Thank you to K-State Athletics Communications for providing the following notes for this Saturday's game between Kansas State and TCU.
Game 6 TCU at Kansas State
Date: Saturday, October 19, 2019
Kickoff: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Manhattan, Kan.
Stadium: Bill Snyder Family Stadium (50,000)
Series: TCU leads, 7-5
TV: FSN
Justin Kutcher (Play-by-Play)
Petros Papadakis (Analyst)
Shane Vereen (Analyst)
Radio: K-State Sports Network; k-statesports.com
Wyatt Thompson (Play-by-Play)
Stan Weber (Analyst)
Matt Walters (Sidelines)
Sirius Satellite Radio Ch. 211, XM Channel 202, Internet Channel 965
Twitter Updates: @KStateFB
CATS SQUARE OFF AGAINST HORNED FROGS IN MANHATTAN
Coming off a bye week and looking to right the ship, Kansas State hosts TCU in a 1:30 p.m., contest on Saturday inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The game will air on FSN with Justin Kutcher (play-by-play), Petros Papadakis (analyst) and Shane Vereen (analyst) on the call. The contest can be heard across the 39-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst) and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game can also be heard on SiriusXM (S: 211, X: 202, Internet: 965) in addition to the TuneIn app.
A LOOK AT K-STATE
• K-State just concluded its second bye week through the first seven weeks of the college football season. The Wildcats will finish the 2019 season with seven-straight games as they join TCU and Northwestern as the only three Power 5 teams to play each of the final seven weeks.
• K-State opened the Chris Klieman era with three impressive victories – highlighted by a 31-24 win at No. 23 Mississippi State – before dropping its first two Big 12 games.
• The victory at MSU marked the first time in program history that K-State won a road game against an SEC team that was in the league at the time of the game. K-State had previously been 0-11 in such games.
• K-State has rushed for 1,089 yards (217.8 yds/gm) through its first five games. It marks just the eighth time since 2000 – but just the second since 2013 – that the Wildcats hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark in the first five games of the season.
• Over the last 20 years, only three K-State teams – 2000 (1,180), 2003 (1,094) and 2012 (1,314) – had more rushing yards over the first five games than the 2019 squad.
• The Wildcats also have 13 rushing touchdowns after tallying only 20 rushing scores a year ago. Of the 13 scores, 11 have come from running backs after the group accounted for only 13 last season.
• Quarterback Skylar Thompson has thrown for 822 yards and five touchdowns with one interception, while three receivers – Dalton Schoen, Phillip Brooks and Malik Knowles – each have at least 10 catches and 100 yards on the year.
• The K-State defense enters the week ranked second nationally on third downs (20.8%), fourth in first downs allowed (76) and 22nd in scoring (19.0 pts/gm).
• The Wildcats have surrendered only 2.20 third-down conversions this year to rank second in the nation behind Wisconsin (2.17).
• Linebacker Da’Quan Patton (24 tackles) is one of four Wildcats with at least 20 tackles.
• Seventeen different Wildcats have at least a half tackle for loss, led by Wyatt Hubert’s 4.0, while Hubert also leads the team with 2.0 sacks.
• Cornerback AJ Parker has a team-high two interceptions.
A LOOK AT TCU
• TCU enters this week’s game at 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Big 12 play after a 49-24 defeat at Iowa State on October 5.
• Against the Cyclones, TCU found itself in a 28-3 hole with nine minutes left in the third quarter before getting it to within two possessions at 35-24 early in the third quarter. However, Iowa State scored two touchdowns in the final seven minutes to put the game away.
• TCU, like many teams in the Big 12, had an impressive non-conference victory as it went to West Lafayette, Indiana, and routed Purdue, 34-13.
• The Horned Frogs enter this week ranked 13th nationally in rushing at 241.8 yards per game, led by Darius Anderson, who has 532 yards and six touchdowns this season.
• Sewo Olonilua is second on the team with 215 yards, while former K-State quarterback Alex Delton has rushed for 100 yards.
