Football
Kansas State beat Oklahoma State 14-6 in Stillwater. Despite being on the correct side of the scoreline, this was an embarrassing display of college football prowess. I don’t envy at all the fact that Jon Morse had to write about this debacle.
I’m going to let the defense off this time. The unit did not cover itself in glory, but did just enough to keep the Pokes’ hapless and error-prone offense out of the end zone. A merely adequate performance is probably fine against the 2025 version of Oklahoma State.
Though head coach Chris Klieman could not avoid the usual platitudes about how happy and proud he is of this win because “it’s dang hard to win [in Stillwater],” he had the grace to be embarrassed, as did Avery Johnson who noted “it was the worst game” he had ever played.
Just how embarrassing was the offense in this game? Well, stats don’t lie. Against the Big 12’s worst defense, indeed one of the worst scoring defenses in all of FBS, the Wildcats managed a measly 14 points. Oklahoma State typically gives up 163 yards rushing per game, but Kansas State only managed 107 yards on the ground. The situation was even worse through the air, when the Wildcats’ 177 yards didn’t even come class to the 264 passing yards the Pokes give up on average. The Cats barely avoided being the punchline to 2025’s worst college football joke.
The sad thing here is that we were mostly not surprised or stunned by the offensive woes. This was the latest and saddest variation on a theme this season. This is not the first time anyone has said this, nor will it be the last. But something has to change. This many years into his tenure, it’s safe to say that Klieman sees his role mostly as team spokesman and general manager. That’s fine and certainly an acceptable way to run a program. But a GM has to do more than recruit and bring in motivational speakers. Klieman needs to assemble a better staff than he has put together in his time in Manhattan, especially on the offensive side.
Here’s my modest proposal. It’s possible to succeed at K-State without Bill Snyder, but I remain unconvinced that he needs to be scrubbed entirely from a program that plays in the house he (at least metaphorically) built. Klieman needs to bring back some of Snyder’s assistants. Hire Sean Snyder and let him run special teams. Bring Eric Wolford home to build up the offensive line. Convince Andre Coleman his future is in college football and specifically in Manhattan. And yes, figure out some way to keep Collin Klein interested in the head coaching job at his alma mater.
Onwards.
Basketball
At least hoops is fun, right? The men’s basketball team’s new season is starting out on a positive note. The Wildcats are now 3-0 after a 96-99 win over Cal. This was the highest scoring game in Bramlage Coliseum ever, and it was almost a loss for the home team. Ahead by as much as 25 points, the Wildcats saw that lead evaporate as the Bears made shot after shot to close the gap and nearly pull off the victory.
K-State has scored at least 90 points in every game so far this season, the first time in almost 35 years the program has managed that feat. This is clearly a team built for scoring and not for defense, and that may be a problem down the road, but for now, everything in Wildcat basketball is fun again. The team will test out this proposition against Tulsa at Bramlage on Monday night.
The women’s basketball team is also off to a good start, but a heartbreaking loss 72-71 loss to South Dakota has the team at 3-1 and searching for some answers. In the loss, which came on a three-pointer from South Dakota as time expired, the Wildcats matched the program’s record set in 1979 for free throws made (32). The team is still young though, and as Jeff Mittie noted afterwards, not always playing as hard as they can.
That might have been a bit of a problem against the Texas A&M Aggies, who beat the Cats 77-72 at Bramlage on Sunday. Outplayed in the first half, the Wildcats stormed back in the second half, with a furious 31-point third quarter rally that closed the gap in the game to just three points in the fourth frame. A 7-0 K-State run would tie the game at 68 with just four minutes to go, but the Aggies were able to pull away for the win. The Wildcats will end their current homestand with a game against Troy on Tuesday night in Bramlage.
Volleyball
The second installment of this season’s Sunflower Showdown did not end in Kansas State’s favor. The VolleyCats lost in straight sets to #13 Kansas at home, splitting the series. Ava LeGrand and Aniya Clinton both had double-doubles in this match, with LeGrand notching 34 assists and 12 digs for her 13th double-double of the season. Clinton had 11 kills and an equal number of digs for her seventh double-double this season. But the Jayhawks outblocked and outhit the Wildcats in this match, and that was the difference in each set.
Up next, the team travels to Houston for more Big 12 play, with first serve set for 7 PM on November 19.
