K-State lost to Texas Tech on Saturday by the score of 43-20 in a game that was much more competitive than the final score indicated. K-State was down nine points with 12:44 remaining in the game after a nine-yard touchdown pass from Avery Johnson to tight end Garrett Oakley. Head coach Chris Klieman inexplicably decided to go for a two-point conversion after the touchdown instead of cutting the lead to eight, which would have made it a one-score game. The way the rest of the game played out was a direct result of this decision. It may not have mattered in the outcome, since the Wildcats turned the ball over five times (three lost fumbles and two interceptions) versus two turnovers for Texas Tech. K-State also couldn’t stop the Texas Tech running game. You won’t win many football games turning the ball over five times and allowing the opposition to run the ball at will.

I listen to the K-State radio post-game on the drive home from the games. It consists of play-by-play man Wyatt Thompson and analyst Stan Weber interviewing head coach Chris Klieman and K-State players about what happened in the game. Believe me, I am well aware that this is a “homer” broadcast, but last night’s was just too much. I had to turn it off. The verbal fellatio they were giving to Texas Tech made it impossible to listen to. Look, I get it. Texas Tech is a strong team that will likely win the Big 12 and advance to the College Football Playoff. But what Texas Tech did to K-State in the 4th quarter is what K-State used to do to their opponents. Witnessing that role reversal in person was very disappointing.

“A good football team that came in here today, and we knew they were going to be a good team. That’s an exceptional defense. They play the game the right way. They’re really physical. They play to their strength.”…K-State head coach Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: How many times has an opposing coach said this about a K-State team in a post-game press conference since, say, 1991? Now we are resigned to the K-State head coach saying this about the opposition coming into K-State’s stadium and laying a beat down on the Wildcats. Disheartening to say the least.

“They got the quarterback back [Behren Morton]. I thought we were going to have some tough matchups, but I thought if we played the game that we could play, we’d have an opportunity in the fourth quarter to have a chance to win.”…Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: The Wildcats did have an opportunity to win, but the margin of error is so small against a team like Texas Tech that you cannot afford to make mistakes. Especially five big ones.

“Some things happen that you can’t have happen against a really good team like that. One is turning the football over, especially in short fields, and we did that a couple of times, and then can’t miss tackles against really good backs.”…Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: As I was saying!

“And then I think we had the turnover right away in the start of the second half, and then get it 19-7.”…Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: This turnover by the Wildcats on their own 38-yard line was a killer.

“So, tough loss, the guys fought their tails off, but unsuccessful.”…Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: How many times has Klieman said this after losses this season? I want this guy to get mad about something. Anything! He doesn’t even seem as upset as the fans after a loss. He should be 10 times as angry.

“We had cut ups of emphasizing they violently punch the ball and to their credit, they did a good job of it. We do a lot of things with punching at the ball and stuff, but the skill team guys don’t quite do it as good as [Jacob] Rodriguez does.”…Chris Klieman, post-game

JM: Translation: “We are not nearly as good at forcing turnovers as they are. Ho-hum.” Did the K-State players look like they were prepared for the Texas Tech defense to “violently punch the ball” out? Three lost fumbles say that they weren’t.

“I think the hardest thing is they just had those rush ends running straight up the field and then they would rat out their linebackers. So usually when you have guys rush straight up the field like that, and you step into the pocket, you got guys coming in all windows, or maybe you can scramble or whatever, but they did a good job spying and ratting out the linebackers. I mean, their defensive line and linebackers are really talented, so they put us in some tough positions tonight.”…K-State quarterback Avery Johnson, post-game

JM: Texas Tech has some NFL talent on its defense. If Avery hadn’t been able to scramble and avoid the Tech defenders, the final score would have been much worse.

“I think that’s just a good job of putting our practice to use and executing on the field. [Quarterbacks/Offensive Coordinator] Coach [Matt] Wells was calling some good stuff there too.”…Avery Johnson, post-game

JM: He may have been calling “some” good stuff, but Wells failed once again overall.

“I think we should have been better in the second half.”…Avery Johnson

JM: The truest thing spoken last night.

“We had our moments that we did well and moments that we could have done better. I feel like throughout the game, it was mostly just wounds that we gave ourselves stuff that we did to ourselves. Could have tackled better. There’s a lot of stuff that we could have done, but at the end of day, it is what it is.”…K-State defensive tackle Uso Seumalo

JM: I hate it when people say “it is what it is.” It means they don’t have an answer.