• Delton has split time at quarterback with freshman Max Duggan, who is 64-of-113 for 742 yards and nine touchdowns with no interceptions. Delton is 25-of-48 for 312 yards and a pick.
• Jalen Reagor has a team-high 15 catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns. Pro Wells also has three receiving touchdowns, while Te’Vailance Hunt has a team-best 210 receiving yards.
• Garret Wallow enters the week ranked second in the Big 12 and sixth nationally with 11.0 tackles per game, which includes 10.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Ross Blacklock also has 2.5 sacks, while a pair of TCU defenders have two interceptions.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
• TCU leads the all-time series, 7-5, as the Horned Frogs have won each of the last two meetings and four of the last five overall.
• The Horned Frogs lead the series, 4-3, since TCU joined the Big 12 prior to the 2012 season.
• K-State is looking to avoid tying its longest losing streak to TCU (1984-86), while the Wildcats are in search of breaking a two-game home skid to TCU.
• The Wildcats’ last win in the series was in 2016 in Fort Worth as K-State ended the regular season with a dominating 30-6 victory, a game that featured a 336-yard rushing output by the Wildcats.
• K-State’s last victory over TCU in Manhattan was November 16, 2013, when the Wildcats saw leads of 17-7 at halftime and 30-28 in the fourth quarter erased before Jack Cantele connected on a 41-yard field goal with three second left for a 33-31 victory.
SCHEDULING ODDITY
• Kansas State and TCU both enter this week’s game coming off a bye week. It is the first time following a bye that the Wildcats will play another team coming off a bye since 2012 when they defeated Kansas, 56-16.
• Both teams were off last week due to the fact that this week’s game was originally scheduled to be played on Thursday, October 17. However, the teams mutually agreed last January to move the game to Saturday.
FAMILIAR FACE
• The Wildcats will see a familiar face across the field on Saturday as quarterback Alex Delton suits up for TCU.
• A product of Hays, Kansas, Delton spent the 2016-18 seasons at K-State, playing in 20 games with six starts. He threw for 1,202 yards and five scores over his three seasons to go along with 868 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns.
• Ironically, Delton’s first career start for the Wildcats came two years ago when they hosted the Horned Frogs.
ONE OF THE BIG 12’S BEST
• Kansas State ranks third all-time in Big 12 wins since the league’s inception in 1996 with 113, trailing only Oklahoma and Texas.
• The Wildcats also rank third in the conference in winning percentage since round-robin play began in 2011. They sit at .595 (44-30), trailing only Oklahoma (.824; 61-13) and Oklahoma State (.657; 48-26).
A NEW ERA
• The new era of K-State Football under Chris Klieman has opened with a 3-2 record through five games.
• Klieman, who was named the 35th head coach in school history on December 10, 2018, is just the fourth head coach in K-State history to start 3-0.
• He can also become just the fourth head coach to begin a tenure with at least four wins in the first six games.
• Additionally, Klieman-led teams had won 24-straight games prior to the loss at Oklahoma State.
A WINNING HISTORY
• A proven winner with a championship history, Chris Klieman came to Manhattan after capping his five-year stint as head coach at North Dakota State by winning his fourth national championship in 2018.
• Klieman guided the 2018 Bison to a perfect 15-0 record, making NDSU just the fifth team in FCS history to go undefeated and untied on the way to a national championship.
• A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Klieman has a career record of 75-15 (.833), as he went 69-6 in his five seasons at North Dakota State, 3-7 in one year as the head coach at Division III Loras College in 2005 and 3-2 so far at K-State.
• Klieman’s overall winning percentage ranks seventh among all active NCAA coaches – regardless of division – and tops among active FBS coaches.
YOUNG PUPS
• K-State’s roster features 59 total freshmen (true and redshirt), which equates to 47.2 percent of its total squad.
• The 59 freshmen are the eighth most in the nation.
