Thank you to K-State Athletics Communications for providing the following game notes for this Saturday's contest between the Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks.
Game 8 22/25 Kansas State at Kansas
Date: Saturday, November 2, 2019
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Lawrence, Kan.
Stadium: Memorial Stadium (50,071)
Series: Kansas leads, 64-47-5
TV: FS1
Cory Provus (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. 78, XM Channel 200, Internet Channel 954
Twitter Updates: @KStateFB
CATS TRAVEL TO LAWRENCE FOR SUNFLOWER SHOWDOWN
Following a dramatic 48-41 win over No. 5 Oklahoma, 22nd-ranked K-State heads east to Lawrence on Saturday for the 117th edition of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown against Kansas. The game, which will kick at 2:30 p.m., will air on FS1 with Cory Provus (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: 83, X: 381, Internet: 970) in addition to the TuneIn app.
A LOOK AT K-STATE
• K-State has won two games in a row following its 48-41 triumph over No. 5 Oklahoma last week, and the Wildcats have opened the Chris Klieman era with five impressive victories – highlighted by last week’s win and a 31-24 triumph at No. 23 Mississippi State in September.
• K-State has rushed for 1,396 yards this year on 301 carries as it ranks fifth in the Big 12 in rushing and ranks 10th in school history in yards per carry (4.62).
• The Wildcats also have 20 rushing touchdowns – including six last week against OU – after tallying only 20 rushing scores a year ago. Of the 20 scores, 12 have come from running backs after the group accounted for only 13 last season.
• Quarterback Skylar Thompson – who has four game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or later in his career – has thrown for 1,207 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception, while three receivers – Dalton Schoen, Phillip Brooks and Malik Knowles – each have at least 15 catches and 100 yards on the year.
• The K-State defense enters the week ranked highly in many statistical categories, including third down defense (2nd; 25.3%), first downs allowed (10th; 116), passing yards allowed (27th; 187.1), scoring defense (35th; 21.9) and pass efficiency defense (36th; 120.02).
• K-State has given up just four passing touchdowns through seven games this season, which is the best start since the 2002 team also gave up four through seven games. It also is tied for the fewest nationally this season with Ohio State, Kentucky and Penn State.
• The Cats have surrendered only 19 total third down conversions this season, which are the fewest in the FBS.
• Senior safety Denzel Goolsby (34 tackles) is one of seven Wildcats with at least 20 stops on the season.
• Eighteen different Wildcats have at least a half tackle for loss for a team total of 35, led by Wyatt Hubert’s 6.5. The sophomore also leads the team with 4.0 sacks.
• Cornerback AJ Parker has a team-high three interceptions to tie for second in the Big 12.
• The Wildcats possess a great kicker/punter duo as Blake Lynch ranks 12th nationally in field goal percentage (90.0%), while Devin Anctil ranks ninth in the nation with a 46.3-yard punting average.
A LOOK AT KANSAS
• Kansas enters the Dillons Sunflower Showdown fresh off a 37-34 home win over Texas Tech last week to improve to 3-5 on the season and 1-4 in Big 12 play.
• Carter Stanley leads the Jayhawk offense with 1,900 yards passing and 19 touchdowns through the air.
• Pooka Williams is averaging 100.6 yards per game on the ground and has three rushing scores.
• Five different receivers have 20 or more catches, led by Andrew Parchment’s 42.
• Defensively, Bryce Torneden leads the squad with 53 tackles.
A LOOK AT THE SERIES
• Kansas leads the all-time series, 64-47-5, but Kansas State has won each of the last 10 meetings and 23 of the last 28 dating back to 1991.
• The Wildcats’ average margin of victory over the last 10 years is 25.6, while they have hit the 45-point mark in five of those contests.
• However, the series has been closer as of late with the last three games being decided by a margin of 9.7, including last year’s 21-17 K-State victory in Manhattan.
• Kansas State has won each of the last five meetings in Lawrence by an average score of 35-14, the last being a 30-20 victory in 2017.
A LONGSTANDING RIVALRY
• The Dillons Sunflower Showdown between Kansas State and Kansas is one of the most contested rivalries in college football.
• Following Saturday, it will be tied for the 11th most-played series all time, but it is the fourth longest uninterrupted series in FBS history. Heading into Saturday, the Wildcats and Jayhawks have met for 108-consecutive years.
