The start to Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown probably could not have gotten off to a better start. Amidst a rainy morning backdrop, allowed for a sloppy opening kickoff from Kansas State allowed the Jayhawks to scoop up a fumble and take the early 7-0 lead. Yet from then on, the Jayhawks took hits but couldn’t muster the fight to hit back in what turned into a 42-17 Kansas State win.
“We get the big hit to start the game, and again, we get the energy and the feeling,” quoted head coach Lance Leipold on Monday afternoon.
“And we find a way to score, but then we have two penalties on defense that give up almost half the field of yardage for them to score, and then we have the low snap, and then the special teams touchdown for them.”
After Kansas’ elite star to the game, the Wildcats drove down the field with ease and notched a simple touchdown scoring drive of their own in just 2:56 seconds. Kansas State then kept momentum on their side with a botched punt, turned disaster as a scoop and score from Ralph Ortiz gave Kansas State a 14-7 lead.
“And looking back, our sideline really deflated, and we never responded back with a momentum switch that we needed to in a game like that. That's probably one of the bigger things that I look at.”
Kansas State then went up 21-7 before the first quarter ended. Ultimately, that scoring could have been stopped by the Wildcats, and they still would have won the game, as Kansas on the day finished with just 17 points. Kansas State, however, did not take their chance and ended up toppling 42 points at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
This feels like Déjà vu, doesn’t it?
When Kansas took on No.13 Texas Tech prior to the latest Bye Week, albeit the competition was much more stifling than the Wildcats, Kansas was heading into the break with momentum in both of those games.
Against the Red Raiders, Kansas had miraculously come back from a 21-0 deficit and ended up down 17-21, with the energy swinging towards the Jayhawks out of the half. Yet Texas Tech would go on to score the next 25 points before eventually winning the game 42-17.
Against the Wildcats, in what is the biggest game of the season for the Jayhawks, Kansas was down 21-14, and had the chance to start with the ball in the second half. Yet 14 Kansas State points sandwiched in between just a Jayhawk field goal spelled the end of a comeback effort.
These are stark changes as against UCF before these two second-half meltdowns, the Jayhawks culminated an elite second-half performance, which saw Kansas notch a shutout against the Golden Knights, in what was an eventual 27-20 Kansas win.
Against UCF, Kansas had given up 253 yards in the first half and looked the much weaker defense. Yet in the second half, Lance Leipold’s team allowed just 122 yards and forced multiple key stops.
Up next for Kansas are the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Oklahoma State has had a rough go of it this season, which has included a 1-7 start, and in the middle of it, saw head coach Mike Gundy be relieved of his duties. Under the interim staff, things have stalled and now culminate in their trip to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium this Saturday.
Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT. on ESPN+.
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