• The Wildcats played 20 total freshmen (combined true and redshirt) in their season opener, which ranked seventh in the nation.
• In week two against Bowling Green, the Wildcats played 32 freshmen.
FEW FLAGS
• One staple of Kansas State football throughout the years has been limited penalties, and the 2019 Wildcats have continued that trend.
• K-State enters the week ranked second in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally in fewest penalties per game (5.20), while it is second in the league and 16th in the country in fewest penalty yards per game (42.8).
CONTROLLING THE TEMPO
• K-State has showcased a balanced offense in the opening four games, highlighted by a 217.8-yard average on the ground to rank fourth in the Big 12 and 27th in the country.
• The Wildcats had 573 yards of total offense against Nicholls, which tied for the seventh most in school history and were the most ever in a season opener.
• With 521 yards against Bowling Green, K-State eclipsed the 500-yard total offense mark in the first two games of a season for the first time ever.
RACKING UP RUSHING YARDS
• The Wildcats showed at the outset of the season its ability to run the football, a mark that now stands at 217.8 per game.
• Kansas State has 1,089 total rushing yards this season, marking the eighth time since 2000 but just the second since 2013 the Wildcats have hit the 1,000-yard mark in the first five games of the season.
• K-State carded over 300 yards rushing in each of the first two games, marking the first time since at least 1965 that the Wildcats went over the 300-yard mark twice to open a season.
RUNNING TO PAYDIRT
• Six different Wildcats have tallied rushing touchdowns this year for a team total of 13. Last year, K-State had 20 total rushing touchdowns in 12 games.
• K-State running backs have accounted for 11 rushing touchdowns this season after the position group only had 13 in 2018.
• Transfer running backs James Gilbert (4) and Jordon Brown (3) lead the team in rushing touchdowns, while Harry Trotter and Skylar Thompson each have two.
DEFENSE RANKING HIGHLY
• K-State ranks second in the Big 12 and 22nd nationally in scoring defense (19.0 pts/gm), while the Wildcats are first in the league and fifth nationally in passing yards allowed (155.4 yd/gm).
• Kansas State finished in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense only twice since 2003. In terms of pass defense, K-State has not finished better than 40th in the country since 2003 when it ranked seventh.
GETTING OFF THE FIELD
• The K-State defense has excelled in terms of getting off the field on third down during the first five games of the year as the Wildcats rank second in the nation in third down defense (20.8%) behind Wisconsin (15.7%).
• The Wildcats are allowing only 2.2 third down conversions per game to rank second nationally to the Badgers (2.2).
• Kansas State have averaged 4.0 defensive drives per game in which the Wildcats did not allow a first down (3-and-out, turnover, etc.) to tie for fifth in the nation.
LIMITED SNAPS
Thanks to its efficiency on third downs, the K-State defense is one of the nation’s leaders in fewest defensive snaps played.
• K-State has defended against just 280 plays in its five games as its 56.0 defensive snaps per game rank first in the nation, just ahead of a tie for second between Utah and Wisconsin (56.7).
SCORING IN THE THIRD PHASE
• Kansas State has been far and away the best team among FBS programs over the last 15 years when it comes to scoring via a kickoff or punt return.
• The Wildcats have a combined 49 kickoff- and punt-return touchdowns since 2005, 19 more than any other FBS school during that stretch.
• After only having one in 2018 – a punt-return score in the season opener – Malik Knowles got things going in 2019 with a 100-yard kickoff return at Mississippi State.
DEFENSE IN THE THIRD PHASE
• On the flip side, K-State has been just as consistent in terms of kickoff coverage as the Cats have not allowed a kickoff-return touchdown in the last 80 games, the last being against Louisiana on September 7, 2013. During that stretch, K-State has defended against 303 returns.
• K-State has ranked in the top 30 nationally in kickoff return defense each of the last five seasons, including a No. 2 national ranking in 2017.
• The Wildcats enter this week ranked 17th in that department by limiting opponents to just 16.92 yards per return.
