Kansas State: Rely On The Old Reliable

J Pat Carter. Shutterstock Images.

I know Bill Synder isn't the coach anymore, but when a man covers for you year after year you pay him respect. I have said forever "Bill Snyder does two things beat the shit out of Kansas and wear out of style windbreakers." Look no further than Kansas State's dominance over Kansas in The Sunflower Showdown. 

2011 and 2012 were ALL TIME plays for me. Hammer plays the size of Queens. 

Snyder gave up the headset after the 2018 season, and handed it over to Chris Kleiman. When Snyder turned over his keys to the office, and ID card, I'm convinced he also handed over a recipe on how to smash Kansas . Kleimann has won 3 in a row vs Kansas all in convincing fashion. 

I joke about the Kansas game because I bet the Wildcats every year, but Kleimann's style is very similar to that of Snyder's. Their style of offense is similar, the QB looks the same for the most part, and they always provide a spark on special teams. Kansas St has become an "old reliable" for me. You know what you are getting with them. 

Aside from the Covid year in 2020, Kliemann has registered two 8 win seasons. This year's team is disrespected. 

Kansas St OVER 6.5 Wins -159

Let's start with the anchor of the team, Heisman dark-horse Deuce Vaughn. 1872 yards last year and 22 touchdowns. The kid is a big play machine. Loves to break off a long touchdown run or weave through 8 guys for a kick return that flips the field. He will be the major factor on offense. As he gets cooking, the Wildcats get cooking. Vaughn also led the team in receiving yards.

Transfer QB Adrian Martinez (from Nebraska) will fit the mold of dual threat Kansas St QB's in year past, in fact- the best of them all Collin Klein will now be guiding Martinez as the Offensive Coordinator. Martinez threw for 8491 yards and 45 TD passes at Nebraska , but what excites me more was his 2301 yards and 35 rushing touchdowns. This is an offense made for him to succeed. 

The Wildcats bring back their top 2 WR's (Phillip Brooks, and Malik Knowles) and will have an offensive line of all upperclassmen. 

On defense , they return just 5 starters but have 3 players projected on the all conference team  , one at each level (DL Felix Anudike-Uzomah, LB Daniel Green, and CB Julius Brents). This was a defense that ranked top 25 in points allowed , and top 30 in total yards allowed per game. So I trust Joe Klanderman's system to return to form even with just 5 starters back. 

The schedule is very manageable. In order to hit this, The Wildcats MUST WIN : 

South Dakota, Missouri, Tulane, Texas Tech, and Kansas . 

That gets us to 5. 

Their only expected losses are at Oklahoma (even though Kleimann beat Oklahoma in 19' and 20.' and lost by just 1 score last year), Baylor and Texas. 

That leaves us at 5-3 with 4 to play. They would need 2 wins against : 

@ Iowa St, @TCU, OK St, and @ West Virginia. 

Most projections have K State finishing ahead of all those teams except OK St, and they get that game at home. 

To me the Big 12 has a ton of question marks. Oklahoma replaces its coach and QB, Texas starts a freshman (understood he's really good) at QB and has been claimed to be "back" every year yet never does it. Then the rest of the conference is a log jam and K State is comparable to pretty much everyone there. I actually think with Martinez being reliable, Kleiman being a rising star, Vaughn going bizzerk and a solid defense - K State can be in the mix to steal this conference. 

I would throw a small sprinkle on K State +1800 to win The Big 12 via The Barstool Sportsbook, but regardless I love their win total. 

Death , Taxes, K State .