TWO NEW COACHES
• This year’s edition of the Sunflower Showdown will feature two new coaches in K-State’s Chris Klieman and KU’s Les Miles.
• It marks the 12th time in series history, but the first since 1986, that both programs are breaking in a new head coach in the same season.
BACK INTO THE POLLS
• For the second time this season, K-State went from not receiving any votes in either the Associated Press Top 25 or the Amway Coaches Poll to ranked the following week.
• The Wildcats check in at No. 22 in this week’s AP poll, while they are 25th in the Coaches Poll. Following its win at Mississippi State on September 14, K-State also went from zero votes to the first team of “others receiving votes” in the AP poll, while it was 25th in the coaches.
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 115, 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 .605 (46-30), trailing only Oklahoma (.818; 63-14) and Oklahoma State (.636; 49-28).
A NEW ERA
• The new era of K-State Football under Chris Klieman has opened with a 4-2 record through six games.
• Klieman, who was named the 35th head coach in school history on December 10, 2018, was just the fourth head coach in K-State history to start 3-0.
• He also became just the fourth head coach to begin a tenure with at least four wins in the first six games.
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 77-15 (.837), 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 5-2 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.
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 17th nationally in both fewest penalties (38) and fewest penalty yards (329).
YOUNG PUPS
• K-State opened the season with 60 total freshmen (true and redshirt) on the roster, which equated to 47.2 percent of its total squad.
• The 60 freshmen were 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.
HIGH T.O.P.
• K-State enters this week ranked fifth nationally in time of possession at 34:45.
• The Wildcats’ best season time of possession average since 1985 was 33:55 during the 2011 season.
• K-State possessed the ball for 41:09 against Nicholls, the most in the nation in the opening weekend.
• The Wildcats followed that up with 42:52 against Bowling Green to rank as the most is the most by at K-State team since at least 1988, while it ranked eighth in Big 12 history and was the most by a Big 12 team since 2011.
BALANCED ON OFFENSE
• K-State has showcased a balanced offense in the first half of the season, averaging 199.4 yards per game on the ground and 177.7 passing yards per game.
• Last week against Oklahoma, K-State was a perfect 50-50 split with 213 rushing yards and 213 passing yards.
• K-State 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.
FEW OFFENSIVE TURNOVERS
• The Wildcats only have three offensive turnovers in its first seven games (2 INT, 1 FUM), their fewest in the first half of the season since 2012 (2 INT, 1 FUM).
• K-State was the final team in the nation to commit an offensive turnover this year when it fumbled at Oklahoma State.
• Of the Wildcats’ five lost fumbles this season, three are on punt returns and one is on an interception return.
• K-State went the first 189 minutes, 38 seconds of the 2019 season without committing an offensive turnover.
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 199.4 per game.
• Kansas State has 1,396 total rushing yards this season. The Wildcats hit the 1,000-yard mark in their fifth game, marking the eighth time since 2000 but just the second since 2013 it only took five games to get to 1,000.
• K-State carded over 300 yards rushing in each of the first two games, 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 20. Last year, K-State had 20 total rushing touchdowns in 12 games.
• K-State running backs have accounted for 12 rushing touchdowns this season after the position group only had 13 in 2018.
• Quarterback Skylar Thompson leads the team with seven rushing scores, while transfer running backs James Gilbert (5) and Jordon Brown (3) are close behind.
DEFENSE RANKING HIGHLY
• K-State ranks second in the Big 12 and 35th nationally in scoring defense (21.9 pts/gm), while the Wildcats are first in the league and fifth nationally in passing yards allowed (187.1 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 seven games of the year as the Wildcats rank second in the nation in third down defense (25.3%) behind Wisconsin (22.4%).
• The Wildcats have allowed only 19 total third down conversions this season, the fewest in the nation.
• Additionally, K-State is the only team in the nation to not allow a fourth-down conversion (0-of-7).
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 404 plays in its seven games as its 57.7 defensive snaps per game rank second in the nation to Utah (54.3).
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 ON KICKOFFS
• K-State has been consistent in terms of kickoff coverage as the Cats have not allowed a kickoff-return touchdown in the last 82 games, the last being against Louisiana on September 7, 2013. During that stretch, K-State has defended against 312 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 fifth in that department by limiting opponents to just 15.95 yards per return.
