Five storylines to watch in K-State Wildcats’ football game vs. Cincinnati Bearcats
The Kansas State football team will play its final home game of the season when it hosts Cincinnati on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
It will be an important game for the seniors on K-State’s roster as the Wildcats look to bounce back from recent losses to Houston and Arizona State.
Here is everything you need to know to start preparing for this week’s game.
Cincinnati at Kansas State: Game details
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KCSP (610 AM) in Kansas City and KFH (1240 AM and 97.5 FM) in Wichita
Betting line: K-State by 8.5 with an O/U of 52.5
Five things to know
1. K-State can still win the Big 12. It’s not likely to happen, but it’s not impossible. The Wildcats need to win their two remaining games and get lots of help. K-State can win most multi-team tiebreakers because it faced a difficult conference schedule. If 6-3 is a good enough league record to finish in a tie for second place, K-State will take its chances. But that would require a lot of losses over the final two weeks from BYU (6-1), Colorado (6-1), Arizona State (5-2) and Iowa State (5-2), who are all in better position.
2. The Wildcats may have found something on offense. It was too little too late against Arizona State, but K-State put together a promising second half during a 24-14 loss to the Sun Devils. K-State gained more than 60 yards and reached the red zone on its final four drives of the night. The Wildcats used an up-tempo offense late. Perhaps that is worth using more often.
3. K-State is dealing with injuries. Dylan Edwards came up lame on a running play against Arizona State and may not be able to play this week as he recovers from an apparent hamstring injury. Wide receivers Keagan Johnson and Jadon Jackson didn’t see any action against the Sun Devils with unknown injuries. K-State will be limited on offense if any combination of those players remain on the sideline.
4. Cincinnati is on a three-game losing streak. Things were looking up for Cincinnati when the Bearcats won three of their first four conference games. But they haven’t tasted victory since Oct. 19 when they defeated Arizona State 24-14 at home. They have lost to Colorado, West Virginia and Iowa State since then. Cincinnati was competitive for a half against Iowa State, but the Cyclones pulled away for a 34-17 win late.
5. Cincinnati has a strong pass rush. Linebacker Jared Barlett ranks second in the Big 12 with 7.5 sacks, behind only K-State defensive end Brendan Mott, who has eight. Avery Johnson will need to account for Barlett on passing plays. The Bearcats don’t have a strong run defense, though. They are allowing 4.5 yards per run.
This story was originally published November 18, 2024 at 9:49 AM with the headline "Five storylines to watch in K-State Wildcats’ football game vs. Cincinnati Bearcats."