K-State Football: Report Card vs Kansas Jayhawks

First, the positives. Despite another injury to a quarterback, K-State was still able to get 6.07 yards per play on offense. That will actually lower their yards per play, but when you are on to your third-string quarterback, it’s not the worst thing in the world.

Also, the Wildcats ran for 202 yards on 43 carries, good for a 4.7 yard per carry average. KU, shockingly, only allows 4.47 per carry. So, K-State was able to do something despite the Jawyhawks wanting to take it away. Alex Barnes came to play this weekend, as his 23 carries for 128 yards helped ease the transition between the quarterbacks and frankly, was the difference in the game.

Now the negatives, and this will be a trend sadly. KU has a terrible defense and has allowed 52.3 points per game in Big 12 play. In four previous conference games, they allowed 29 touchdowns. It’s an unbelievable number. It’s an average of over SEVEN a game. K-State had only three. Let’s break down the biggest play for each touchdown drive too.

K-State’s longest scoring drive was 35 yards.

1. D.J. Reed returned a kick-off for a touchdown.
2. 18 yard drive that started out because of a Jayd Kirby forced fumble.
3. 26 yard drive that started because of a punt return to the 26 yard line

K-State’s longest scoring drive was 35 yards. Their longest play was 38 yards on a 61 yard drive that got stopped on 3rd and 4th and 1. The Wildcats also managed 340 yards against a team that was allowing 507.8 per game in conference.

Finally, offensive coordinator Dana Dimel has clearly refused to read my early work on third down struggles as K-State continued their horrid third down play going 3 for 11.

All in all, a “D” may actually be a friendly grade.