It was great to see the Kansas State running game revived against Kansas. Obviously, they are not a great defense, but Texas Tech and TCU entered the contest versus the Wildcat with poor rushing defenses as well and K-State wasn't able to take advantage.

Thus, it's a good sign that they were able to do so on Saturday in Lawrence. Because it was so successful, it almost felt like they didn't run the ball enough against the Jayhawks.

I know Skylar Thompson didn't throw his first incomplete until the third quarter and everything was working, but the running game perhaps had a better chance of salting it away.

Deuce Vaughn had over 200 all-purpose yards and flirted with a 200-yard rushing day. In fact, he nearly recorded 15 yards per carry. Joe Ervin had 60 yards of his own on the ground, and he secured his first catch of the season.

Kansas State has truly struggled as a defensive unit on third down. Just in the three first Big 12 games alone, they allowed 39 of 49 third down tries to be converted against them. That was a large part of the losses against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Iowa State.

They prevented the Jayhawks from converting on any of their third down tries before they finally turned one into a first down thanks to a roughing the passer call on Cody Fletcher. Kansas finished just 3 for 13.

Their third down offense likely took a hit with the loss of Jason Bean to injury.

Maybe it is overselling it a bit, but I think Kade Warner deserves his own sub-category. He made about three critical blocks on one play alone that gave Deuce Vaughn an 80-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Not only that, two key third down catches, just like last week against TCU, were made by the former Nebraska Cornhusker to keep drives alive. One resulted in a score, and one at least took some more time off the clock.

I also think he got a bad spot on the third down catch in the first half, and an argument can be made that he should have been awarded a conversion.

Though the Wildcats won by a final score of 35-10, it really could have been worse. Their defense was on point for much of the contest, despite some big plays here and there from the Jayhawks.

Besides the drive where they met little resistance from K-State after the missed field goal from Chris Tennant, it was tough sledding otherwise, as indicated by their conversion rate on third downs. Kansas State also had a fourth down stop that was key, and it was Joe Klanderman that said red zone touchdown percentage would be vital moving forward this season.

The Wildcats also squandered opportunities on the offensive end. Chris Klieman punted while up 14-3 around midfield when they had the run game working very well. I understand not wanting to help Kansas grab momentum, but that was a time where he could have been aggressive.

Additionally, Skylar Thompson probably missed two touchdowns on the possession that resulted in a missed field goal. He over-threw Deuce Vaughn on a throwback pass when he was all alone for a score, and another ball went through the hands of Samuel Wheeler.