Kansas State Wildcats going ‘all in’ to solve recent struggles in close games
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- K-State adopts “all-in” mindset to reverse 2-4 start and one-score defeats.
- Coaches and players target situational execution after four one-score defeats.
- K-State seeks playmaking on offense, defense and special teams vs TCU.
Kansas State defensive end Cody Stufflebean shared a message that resonated with his teammates after the Wildcats suffered a 35-34 loss to Baylor last weekend.
“He told us that we can’t be on the fence between whether we’re all in or not,” K-State defensive tackle Uso Seumalo said. “I agree with that. If we want to get out from where we’re at, we need to be all in and trust the coaches. We have to trust coach (Chris) Klieman. He knows what he’s doing. We need to trust that he’s going to take us to where we need to be. We have all got to be a part of that.”
An all-in mindset could certainly help the Wildcats as they work to climb their way out of the 2-4 hole they find themselves in at the midway point of their football season.
Another priority: Finding ways to win close games.
It has come as a surprise that K-State owns a 1-4 record in games decided by a single score this season. The Wildcats have lost four games by a total of 13 points. Iowa State and Army both beat them by a field goal. Arizona beat them by six. And then the most frustrating defeat of the bunch arguably occurred over the weekend in Waco, Texas, where Baylor rallied from 14 down in the fourth quarter to win on a blocked field goal.
What has made results like that truly agonizing is that Klieman historically has won his fair share of close games.
Heading into this year, Klieman held a 16-16 record in one-score games with the Wildcats.
Last season, K-State was clutch in close games, going 4-2. Some of its best victories (Colorado, Kansas, Rutgers and Tulane) were one-score games.
But things are now spiraling in the other direction. K-State’s only close win came by three points at home against North Dakota. And it has blown double-digit leads against Army and Baylor.
“You have got to make plays,” Klieman said. “That’s the bottom line. In one-score games, you have got opportunities to make plays. When you make them, you end up winning those games. It’s not one thing, it’s a culmination of a lot of things. And it’s not one player, it’s offense, defense and (special) teams. In this league, you’re going to have a bunch of one-score games. That’s just the way it is. Last week is an indication that we didn’t make those plays.”
Some may also point to coaching as a reason for K-State’s recent struggles in toss-up games.
K-State running back Joe Jackson offered up a different theory and expressed regret over the offense punting on three consecutive drives in the first half when K-State had a chance to pad the lead against Baylor.
“We need to start taking advantage of what our opponent is giving us,” Jackson said. “It really hurt us Saturday when we couldn’t capitalize on two big takeaways that our defense got for us.”
Painful as it may be to recap so many narrow losses in a season, some K-State players view their close calls as a positive.
It’s not like they are losing by lopsided margins. Fix a few things, and it’s easy to envision better results on the horizon.
“We are a really good football team,” K-State punter Simon McClannan said. “We just have a couple little mistakes that are costing us.”
The Wildcats hope an all-in attitude and a few more plays can help them start a winning streak when they return to action against TCU on Saturday.
“I still believe in this team,” Seumalo said. “We’re a great team. We just need to finish.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Kansas State Wildcats going ‘all in’ to solve recent struggles in close games."