Kansas State Wildcats

NFL – BIG 12

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Kansas State Wildcats Football Team

It won’t take long to see if Kansas State can bounce back from a dismal end to the 2020 season as they take on Stanford on September 4th in Arlington, Texas.

They’ll follow that up with games they should win against Southern Illinois and Nevada before traveling to Oklahoma State for their Big 12 opener.

Kansas State Wildcats Standings

The Kansas State Wildcats have had a solid start to their season, sitting in the middle of the Big 12 standings with a record of 4-3. With a balanced attack led by quarterback Will Howard, the Wildcats are a threat to any opponent. Key stats for the Wildcats include an average of 29 points per game and a total of 1,777 passing yards.

The Wildcats will look to continue their winning ways and make a push for the top of the standings.

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2020 Summary

After a stunning 35 – 31 upset loss to Sun Belt member Arkansas State, who went on to finish the season with a 4 – 7 record in their opening game, the Wildcats rebounded two weeks later with an upset of their own at Oklahoma. The 38 – 35 victory was the first of four consecutive conference wins, which, unfortunately for Kansas State, were the last of the season.

The Wildcats lost their final five games of 2020, getting humiliated 69 – 31 by Texas in the closing contest of the frustrating season. They also lost 45 – 0 at Iowa State and 37 – 10 at West Virginia along the way, partly because of a season-ending injury to senior quarterback Skylar Thompson in their third game.

Offensively, Kansas State ranked 106th in the nation and wasn’t much better on the other side of the ball, with their defense barely finishing in the top 100 in the nation in yards allowed at number 97. Other than the four-game winning streak, there wasn’t a lot to be optimistic about following the season.

Key Players

Thompson decided to return for another year after getting an extra season of eligibility due to Covid-19 extensions granted by the NCAA. Before his injury, Thompson completed 62.5% of his passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions. His replacement, then-freshman Will Howard, had a completion rate of 53.5% with eight touchdowns and ten interceptions.

Versatile sophomore running back Deuce Vaughn is a threat to both run the ball and catch it out of the backfield, averaging 5.2 yards a carry and 17.4 yards per reception during an all-conference freshman season in 2020. His numbers should be even better if Thompson can remain healthy and the offensive line can do their part.

On a defense that only returns five starters, strong safety Jahron McPherson is back for an extra season after leading the Wildcats in tackles and interceptions in 2020. His experience will be crucial to a unit that will be turning to transfers to fill holes left by graduation.

Key Additions

Julius Brents will give McPherson some help in the secondary after transferring at cornerback from Iowa, as will Louisville transfer safety Russ Yeast. Defensive tackle Timmy Horne is another key transfer who will need to make an immediate impact after coming to Kansas State from Charlotte.

Key Subtractions

Tight end Briley Moore was the team’s second-leading receiver behind Vaughn, catching 22 passes and averaging 15.4 yards per reception with three touchdowns. The Wildcats don’t have a reliable replacement for their best receiver in 2020.

Kansas State lost their leader in sacks from 2020 when defensive end Wyatt Hubert was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round. Hubert left following his junior season after recording 8.5 sacks last year and 20 for his career.

Not just one, but two linebackers will need to be replaced, with Elijah Sullivan and Justin Hughes both leaving the program. The inside duo combined for 84 tackles, including three and a half for loss. Sullivan signed with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent.

Conference Outlook

After six consecutive Big 12 titles, the Oklahoma Sooners appear poised to make it seven in a row, especially with returning quarterback Spencer Rattler anchoring the offense. In the conference title contest, they reeled off wins in their final eight games of 2020, including a victory over regular-season frontrunner Iowa State.

The Cyclones should be back to challenge Oklahoma. Still, all eyes will be on Texas, who, despite a 7-3 season, fired head coach Tom Herman and replaced him with former Alabama offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who has prior experience as the head coach at Washington and USC. It could be a real dogfight for the second championship game berth, with Oklahoma State and TCU looking like they will improve over 2020.

The bottom half of the Big 12 doesn’t have any teams that appear poised to make a big push up the standings, but in a league with high-scoring offenses and suspect defenses, upsets are a common occurrence. One thing is pretty certain, with Kansas firmly entrenched in the basement.

Kansas State Offense

Having a healthy Skylar Thompson at quarterback and Deuce Vaughn at running back will probably add at least two wins for the Wildcats. Their opening game against Stanford will be a bellwether for third-year head coach Chris Klieman and his chances to return Kansas State to bowl eligibility and even contending status in the Big 12.

They return nine starters from an offense that had difficulty moving the ball and sustaining drives the second half of the season, so those same players will need to show improvement, even with an entire season from Thompson. Having a running back as the leading pass catcher is not a recipe for success in the Big 12, so they’ll need to find someone to step up at wide receiver that is capable of making big plays downfield.

Kansas State Defense

With only five returning starters, the defense will rely on a lot of transfers to make early and significant contributions to turn around a disastrous 2020. They gave up an average of just over 40 points a game in their last five contests, all-conference losses.

It’s true that two of those losses were by a combined three points, but the other three were blowouts where the Wildcats weren’t competitive on either side of the ball, especially the defense. Kansas State is particularly vulnerable at linebacker, with no returning starters on the two-deep depth chart.

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Kansas State FAQs

How many Big 12 championships has Kansas State won?
Two, with an outright title in 2003 and a shared championship with Oklahoma in 2014 
Who is the winningest head coach?
Bill Snyder won 215 games from 1989 to 2018.
How many bowl games has Kansas State played in?
22, with a record of 9-13
What was Kansas State’s last victory in a bowl game?
December 26, 2017, when they defeated UCLA 35 -17 in the Cactus Bowl 
What is Kansas State’s overall record in football?
484-611-34