The title of this piece couldn’t be any more true of an encapsulation if we tried.
This is a rivalry that has spanned generations and while KU fans may consider their games against Missouri to be more important, it doesn’t mean they will ever accept a loss against the Kansas State Wildcats.
The problem is, this has been a Kansas State-dominated matchup since 2008. Sure, teams can go on slides and rivalries can have their moments where unbalanced swings occur, but the Sunflower Showdown has long since moved from an odd trend and into an expected result.
Last season, the Wildcats couldn’t have schemed up a worse start if they had tried. They stumbled out of the blocks in a loss to the Iowa State Cyclones. One week later, they barely survived past FCS side North Dakota in a 38-35 win, before losing the next two games to Army and Arizona. Now, after a 1-3 start, they were able to balance themselves out and finish the season 6-6, but it was not a pretty season; in fact, most Kansas State fans would likely tell you that their favorite moment of the season was their 42-17 win over the Jayhawks.
Kansas jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead after a muffed kickoff from the Wildcats, but instead of slamming the panic button, former head coach Chris Klieman and his team stayed steady in the face of adversity (something they hardly did up until that point in the season), but that's beside the point. Kansas State ended the first quarter with a 21-7 lead, thanks to an Avery Johnson rushing touchdown, a fumble-return touchdown, and a Johnson passing touchdown, completely flipping the script. That’s enough of a reminder, right? Eventually, the Wildcats cruised to the aforementioned demolition derby over the Jayhawks, who gave the ball away four times throughout the 60 minutes.
Collin Klein’s first year with Kansas State finds him with a sneakily good roster
The star for the Wildcats will have to be no other than Johnson. Through three seasons, Johnson has tallied 70 total touchdowns, including 48 passing scores, with 5,576 passing yards and 1,376 rushing yards.
A lot of head coaches typically go portal-heavy in their first year to attempt to complete a miniature overhaul while a grander one is going on in the background; Klein is no exception to the rule. Kansas State reeled in 27 transfers, led by former Oklahoma State edge rusher Wendell Gregory. Gregory finished last season with 27 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks. For any team, this is a great season for an Oklahoma State squad that won one game, that’s an exceptional year.
As if this rivalry needed any more tension, one of the biggest portal moves across college football last season was Dylan Edwards’ shocking transfer from the Wildcats to the Jayhawks. Edwards joins KU with 1,072 rushing yards under his belt, to go along with 8 rushing touchdowns and six more through the air.
Kansas fans aren’t wrong for feeling like this is truly their chance to reset the momentum of the rivalry; however, this is a feeling familiar to KU.
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