Big 12 Power Rankings: OSU Stunned By Mountaineers

Sep 21, 2013; Austin, TX, USA; Kansas State Wildcats quarterback

(15) fumbles against the Texas Longhorns during the fourth quarter of a football game at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. The Longhorns won 31-21. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

8. Kansas State Wildcats

Record: 2-2 (0-1)

Previous Ranking: 7 (Trend: Down)

Last Week: Bye

This Week: vs. Oklahoma State

Next Week: at Baylor

K-State is better than West Virginia, but not moving the Mountaineers up after their upset win seemed absurd. With the Wildcats bye week and the lingering bad taste of September still hanging around, Bill Snyder’s squad finds themselves at this lowly spot.

One would assume the week off was spent trying to get everyone on the same page. Whether it was better defining the quarterback roles, making a philosophy change in play-calling, or shaking up the depth chart on defense, Snyder needed to do something to get his team back in gear. Preferably, all three of the things mentioned happened.

Offensively, the team has no identity. Whatever the thinking is behind using Jake Waters and Daniel Sams is flawed. Waters has turned the ball over seven times in four games, and has been asked to run option plays he clearly is not suited to run. Sams has run almost exclusively option plays, making the offense incredibly predictable.

The lack of a running quarterback threat has hindered John Hubert, who has seen his yards per carry crash nearly a full yard from last season.

And who knows what is going on with the offensive line. Is it all of the confusion with contrasting styles of Waters and Sams?

On defense, K-State really hasn’t been good at much. The Wildcats rank next to last in the Big 12 in passing efficiency, last in completion percentage, eighth in rushing yards per game, last in forced turnovers, last in third down conversion percentage, and eighth in red zone defense (8 TDs, 3 FGs in 13 opportunities). To sum up: K-State cannot stop the run or the pass, prevent touchdowns in the red zone, or get off the field on third down. Everything else is fine.

Part of this is a lack of speed on defense. Snyder decided to go with players who may make fewer mental mistakes, but do not have the athleticism or speed to make they play. This is especially true at the cornerback and linebacker positions. Either KSU needs to come up with a better scheme that compensates for this lack of speed or the Wildcats need to put better athletes of the field.

Expecting K-State to repeat as Big 12 champions was going to be a tall order after losing so much talent and experience. But there is no reason for them to have lost to North Dakota State or looked the way they did against Texas. This team should be better. Hopefully the bye week got things corrected.