Kansas State vs Texas: Open Game Thread

Last week’s blowout was easily the most impressive performance I’ve witnessed from a Kansas State football team.

And I’ve seen other shutouts, other blowouts — heck I present for the 62-14 smashing of Texas A&M in 2009 — and other impressive wins in and out of conference play. But the Cats were on another level last week against a Top 10 team.

But that was last week. It would be absurd to think that the Wildcats, or any team, could follow that performance up with another one just like it. But it should be expected to see the Cats continue to operate at a high level, and continue their winning ways. The talent is clearly there. The scheme is clearly there. And the coaches and players are getting better every week.

We blasted the K-State coaching staff for taking their foot off the gas too early against TCU. They didn’t against Oklahoma State. We had worried about Will Howard after the “meh” start to his career in Manhattan, but the third-year sophomore has put together back-to-back impressive performances throwing the ball. The defense stepped up with Daniel Green available last week, and the linebackers turned in an exceptional performance starting two former walk-ons in Austin Moore and Nick Allen.

And it’s Texas. The Cats probably should have had them in 2019 and 2021. 2019 just had some bad luck, and in 2021 we saw the offensive (read the pun into this) play-calling that finally got Courtney Messingham to be shown the door. A K-State team operating at even 90% of last week should be able to wrangle these Longhorns, and that’s completely doable.

Like the Cowboys last week, Chris Klieman has yet to beat the Longhorns during his tenure in Manhattan. Texas is on a five-game win streak, with the last win for K-State coming during the 2016 season when the Cats eked one out at home over Charlie Strong’s Longhorns. The five-game streak is tied with the Cats for their longest streak, that ran from 2006-2012 in the heart of the “We Own Texas” era. It’s time to get back to that.

We’ve got an 6:00pm CT kickoff from Bill Snyder Family Stadium being aired on FS1 with Jason Benetti (Play-by-Play), and Brock Huard (Analyst) on the call. Be sure and check out this week’s How To Watch post for complete details. You should also be able to watch the game live online at FoxSports.com, if you have the correct cable package.

If you don’t have FS1, or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across the 38-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst), and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game will also be on SiriusXM Satellite Radio Ch. TBA, and available online at K-Statesports.com. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and Twitter updates (@KStateFB) will also be a part of the coverage.

Go Cats!

Hey, are you on Discord? We are now, too! Feel free to join us! (Make sure you click the reaction button on the rules notice though, or you won’t see anything.) We’ll have a game thread there as well!