Well, that happened

Football

Kansas State lost 20-18 to Oklahoma State, relinquishing the top spot in the conference standings and raising many questions about the rest of the season.

As football games go, this was definitely a defensive slugfest. In the first half, the Wildcats held Chuba Hubbard in check and gave up less than 100 yards of total offense to help Kansas State maintain a lead. In the second half, it was a critical scoop-and-score that put the Pokes ahead for good and sealed defeat for Kansas State. This loss is tough, if only because it came in a game that was eminently winnable, but the defensive effort may have been the best of this season, and that unit has every reason to be proud of itself, as Jon Morse notes in his game recap.

The offense remains a work in progress, however. The inability to establish a consistent passing attack meant that running lanes were rarely available and Deuce Vaughn was not much of a weapon. On the other hand, Will Howard did distribute the ball to a number of receivers and Jax Dineen got in on the action a lot. Howard also got a lot done with his feet, but it was his fumble that proved costly for the Cats yesterday, so it’s hard to let him completely off the hook. Then again, he kept getting up after being knocked down and showed the sort of grit and determination we’ve come to expect from our quarterbacks at Kansas State. There’s plenty of potential here to celebrate.

Onwards.

Tennis

Though the team didn’t fare particularly well on the first day of play at the OSU Fall Series Championships, Kansas State’s tennis players did much better once they moved into the back draw. Anna Turco, Maria Linares, and Rosanna Maffei all won singles matches in the consolation bracket, and on the second day of play, Linares teamed up with Karine-Marion Job to advance to the consolations doubles finals, ultimately losing a close match to Baylor. More results are available on the team’s Twitter account.

This event wraps up the team’s fall campaign.

Volleyball

After holding off Texas Tech in five sets on Friday, the 11th-ranked VolleyCats did even better yesterday, knocking off the Red Raiders in straight sets (25-16, 25-20, 25-13). Brynn Carlson led the team in kills with 11 and hit .429 for the game, her best mark this season. Teammate Shelby Martin scored her 3000th assist in the win, the fifth-best mark among active players.

Up next, the team will take on TCU at Ahearn Field House for the final two-match series of 2020.