D
Derek Young
Guest
TALE OF TWO HALVES FOR THE DEFENSE
It was the story of the game, unfortunately. If anyone had said that Kansas State would score 31 points, everyone would have assumed a win. Baylor has one of the worst offenses in the league and they’ve been more putrid this year than the Wildcat offense.
The first half was fantastic. K-State produced six sacks in the half alone and their defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and wreaked havoc. The only points the Bears found came off a Will Howard interception.
The second half was a completely different story. I know the defense didn’t rotate as much because they were without some of the horses they typically have on the field, but the Bears reverted to a more up-tempo offense and it gave the Wildcats fits. They wore down in the second half and Baylor feasted on them.
Dave Aranda and company still couldn’t run the ball, but they got anything they wanted through the air and it ignited them to a come-from-behind win to defeat Kansas State at home, 32-31.
OKLAHOMA STATE ALL OVER AGAIN
K-State was not competitive and were blown off the field on the road in Morgantown and Ames. Those two contests were similar, and they were blasted by West Virginia and Iowa State.
Saturday evening’s game mirrored the Oklahoma State game and that isn’t a good thing. Remember when I said that loss bugged me the most? Remember when Chris Klieman said two days later that they let the Cowboys off the hook?
The same thing happened in Waco. They let the Bears off the hook. They blew a 17-6 lead, a 24-15 lead and a 31-22 lead.
Despite outplaying the Bears for over half the contest and being the better team for over half the game, they still lost. It simply can’t happen and unfold that way. They’re not good enough to squander opportunities.
At the end of the day, losses like that are always going to be hard to stomach and to have two in the last four games is a tough pill to swallow.
SQUANDERED OPPORTUNITIES
We should discuss those squandered opportunities. The officials didn’t help, and they were bad, and the defense’s struggles in the second half ultimately allowed Baylor to make the rally, but the mistakes from the offense in the first half were a problem.
Kansas State’s offense was non-existent once again coming back right out of halftime, and they left points on the board in the first half. I could grind my teeth at some of the conservatism in the play calls in the first half, but I didn’t exactly have all that much faith in Will Howard after his two costly interceptions.
The problem on offense was falling asleep in the third quarter, which is an uncomfortable trend, and the fact that there were chances in the first half to break it open, but Howard missed many open receivers and turned it over twice.
Not only that, he didn’t seem to run as hard or with as much of a purpose. Perhaps that was out of caution and in regard to ball security, but that makes it tough to have any kind of offense when he is unable to supply any kind of threat.
It was one of the better games of the year by the wide receivers and they ran the ball for 256 yards on 7.3 yards per carry.
They needed one more stop from the defense or to capitalize on the many offensive chances in the first half and fell short on both.
CLOCK MANAGEMENT
I’m not sure it would have made much of a difference, but we’ll never know. I don’t know how much of it, in regard to the offense, is on the players lacking the awareness in a certain situation and just not making the right decision.
However, before they punted, K-State ran the ball on first and second down before the incomplete throw on third down. Obviously, the purpose was to keep it on the ground and run some time off the clock. They didn’t run off as much as they could. One of the snaps was made with nine seconds still left on the play clock.
Furthermore, on defense, they waited too long to call timeouts and the Bears were able to dictate the terms and run it down to 37 seconds, with it being first down and the Wildcats only with two timeouts.
There was a spot there when, if used perfectly, it could have forced Baylor to kick on fourth down and hand the ball back to Kansas State. That didn’t happen and they sent home the field goal as time expired.
It was the story of the game, unfortunately. If anyone had said that Kansas State would score 31 points, everyone would have assumed a win. Baylor has one of the worst offenses in the league and they’ve been more putrid this year than the Wildcat offense.
The first half was fantastic. K-State produced six sacks in the half alone and their defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and wreaked havoc. The only points the Bears found came off a Will Howard interception.
The second half was a completely different story. I know the defense didn’t rotate as much because they were without some of the horses they typically have on the field, but the Bears reverted to a more up-tempo offense and it gave the Wildcats fits. They wore down in the second half and Baylor feasted on them.
Dave Aranda and company still couldn’t run the ball, but they got anything they wanted through the air and it ignited them to a come-from-behind win to defeat Kansas State at home, 32-31.
OKLAHOMA STATE ALL OVER AGAIN
K-State was not competitive and were blown off the field on the road in Morgantown and Ames. Those two contests were similar, and they were blasted by West Virginia and Iowa State.
Saturday evening’s game mirrored the Oklahoma State game and that isn’t a good thing. Remember when I said that loss bugged me the most? Remember when Chris Klieman said two days later that they let the Cowboys off the hook?
The same thing happened in Waco. They let the Bears off the hook. They blew a 17-6 lead, a 24-15 lead and a 31-22 lead.
Despite outplaying the Bears for over half the contest and being the better team for over half the game, they still lost. It simply can’t happen and unfold that way. They’re not good enough to squander opportunities.
At the end of the day, losses like that are always going to be hard to stomach and to have two in the last four games is a tough pill to swallow.
SQUANDERED OPPORTUNITIES
We should discuss those squandered opportunities. The officials didn’t help, and they were bad, and the defense’s struggles in the second half ultimately allowed Baylor to make the rally, but the mistakes from the offense in the first half were a problem.
Kansas State’s offense was non-existent once again coming back right out of halftime, and they left points on the board in the first half. I could grind my teeth at some of the conservatism in the play calls in the first half, but I didn’t exactly have all that much faith in Will Howard after his two costly interceptions.
The problem on offense was falling asleep in the third quarter, which is an uncomfortable trend, and the fact that there were chances in the first half to break it open, but Howard missed many open receivers and turned it over twice.
Not only that, he didn’t seem to run as hard or with as much of a purpose. Perhaps that was out of caution and in regard to ball security, but that makes it tough to have any kind of offense when he is unable to supply any kind of threat.
It was one of the better games of the year by the wide receivers and they ran the ball for 256 yards on 7.3 yards per carry.
They needed one more stop from the defense or to capitalize on the many offensive chances in the first half and fell short on both.
CLOCK MANAGEMENT
I’m not sure it would have made much of a difference, but we’ll never know. I don’t know how much of it, in regard to the offense, is on the players lacking the awareness in a certain situation and just not making the right decision.
However, before they punted, K-State ran the ball on first and second down before the incomplete throw on third down. Obviously, the purpose was to keep it on the ground and run some time off the clock. They didn’t run off as much as they could. One of the snaps was made with nine seconds still left on the play clock.
Furthermore, on defense, they waited too long to call timeouts and the Bears were able to dictate the terms and run it down to 37 seconds, with it being first down and the Wildcats only with two timeouts.
There was a spot there when, if used perfectly, it could have forced Baylor to kick on fourth down and hand the ball back to Kansas State. That didn’t happen and they sent home the field goal as time expired.
