Kansas State football headed down to Waco, Texas on Saturday, Nov. 28 to play the Baylor Bears. It looked like the Wildcats were going to pull out a win, but the Bears were able to come back and make a game-winning field goal to beat the Wildcats with a score of 32-31.
Charlie Brewer confidently moved Baylor down the field, and John Mayers kicked a 30-yard field goal on the final play. This was certainly a better way for the Bears to finish a game since their 1-5 start.
Brewer had a seven-yard touchdown on a draw play to end Baylor’s opening drive of the game before a botched extra point after the first of Howard’s two interceptions. K-State went ahead when receiver Malik Knowles took a handoff on a sweep and ran 75 yards for a score.
Brewer also ran for 56 yards and two scores, even with the 23 yards lost on sacks. He had a one-yard TD keeper with 4:16 left, before K-State went three-and-out and punted.
Kansas State quarterback Will Howard threw a touchdown and ran for another, fellow true freshman Deuce Vaughn rushed for 102 yards with a score. Kansas State did make some big plays during the game but just couldn’t pull it together in the end.
Kansas State even had a total of seven sacks for the game, which aided the Wildcats in pulling a lead going into the third quarter. It’s unfortunate the defense was not able to hold the Bears down going into the fourth quarter.
According to ESPN, Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said, “It’s a game we should have won. I told the guys I’m sorry. I’m sick for them,” Klieman said. “We did some really good things but didn’t make some winning plays at the end.”
With this loss, this puts Kansas State at a difficult position. Since the Wildcats will be under six wins for the season, it is unlikely that the Wildcats will qualify for a bowl game.
It has been a rough season for the Wildcats when Howard became the starter after senior Skylar Thompson‘s season-ending shoulder injury. The Wildcats haven’t won since Howard became the first K-State true freshman QB to win his first two starts.
Kansas State started out the season well with Thompson at quarterback with its big win over the Oklahoma Sooners, but the injuries suffered and COVID-19 restrictions have taken a tole on the Wildcats this season.
K-State can still finish with a winning conference record in each of Klieman’s first two seasons with a win in its next game. The Wildcats have a minus-eight turnover margin in their losing streak after being plus-eight the first five games.
The Kansas State Wildcats are set to play next week Saturday at noon ET when they host the Texas Longhorns.
The Longhorns are ranked 17th in the nation are 5-3 overall and 4-3 in the conference.
With this being Kansas State’s last home game, it has a good shot at winning and if it does, it could project the Wildcats into a bowl game. The Longhorns and Wildcats collide next week in what should be a Big 12 Conference thriller.
Photo courtesy of KStateSports.com
