Kansas State Football: Texas Bowl Tale of the Tape and My Keys to Victory

Measurements for Texas A&M

Texas A&M ranks 50th in passing offense with 250.6 yards a game. Rushing the ball, they rank 33rd with 217.5 yards a game.

Defensively, their points allowed per game sits at 37th (23.8 points allowed) and they’re scoring an average of 35.4 points a game.

One thing we do have going for us is familiarity. Trevor Knight is no stranger to Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats. He saw plenty of us, and we saw plenty of him, while he was still at Oklahoma.

With the Aggies this season, Knight has a passer rating of 121.7. He has 16 touchdowns to 6 INTs and has thrown for 2,122 yards.

Knight’s completion percentage is not where you would think it is. He is barely completing over half of his passes, with a 51.9 percentage, while averaging under 7 yards per attempt.

But Knight isn’t a one trick pony. He’s the team’s second leading rusher with 594 yards on the ground and 10 scores. His running back, Trayveon Williams, leads the team with 1,024 yards.

This is the second key to winning the game. Stopping the run and containing Knight. As long as we have as close to fully healthy squad possible, this defense can stop anyone’s run game.

Williams is averaging 7 yards a carry and has 8 rushing scores on the season. The defensive line will need solid pushes on the Aggies O-Line to keep Williams within arms reach. This game could be one or lost in the trenches.

Josh Reynolds and Christian Kirk are their top receiving targets. Both have over 800 yards receiving but Kirk leads the way in catches with 77. Reynolds comes in having caught only 49 passes.

Reynolds is averaging almost 20 yards per catch (18.1 to be exact). Safeties will have to keep their heads on swivel and look to provide help over the top if these guys get by our corners.

Reynolds and Kirk have a combined 19 touchdowns between the two of them, with Reynolds having one more than Kirk with 10.

Slowing these two down is key number two. We can’t let them get behind the secondary, or Knight will find them.

This offense can be slowed. As long as we maintain discipline on the line and don’t commit any silly penalties, this defensive unit will have its work cut out, but they should do fine.