“Knowing that we can hang with them, knowing that we can play with them, and we defiinitely could have beat them, knowing that we are a good team as well, and just having the outcome that we had today it just doesn’t feel good.”…Uso Seumalo

JM: Chris Klieman and his players keep telling us that they are a “good team.” They are currently 4-5 on the season. Define “good.” Please.

“I mean, their offense is a really good offense, and we just got to be able to stop the run, and we didn’t do so great at that. They had a lot of explosive yards on us in the run game and we just got to limit those.”…K-State linebacker Austin Romaine, post-game

JM: “Didn’t do so great?” Now there’s an effort at a positive spin on what happened. Texas Tech had 187 rushing yards. Running back J’Koby Williams had 17 carries for 135 yards and a touchdown and averaged 7.9 yards per carry. Yikes.

“Yeah, I think us as a whole defense is struggling with some of our angles and some of our tackles, me included, and that’s something that we have to work on throughout the weeks. And we just have to be confident and trust ourselves to go out there and make those plays.”…Austin Romaine

JM: Romaine didn’t say this after the second game of the season. He said it after the ninth game. There are only three games left. When will this get fixed? The 12th game? Too late!

“I think kind of the difference is being a little, at least the offensive line standpoint, is being able to protect the football, one, and as an offensive lineman, protecting Avery. And just having the ability to run the football and I feel like we kind of lacked at those two things today. Honestly we had a few sacks, gotta give credit where credit’s due, for a good front seven, good football players, but at the end of the day it’s our job to protect the chief and I think we’ll learn from this moving forward.”…K-State offensive lineman Andrew Leingang

JM: “We’ll learn from this moving forward?” Another attempt at a positive spin, but this is the ninth game of the season. The season is almost over.

“Well first, I know y’all know this is no disrespect to K-State, it’s a tip of the hat to my Athletic Director [Kirby Hocutt], who played linebacker here, and it’s been a long time since we’ve beaten Kansas State. I don’t know if we’ve done it, since you’ve been the Athletic Director. I know it was a big win for him, and I know it’s a huge win for this team. I think Coach [Chris] Klieman is in the top five to 10 coaches in the country, and that was a huge win. I remember our first year when they beat us here. I told him after the game– you know, I’m trying to create a culture that you have here at K-State, of a tough football team that plays at a high level. Four years later, we did a great job today of being a tough football team that played at a really high level.”…Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, post-game

JM: What a role reversal. K-State has been anything but a tough football team playing at a high level this season. Also, Chris Klieman is a good football coach, but he is NOT one of the top five to ten coaches in the country. Not even close.

“Man, you know, he’s (Jacob Rodriguez) incredible. There was a challenge coming into the game, K-State, I think in the last two games, they created seven or eight turnovers, and they’re one or two in the country [creating turnovers]. They were plus nine coming in on turnover margin. We really challenged our guys. From the standpoint we hang our hat on, we do that every day in practice, every single play. I mean if you don’t, then guys are calling you out. Jacob Rodriguez took that to heart. He wanted to come out and really prove what kind of linebacker he is. He knew he was across the field from another great linebacker, their number 45 [Austin Romaine] is really special and he just keeps doing what he does. He’s got a knack at a different level than I’ve ever been around as far as timing and punching the ball out.”…Joey McGuire, post-game

JM: I was at the game, but my commentary comes “from the couch.” It appears Texas Tech was motivated to make a point in this game. The vibe I got from K-State coaches and players was “aw shucks, Texas Tech is just really good.” Two completely different mindsets.

“It’s something we practice every day, and it’s something that we pride ourselves in taking the ball away. And so when we have the opportunity to do it, why not? Defense isn’t just to stop the offenses, it’s to go take the ball away, and however many takeaways we get we get an offensive possession. Winning the turnover battle is a huge thing for us.”…Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, post-game

JM: I remember when K-State players and coaches used to say things like this.

“We made some adjustments on third down, when it got loud, to be able to go to our silent count, and to not make that a factor of the game, I thought that really helped us out.”…Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton, post-game

JM: K-State fans showed up and were loud. I believe the attendance was over 52,000 people. My ears were ringing during a goal-line stand in the 2nd quarter because the fans were so loud. I was proud that the K-State crowd showed up and involved themselves in cheering for a 4-5 football team.

K-State has a bye week next weekend and then travels to Oklahoma State for a game against the Cowboys. Then they travel to Utah before finishing up the 2025 season at home against Colorado. Oklahoma State and Colorado are terrible, and K-State will look like world beaters against them. The Utah game may not be pretty. This is looking more and more like a 6-6 football team, which is pretty dissatisfying considering preseason expectations.

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