Escape from Farmageddon

Football

Phew.

Kansas State didn’t so much beat Iowa State 10-9 as escape Ames with a narrow victory, one underlined by a great defensive effort from both teams amidst the sort of offensive ineptitude usually reserved for classic Big Ten games.

Aside from Kansas State’s first scoring drive and the pass from Malik Knowles to Adrian Martinez setting up the Wildcats’ go-ahead field goal, there was little to write home about on the offensive side of the ball. The playcalling on third down remains predictable, the team remains overly reliant on Deuce Vaughn, and Martinez is still tentative when the game is on the line.

Even with those caveats, the tagline for this game should probably be Just Enough. Kansas State could have won the game 20-9. In a moment I will forever remember as Farmageddon’t, the normally sure-handed Knowles fumbled away 6 points that would have put the game to bed.

He redeemed himself later by catching (and throwing!) passes that moved the sticks just enough to win the game. Chris Tennant, generally improving from week to week, nevertheless missed a short field goal that might have increased the Wildcats margin, but also booted what turned out to be the game-winning field goal. In other words, just enough.

Low-scoring slugfest that this was, the defense really did show out. Some of this was just due to Iowa State being just terrible on offense. Though the Big 12’s worst rushing offense did rip off some big yards against the Wildcats’ front seven, and star receiver Xavier Hutchinson did some damage catching the ball, the Cyclones never put together a sustained drive inside the red zone, though embattled kicker Jace Gilbert was perfect on the night and nearly won the game for Iowa State.

Still, a win is a win. Iowa State is easily the best defensive team in the league, so things should improve a bit for the Wildcats’ offense going forward. The team also moved up in the AP Poll.

Oh, and this Big 12 standings table sure hits the spot right now.

Onwards.

Golf

The men’s golf team has won two consecutive team events this season already, and excitement around the program is high as #21 Kansas State heads to the Oregon State Invivational in Corvallis. Play tees off on Monday and continues through Tuesday. You can follow the action via Golfstat.com

Soccer

Though the program is still young in relative terms, Kansas State soccer’s inability to win Big 12 matches is almost legendary by now. So it’s no small surprise when the team puts together a big win, its first conference win of the season.

This time, the Wildcats took out Baylor 2-1, with the go-ahead score coming in the final 18 seconds on a penalty kick from Riley Baker, who also scored the team’s other goal, a 17-yarder in the first half.

The win ends a five-match winless streak for the Wildcats. It’s also only the third road win this season, tying a record set back in 2017. Next up, the team is back home to take on Texas Tech on October 13.