Another week, another win. 5-0 K-State is making believers out of the nation with their anti-Big12 offense and unrecognizable defense. The weekend saw more of the same from Colin Klein and John Hubert while Jordan Voelker introduced himself to Wildcat fans with 6 tackles and a sack. The Missouri game was the biggest hurdle to a possible 7-0 start to the season although there is plenty to think about over the next few days on the way to a conference road game in Lubbock, Texas. Continue reading to get the good, bad, and ugly of the win over the Tigers.
The Good
Winning Again… It was nice to see the Wildcats jump out to a solid lead for a change of pace. The final score ended up being closer than it probably should have been but 5-0 is great whether it’s by a lot or a little. Bill Snyder is coaching his team perfectly right now and is putting on a clinic for the college football world to behold. The game was won using nothing more than basic run plays, a minimal amount of passes, and oodles of ball control. The team is hitting its stride at the right moment and there should be plenty of victories still to come.
Opening the Game… Missouri came in knowing that they put up some major numbers against Oklahoma in the previous weekend. They had to be riding those hopes but nothing kills hopes quicker than what K-State did. On James Franklin’s first touch of the game, Ty Zimmerman stepped up and got an interception that set up a score and put Misery in an early hole. The 3:24, 6 play, 21 yard drive for a touchdown showed the Tigers what they were going to face for the next 56 minutes of the game. Missouri had to know what was coming but couldn’t do a thing to stop it.
The D-Line… Huge, huge, huge game from Ray Kibble, Vai Lutui, Jordan Voelker, and Adam Davis. You may not have realized it, but these 4 controlled the entire game. Not only did they shutdown the Big12’s leading rusher holding Henry Josey to 55 yards rushing (after 133 vs Oklahoma), but they also totally disrupted what Missouri wanted to do through the air. Cosh was able to rely on them and them alone for the pass rush and dropped 7 in pass coverage for 99% of the game. The d-line consistently pressured Franklin, forced Mizzou to -20 yards rushing in the 1st quarter, and my game ball goes to them.
The Bad
2nd Quarter Blah… Kansas State jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the 1st quarter and then basically did nothing to finish out the 1st half. The play calling was about as vanilla as it could get and K-State never tried to knock Missouri out. The only semi-exciting play came on a play action pass that Klein missed. Chris Harper had gotten behind the coverage and if Klein had put more air under the throw, it could have been huge. Instead, fans were forced to endure 15 minutes of blah and see the halftime score end up being 10-3. Had Missouri been able to make a couple field goals, that second quarter would be a much bigger story. Against the better teams coming up, a full quarter of blah will equate to a loss.
4th Quarter Let Down… I’ll start this by saying that Missouri got bailed out by a few reviews that probably should have given the ball to K-State but it still doesn’t make what happened in the 4th quarter less concerning. With 11 minutes left in the game, the Wildcats were up 24-3. In those 11 minutes, Missouri was able to score twice and make the game pretty interesting. Almost all the yards came through the air, which is a weak spot. Granted, the Wildcats were in “no big play mode” but that’s basically the same defensive set that was in use all game long. If not for an amazing catch by Andre McDonald on 3rd and 3 and the steady runs of John Hubert, the Tigers might have had a shot at tying things up and forcing overtime.
The Ugly
Coming Out Passing… It’s nit picky, but why would K-State start the second half with any passing plays? Run the ball! Instead of a possible long sustained drive to put a final stake in Missouri’s heart, Klein promptly threw an interception and the Tigers took over at the K-State 36 yard line. Thank goodness for missed kicks!