TEST

Well, it's the 2022 season and we're quite a few weeks in

 Like in the past, it's been WAY too long that I posted on this blog.

My K-State Wildcats are sitting in 2nd place right now and looking pretty damn good to get to the Big XII Championship game. They have to beat a West Virginia team on the road, where WV plays a LOT better there than on the road. So there is a little hesitation in thinking the Cats will roll into Morgantown and give them a beatdown a la 2012.

I do see this as a 34-14 K-State win.

Then the Cats finish up the regular season at home against a much improved KU team. Both Daniels and Bean at QB are currently hurt when they play Texas this weekend in Lawrence.

I can see Daniels coming back on the 26th and giving the K-State some fits.

But KU defense isn't very good. The K-State offense should get their yards in the air and on the ground. If Daniels plays, I see a K-State win 42-31. If Daniels doesn't play, and Bean is able to play, I'll go 42-21.

Here's hoping the Cats stay healthy for the rest of the season (since we lost the new Hit Doctor Kobe Savage for the season due to injury, that should be enough for the injury bug to bite).

Yep, Sunflower Showdown Once Again

It's time once again for the Jayhawks Beatdown... err, I mean Sunflower Showdown. The 2016 edition is in Manhattan Kansas Saturday.

After KU did the stupid thing (for the rest of the Big XII) and beat Texas and got Charlie Strong fired (dangit), the Jayhawks are looking for their second consecutive win. Umm, yeah right.

After K-State beat Baylor in Waco last weekend 42-21, it looks like the team has "found an identity" - running the ball on offense, and doing it with redshirt freshman Alex Barnes. #34 looks to be the back that K-State fans have wanted for years. He has good vision and definately runs with power.

Head Coach Bill Snyder will be playing for his 200th victory. At home. On Senior Day.

If there was a game I wish he would run up the score, it would be this one. But, I'm afraid he won't do that to another coach.

What I do see is K-State playing the best game of the year and winning 48-13.

If I am wishing for other things, it is that K-State beats TCU next weekend, and going into a decent bowl game, it is announced that Snyder is retiring after the 2017 season and Brent Venables is coming in to be the HCIW and defensive coordinator.

What... it could happen.

Farmageddon 2016

If this game was in Manhattan, I'd say KState wins this game by A LOT. But because this game is in Ames, I have that weird feeling about it - just like other games KState has gone up there an squeaked out.

ISU has ONE win on the year, and their new coach has yet to get his first Big XII win.

He won't get it this Saturday...

KState's defense is just too good and will pressure both ISU QBs all day. KState's offense IF RAN LIKE LAST SATURDAY AGAINST UT will be just fine. Don't throw the ball over 20 yards more than a couple of times. Run the ball successfully and have Ertz run out of the pocket when it breaks down and the receivers have taken their defenders way down field.

I see (yep) another close one with KState winning it by 7-10 points.

I'll go with:
KSTATE - 27
ISTATE - 21

Been a while, and things sure have changed

After K-State lost to WVU last weekend 17-16 people are calling for Coach Snyder to step down as the head coach. I for one, for the first time ever, agree with others.

While I don't think a hire as bad as Ron Prince will happen, there is still that chance the person following Snyder will be a dud. PLEASE LET IT BE BRENT VENABLES when it finally is time to choose the new head coach!!!

This weekend the Cats play Texas Tech at home. I'll be there and be yelling at the top of my lungs when the Cats are on defense (duh). I have that thing that at the beginning of a game week, I believe one thing is going to happen, but as the week goes on, the way I see the game switches.

I do have a good feeling about this game. First, TT QB is injured (Mahommes), so the backup is starting his first game... IN MANHATTAN! His mop up duty last week was against (lowly) KU, so it's not hard to see that someone could come in an excel with that team on the other side of the ball.

KState's offense just needs to get going. I was wrong about Ertz being an above average QB (he's pretty average). The playcalling needs some help (as well as getting the calls in on time; stop audiblizing so much).

If I had to guess a score, I'd go with:

K-State 35
Texas Tech 17

Middle of 2014 Season...

Yeah, been a LONG time since I wrote on this blog.


KState is currently on top of the Big XII standings and ready to play Oklahoma State tomorrow in Manhattan.


In the long run of this season, I don't believe they can win the Big XII Championship. Way too tough of a schedule to finish out the season.


With having to go play West Virginia (yeah, a Thursday night), Baylor and TCU all on the road, there is about a 2% chance they can get through all that with wins.


