Opponent Q&A | Talking Kansas State Football With Bring On The Cats

Sooners vs Wildcats coverage

To help us gain a little more understanding of Kansas State we reached out to our friend Jon Morse of SB Nation's Bring On The Cats for some purple perspective.

CCM: After back-to-back tough losses, how hungry for a win does this K-State team appear to be, and how focused would you say that they are?

BOTC: Oh, they mad. Mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore mad. Of course, whether that translates into action is another question entirely, but Bill Snyder actually seems satisfied with their composure and effort this week. And, you know, he's never happy. So they're probably laser-focused.

CCM: After allowing just three points in the first two games of the season, combined, the Wildcats are now allowing an average of 37 points per game over the last three contests. Is that a bump in competition or are teams finding a pattern for offensive success against the K-Sate defense?

BOTC: It's mostly been the result of second-half collapses. Whether that's teams exploiting holes or whether it's a psychological issue for the coaching staff when it comes time to try and protect a lead, I don't know. The secondary is definitely having issues, though. Last week, yet another starter was out, though that may have been a blessing in disguise as Duke Shelley was really good.

CCM: Texas massacred Oklahoma's offensive line last week and sacked Baker Mayfield six times. Do you see the Wildcats attacking up front in similar fashion as the Longhorns?

BOTC: The K-State defense has definitely been aggressive on that front, although generally with just straight pressure as opposed to constant blitzing. While the secondary is questionable, the front six is pretty tight, so if the Sooners' offensive line is beatable it's going to be a long day for Mayfield.

CCM: Something I don't get is the apparent struggles in the K-State passing attack and yet they remain in games and have been on the verge of upsets with some of the top teams in a predominately passing conference. How does that happen?

BOTC: If I knew the answer to that one, I could retire from blogging and go be on television. The most basic explanation is that K-State has gotten up big, early, two weeks in a row against teams they shouldn't have. In the case of Oklahoma State, it was due to the addition of a complete wildcard which, inexplicably, OSU players tried to claim they'd prepared for. How do you prepare for a guy you've got zero film on?

With TCU, I think it was just a realization that the linebackers were vulnerable to the run, and why K-State went away from it in the second half is still baffling me.

CCM: Heading into this game, what aspect of the Kansas State game plan are you most confident in?

BOTC: Ummm... hey, I think my cat is on fire.

Seriously, I think that K-State will probably look really good in the first half. I expect that they'll probably run the ball effectively, and either lead or be close at halftime. After that, I just shrug and look 
bemused.

CCM: Score prediction time. Do you see the Wildcats pulling off the upset on Saturday afternoon?

BOTC: Well, two weeks in a row I've predicted losses, and the margin of defeat has been almost exactly one-third of what I had predicted in both games. With that being the case... I don't know that I can even begin to predict an actual score, but I suspect that once again, the road team prevails, and it will be just a one- or two-point margin, coming down to the final gun.

You can read my portion of the game Q&A, with Bring On The Cats, right here.