SLATE: First-year coaches Klieman and Brown face off Saturday

One more look-back; then on from Texas.

Football

In the last minute of Saturday’s game at Texas, the Longhorns had a touchdown nullified by an illegal formation penalty. After the penalty, quarterback Sam Ehlinger took a knee, and Texas allowed the clock to wind down to three seconds before lining up for what would be the game-winning field goal. Kellis Robinett (Star) reports that with the benefit of hindsight, Coach Klieman regrets accepting the penalty, because he would rather have sent his offense on with a chance to tie the game than allow the outcome to hinge on a chip-shot Texas field goal.

In his preview and “Five Things to Know” column, Kellis reports that West Virginia head coach Neal Brown was the runner-up to coach at K-State when Klieman was hired.

That’s all in the past now, as K-State prepares to host the West Virginia Mountaineers Saturday. K-State is a double-digit favorite for the first time since the Bowling Green game, with the line opening at 12 and jumping to 15 by Monday morning.

From behind enemy lines, Kevin Kinder at WVNews reports that the biggest difference Brown sees between his squad and Coach Klieman’s is the experience K-State brings to the field, especially on the offensive line.

The Wildcats will take a second foray into alternate uniform territory, as they debut white helmets with a script “Cats” in place of the traditional powercat logo. Reviews are, shall we say, “mixed.”

It was a quiet week statistically for most of the Cats in the NFL, with even Tyler Locket relatively bottled up in Seattle’s overtime win against previously undefeated San Francisco on Monday night.

Women’s Basketball

As expected, Coach Mittie’s squad had little trouble dispatching the University of Illinois-Chicago last night, as the Wildcats rolled to an 84-40 victory. Sophomore Christianna Carr poured in 20 points on 7-13 shooting. Rachel Ranke scored 14, Ayoka Lee earned a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Laura Macke just missed her own double-double, with 11 and 9. Even with two-sport phenom Peyton Williams sitting this one out, K-State had a notable size advantage with the 6’5 Lee and Ashley Ray and 6’3 freshman Emma Chapman. The physical mismatch helped the Cats hold UIC to 25 percent shooting on the night.

Cross-Country

K-State Sports Extra features sophomore runner Jackson Schroeder, who posted the fastest time by a K-State runner since 2004 in placing 22nd at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships. Schroeder was especially encouraged by the performance, since he has been battling a rare condition known as Overtraining Syndrome since high school.