The West Virginia game is tough in itself and coach Holgerson has the team playing pretty well right now, but combine that with a Thursday night on ESPN? Tough going. Not that K-State can't do it, but the odds are stacked against them.


TCU in Ft. Worth is the hardest game remaining (and who would have thought that at the beginning of the year?). I honestly haven't watch too much of TCU, but they did score 80+ points against Texas Tech last week. Boykin at QB has been a surprise.


Baylor in Waco. Man, would I love some payback from our 2012 loss.


But to finish the season with 3 losses (yeah, we will beat OSU and KU) is a nice season. And if we can pull off a win in those last three away games, that's icing on the cake.


Afterall, K-State did beat OU in Norman AGAIN.

GREAT game! Now on to the Fiesta Bowl to face the (much hated) Oregon Ducks. Probably best game out of all of the bowl games!

Texas

Well, since the horrid loss to Baylor two weeks ago, it's come down to this. Win Saturday against UT in Manhattan and K-State is the Big XII Champs (shared with OU if they happen to beat TCU Saturday -- GO TCU!).

I have no doubt that this Cat team is going to be ready and play one of their better games of the year. How can they not be with all that is right there for them? With a senior-lead team and two weeks to prepare and heal, this is going to be a slaughter.

Another little item that's at steak is the Heisman Trophy. Collin Klein has dropped in the polls since his performance in the Baylor game (I don't believe it's justifiable, but whatever). His season-long performance as a whole has earned him the top spot. Finish with a great game against the Longhorns and he'll be right back in the discussion for the #1 spot and the trophy.

I, for one, think he DOES have a remarkable game. Coach Snyder knows what's at steak as well for his favorite player of all time. Any chance Klein can score a TD, he will (meaning TD runs from inside the 10 for #7). I say with the weather cooperating as well for a December 1st game, Klein goes out and throws for over 300 yards, rushes for 75 yards and accounts for 6 TD's.

HEISMAN... KLEIN!

The defense will be facing yet another backup QB in Baby McCoy. UT fans say he can't throw more than 10 yards downfield, so look for KSU to stack the box and hold the Longhorn running game to under 200 yards.

Texas: 17
Kansas State: 55

*Yes, once again I will be in the stands for this one. I can not wait! Should be a good time.

Well shit. Was I wrong about that one.

Well, I missed predicting the score for the TCU game, but I did feel K-State was going to win the game. Great effort by the defense, I have to say. Hope they repeat that performance against Baylor in waco Saturday night.

Unfortunately, K-State suffered a couple of injuries during the TCU game. Safety Ty Zimmerman is said to have injured his ankle and is out for the season. If so, it'll end a great season and his streak of playing in games since he was a redshirt freshman. He's been pretty solid all season and this injury hurts a bit. But not as much as Baby Lockett's injury.

He was SPECTACULAR in the return game all season and becoming Klein's favorite deep ball target. Here's to hoping he's only out one game (or heck, not out at all).

Now onto Baylor...

They have THE worst defense in the nation. Everyone and their mother has been scoring points on them and moving the ball all over the field. I have NO WORRIES that K-State will get their points; Hubert and Pease will have a huge game -- hoping for both over 100 yards. Limit Klein's running, but DO have him run a few times to keep the defense honest.

The big test is K-State's defense against Baylor's offense. I believe I heard they are the #2 defense in the nation. But then again, OSU's offense was #1 when K-State played them and the Catds did fairly well. K-State has to limit the big pass plays (something I would feel more comfortable with if Zimm was in there).

I don't see a let down from this senior-led team (Klein and A. Brown will have no part of that).

It might be an interesting game if Baylor stays in there for the first half, but I see the Cats getting out to a 24-10 halftime lead, then winning the game 45-21.

GO CATS!!!!!!!!!!

Oklahoma State

I was pretty damn close on the Texas Tech prediction. K-State got more points that I said they would, so that's cool.
Now onto the OSU Cowboys, which I overlooked last week. They only have 2 losses on the year (at Arizona and at Texas). And they should have won the Texas game (bad call).

This team is coming into Manhattan with some good wins and some great offensive #'s. Their true freshman QB is playing for the first time on the road (in the Big XII).

Hard to doubt that K-State is going to take care of business once again. What creeps in my mind is that OSU was KSU last year with their undefeated record going into Ames and walking out with a loss. Here's to hoping this doesn't happen to KSU this year.

The Big XII's leading rusher is coming to town (Joseph Randle), so stopping the run is a huge must for the Cat defense.

This game WILL be closer than the Texas Tech game.

