead of next week’s game against Cincinnati.
Those issues have left K-State (7-3, 4-3 Big 12) in a frustrating position with two games remaining in the season.
A day after the Arizona State loss, it is time to look back on the action and hand out a few awards and grades. We also look ahead to K-State’s next game against Cincinnati.
Play of the game
Avery Johnson threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the night. It was a sign of things to come.
Player of the game
Sam Leavitt deserves the Shaquille O’Neal treatment after he threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns against the Wildcats.
I owe you an apology, I wasn’t familiar with your game.
Arizona State’s offense usually revolves around running back Cam Skattebo. But Leavitt torched K-State’s secondary, especially on third downs.
Stat of the game & quote to note
K-State turned the ball over three times and botched a pair of field goals. The Wildcats aren’t going to win many games when they lose the turnover battle and look bad on special teams.
As for the quote...
“It’s the story of the season so far on offense. We have started slow. Sometimes we have been able to dig ourselves out of holes. Tonight we weren’t as fortunate. We just aren’t as explosive and as dominant as we want to be offensively.” — Avery Johnson.
K-State football grades
Offense: C. Believe it or not, the Wildcats gained more yards than the Sun Devils (412 to 398) but the vast majority of K-State’s production came after Arizona State built a 24-0 lead. It was too little too late. Still, there were some bright spots. DJ Giddens rushed for 133 yards and Avery Johnson connected with eight different receivers. Maybe the Wildcats should use their hurry up offense more often. K-State seemed much less predictable when it was in catch-up mode.
Defense: C. Give the Wildcats credit for holding Cam Skattebo in check. The star Arizona State running back only had 73 yards on 25 carries. But no good things can be said about K-State’s secondary. Leavitt looked like an All-American and Jordyn Tyson looked like a Heisman Trophy winner as he caught 12 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns.
Special Teams: F. No one wants to criticize a long snapper or a holder. These players work hard behind the scenes and get zero credit when things are going well. They don’t deserve all the blame when things go wrong. That being said, the Wildcats may need to change personnel at those positions on field goals. They have botched four snap/hold exchanges in the past two games. That cost them six point against Arizona State.
Coaching: F. K-State’s losing record after bye weeks is bizarre. Earlier this season, Klieman scoffed at the idea that the Wildcats needed to change their routine in those situations. To his credit, they won at Colorado after their first idle week. But something clearly needs to change. There was no good reason why the Wildcats should have been flat at the start of Saturday’s game.
Next up: Cincinnati
The Wildcats will host a reeling Cincinnati team on senior day at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. ESPN2 will televise the game.
K-State opened as a favorite of 8.5 points.
The Bearcats have lost three straight games against Colorado, West Virginia and Iowa State. They were competitive with the Cyclones over the weekend but things got away from them in the second half and the Cyclones pulled away for a 34-17 win.
K-State will look to take advantage of a mediocre run defense next week, as Cincinnati is allowing teams to rush for 4.5 yards per carry.
This story was originally published November 17, 2024 at 11:11 AM with the headline "Grades from Kansas State’s loss against Arizona State and a look ahead to Cincinnati."