PLAYERS TO WATCH
–RB Alex Barnes was a workhorse in the Texas defeat. The junior carried 19 times for 80 yards and one touchdown. His longest rush was a 12-yard carry. The bruising back does not possess much breakaway speed, but he gouged a Texas defense that was strong the previous two weeks in wins over two ranked opponents, USC and TCU. Dalvin Warmack was the only other Kansas State running back to attempt a rush (one) against the Longhorns.
–QB Alex Delton, the starter in the loss to Texas, engineered the Wildcats to 61 first-half yards and no points. He averaged less than one yard per carry, gaining 27 on 16 attempts. Through the air, Delton was 3-of-7 for 14 yards. He was also tackled for a safety as Kansas State dug a 19-0 hole it could not escape despite blanking Texas in the second half.
–QB Skylar Thompson engineered touchdown drives of 82 and 70 yards in the second half of the Texas defeat, completing 8-of-18 passes for 96 yards while adding a touchdown burst of 7 yards on a fourth-down call. Thompson and the Wildcats, however, went three-and-out deep in their territory on their last possession and the Longhorns ran out the clock.
–DE Reggie Walker showed some of the junior potential Kansas State figured to rely on by recording two sacks against Texas. The Wildcats had just three sacks through the first four games, with Walker often neutralized. Kansas State is breaking in a freshman defensive end, Wyatt Hubert, on the other side.
SERIES HISTORY: Kansas State leads Baylor 9-6. All but one of the matchups has come since the inception of the Big 12. The Wildcats have won two in a row including a 33-20 victory last season. Kansas State stuck to its ground game, rushing for 225 yards and two touchdowns on 43 rushes.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “It definitely hurts, I think, from a rhythm standpoint having two guys back there (playing quarterback) and always having to alternate like that. But we rep with both of them all offseason and all the time in practice. It’s not something we aren’t used to.” — Kansas State WR Dalton Schoen