For the second time in as many weeks, Kansas State found themselves in a shootout. But, unlike last week’s 52-45 loss to Oklahoma State, the Wildcats managed to pull out the victory in a four-overtime thriller against Texas A&M by a final score of 53-50.
Winning close games has become a trademark of Bill Snyder‘s team this season. Six of K-State’s eight wins this year have come by a possession or less. Not always the most athletic team on the field, the Wildcats have, at least at some point, been in a position to win every single game this season.
But we would be remiss if we didn’t mention how much of an impact quarterback Collin Klein has had on this K-State team. Klein’s five-touchdown performance tonight has shown, once again, why he means so much to the Wildcats’ success this season. There may not be a player in the Big 12 who is more of a gamer than Klein. He’s the Big 12’s leading rusher in terms of rushing attempts, and has the bandages on his elbows and the grass stains on his jersey to show for it. Klein isn’t always the most consistent passer, but he makes plays when his team needs them.
With the likes of Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson and Brandon Weeden dominating the Heisman talk, there’s virtually no way Klein has a shot at the stiff-arm trophy. But he deserves to be on the ballot.
Texas A&M, on the other hand, deserves to be recognized for continuing to blow big leads. The loss tonight marks the fourth -- the fourth -- time this season the Aggies have a lead of at least 14 points. In fact, A&M led exactly 14-0 to start the game and held touchdown leads periodically through the second half. And, for the third straight game, K-State fell behind by an initial score of 14-0.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the Aggies are playing Kansas next week -- the Jayhawks blew their own 21-point lead today against Baylor -- we could be debating if A&M, a preseason AP Top 10 team, would even become bowl eligible this year. We’ve already questioned the leadership on this A&M team, but this latest loss as a part of A&M’s 5-5 record is squarely on the shoulders of head coach Mike Sherman.
Good luck in the SEC against Les Miles, Nick Saban, and heck, James Franklin.
