Three Positives
- Will Howard continues to impress, despite difficult circumstances. Will Howard has been thrown into three games this season, and he's been successful in all three games. Howard has nine touchdown passes on the season following his three-touchdown performance on Saturday in the Cats' win over Baylor. I think his resole and willingness to fight through difficult scenarios and still give Kansas State high-level play at the quarterback position is impressive. He's certainly the quarterback of the future, and potentially the QB of the present too if Chris Klieman and Collin Klein make that decision.
- Ben Sinnott has emerged as a real threat in the passing game. Kansas State's offense has seen a surge in passing production since the TCU game, and Ben Sinnott has specifically been part of the last two games for Kansas State in the passing game. Sinnott was the Wildcats' best pass-catcher on Saturday night. He brought in seven catches and had 89 yards with two touchdowns.
- Long, sustained drives. Kansas State had nine drives on Saturday night. Of those nine offensive drives, only three of them lasted less than four minutes. On two of those possessions, Kansas State scored a touchdown. Translated, of Kansas State's nine drives they effectively moved the ball on seven of them. That's darn impressive. Give credit to the offensive line for paving the way for 184 rushing yards and efficient quarterback play from both Adrian Martinez and Howard who combined to complete 74% of their passes.
- Some injuries occurred. Unfortunately for Kansas State, the Wildcats suffered some injuries, particularly in the defensive backfield. Ekow Boye-Doe, Josh Hayes and Kobe Savage all left the game at some point with an injury. Klieman said after the game that he doesn't want to speculate on the severity of Savage's injury but continued to say "I don't think it probably looks good." Klieman said he didn't know too much about the status of Boye-Doe or Hayes, but further said "I didn't think they were significant, but I'm not quite sure."
- Little pass rush/negative plays. Kansas State had only one tackle for loss on Saturday night. Linebacker Khalid Duke was credited for making the play in the second quarter. Aside from Duke's TFL, Kansas State didn't get into the backfield very much. They didn't have a single QB hurry and they weren't able to sack Blake Shapen either. Give credit to Baylor for having a strong offensive line, but the Wildcat rush didn't get home on Saturday night.
- N/A