OSU: 27
KSU: 38

*BTW, I am going to the game and have never been so excited to see the Cats play. The last game I saw in person was the home opener of 2011. And that was non-conference shiat game.

This is a HUGE game. So I WILL be yelling the entire time OSU is on offense and WILL not have a voice on sunday. Guaranteed.

Texas Tech (in Manhattan)

Well, I was DEAD wrong about the West Virginia game (and damn glad I was). I don't know if I can doubt this team since it's lead by Collin Klein.

This Saturday is the biggest test remaining for the Wildcats for the 2012 season (save bowl game). Texas Tech comes in with one loss and ranked in the top 15. Their only loss was to Oklahoma in Lubbock 41-20. In that game, Texas Tech QB Seth Doege threw 3 interceptions and gave OU around 380 total yards, plus TT got a late TD to make the score seem more respectable.

Tech just played TCU to a 3 overtime game where they won 56-53. TCU (with their 2nd string QB) got a total of 516 yards! AND TCU turned the ball over 3 times!

K-State at home in the friendly confines of BSFS will get the "W" on Saturday. If Texas Tech pressures K-State to throw the ball on offense by putting "8 in the box", Klein will do just fine. Confidence is at the all time high for the Heisman leader. Against WVU he was 19-21. I realize that TT's defense is a whole lot stronger than WVU, but I don't believe they can totally shut down K-State's offense.

K-State's defense last week showed that they can defend a "throw-first" offense. I've heard that TT's offense isn't like the old "Air Raid" offense from Mike Leach. With Arthur Brown in the middle, I trust the D against the run (not to mention the pleasant surprise of the D-Line).

Prediction:

Texas Tech: 24
Kansas State: 45

West Virginia

H U G E game on saturday as the Cats travel to Morgantown, WV for the game of the year. west Virginia lost last week to Texas Tech in their "trap game" while the Cats got the V in Ames in their's. Had the Mountaineers won last week... DANG... this would be even bigger.

As it stands, if K-State happens to win this one, it definately places them in the drivers seat to win the Big XII AND get a shot at the National Title.

Yep... I just jinxed it.

I've been going back and forth on this game as to how it will end. A co-worker of mine who is a WV grad told me he truly believes K-State will go in and win. I guess I have had my heart stomped on way too many times to have that sort of confidence going into the game.

WV weakness is their pass defense. K-State's weakness is their passing offense. Dangit! Plus K-State's pass defense isn't all that great and WV has some pretty good passing stats with Geno Smith back behind center.

If this one was bring played in Manhattan, I'd probably be guessing a K-State win, but as it turns out, instead it's a 7p kickoff on national TV (Fox) in Morgantown.

I see a close one with WV winning.

KSU: 34
WVU: 37

ISU vs KSU (Friday B4)

Like every week, I change my mind from what I think the Cats will do. Monday I thought I-State would beat the Cats. I now believe (predict) K-State to win.

The game still frightens me, but I guess all of them do to some degree.

I think the first half will be close but Cats pull away late.

KSU: 34
ISU: 24

KU & ISU

Well, I was really damn close at guessing the score of the KU game, right? Never thought KU would get a safety against K-State (that's usually reserved for K-State to do to KU).

Don't know what the problem was with the KSU defense against KU, but was damn glad they came out in the 2nd half and corrected mistakes. The first two drives for KU were worrysome and looked like Charlie Weiss had a good gameplan. But in the end it was the same-old-same-old.

I realize it was KU defense, but damn did the KSU offense look good. Untouched TD runs by Hubert and Klein. Nice TD pass to Baby Lockett. I sure would like to see Daniel Sams throw the ball in mop-up duty, but it sure is damn fun to watch him run!

Now it's onto ISU up in Ames. If the kids didn't have a butt-locker-load of soccer games this weekend, I sure as hell would be in the stands (just as I have been for the past few KSU/ISU games in Ames). Heck, might be a good thing I am NOT going since I have seen the last two there with KSU losses (2005 and 2007). 2005 game was just PAINFUL to watch (45-17 loss) and 2007 was pretty much a drunken mess (31-20 loss).

As with most K-State games, I start the week thinking one thing is going to happen, then completely switch as I think more and more about the game.

My Monday afternoon self thinks Iowa State has a good chance at an upset of the #6 Wildcats. They just beat TCU in Fort Worth (albeit TCU was w/o their starting drunk QB). But ISU's defense is pretty damn good.

As of now (and I can and probably will change) I say:

KSU: 24
ISU: 27