3 Positives
1. Adrian Martinez came back and threw the ball well, outside of his one interception towards the end of the first half he threw the ball similarly to what we saw from Will Howard the last two weeks. It is clear to me the K-State receivers have upped their level of play over the last few weeks.
2. The Wildcats got back into the game of forcing turnovers. The two forced fumbles came at critical moments in the game to continue to keep the Cats within scratching defense. Now it will be time to pair that with not falling behind so quickly.
3. Ty Zentner came through as a kicker and punter again. It isn't the sexiest thing to throw on here, but I feel it is notable considering the way tonight's game played out is a reminder of what could have been against TCU. When everything started to tumble in the wrong direction for K-State, Chris Tennant's field goals to keep the game within a score wobbled short. For Zentner, including his late one to bring K-State within 7, showed a lot of composure to bang home that one into the wind.
3 Negatives
1. Game management was bad and head-scratching from the Wildcats tonight. Prior to the Martinez fumble that secured the game for Texas, I was shocked that Chris Klieman didn't use a timeout. Personally, I would have. They also had moments in that drive and the one that ended in a field goal on the previous drive where the sense of urgency didn't seem to be there. Another thing to mention is at the end of the first half with 13 seconds left, Malik Knowles had taken kicks back all night to no success. But with 13 seconds to play in the half, down three scores and a knee most likely coming, it was strange to not return that one. A small thing that probably didn't matter, but worth mentioning considering the other game management stuff. Chris Klieman also admitted after the game they could have used plays being called quicker.
2. The defense got shredded by Texas this evening. It certainly didn't help that the secondary was without Julius Brents, but the tackling was poor in the first half and the Longhorns ran wild. For as poor as things were in the first half, the Wildcats did bounce back in the second. But spotting a team as talented as Texas a three-score lead isn't going to cut it, especially with one of the league's best backs.
3. Penalties continue to be a negative theme in Chris Klieman's four years at K-State and tonight little calls like false starts and holds came at infuriating moments for K-State. Then throw in the fact that losing Julius Brents on the first drive to a questionable targeting call brings the officials into play. The refs also missed pass interference in the end zone on Phillip Brooks. It should be mentioned that the refs missed one on K-State as well though. It wasn't a banner night for penalties whether it was K-State, Texas or the refs throwing the flags.
I am sure there are more, but those are the first ones that come to my mind.
An honorable mention for negatives is Texas now being in the driver's seat to be team #2 in Arlington. They are tied with K-State and Baylor for second in the league, with their two losses to Tech and OSU, teams not in the picture right now. It will be important for K-State that the Longhorns fall in one of their final three games.
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