K-State’s offensive line has been here before.
For the second consecutive week, the Wildcats head to a Big 12 road game, with a chance to exploit a vulnerable opponent. Last Saturday, the opportunity slipped away in a disappointing 28-17 loss to Arizona State.
Now, Collin Klein’s team gets another chance in Week 9 against a Colorado defense that has struggled to slow down opposing offenses.
With Avery Johnson out and Jacob Knuth doubtful, the Wildcats have questions at the quarterback position. At the end of the day, whoever gets the start at quarterback has to get a much better performance form the offensive line than Knuth did in Week 8.
Arizona State was a missed opportunity
The Wildcats entered last week’s matchup against Arizona State with momentum after rushing for 359 yards in the win over KU.
However, that success disappeared in Tempe.
Obviously, the loss of Johnson makes things much more difficult for the Wildcats’ offense. However, Knuth did his job as a backup quarterback by giving his team a chance to win.
He threw for 194 yards and finished with two total touchdowns. More importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over. That is all you can ask for in your backup quarterback.
However, the offensive line played arguably its worst game of the year, as the Wildcats rushed for only 84 yards on 32 carries. The Wildcats converted only 4-of-15 third-down opportunities, and also failed on all four fourth-down tries.
The Wildcats actually took a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter, but they were unable to do anything in the fourth quarter.
Colorado presents another favorable matchup
While last Saturday was a disappointment for the Wildcats, Saturday’s game against Colorado presents a chance to respond and bounce back.
Colorado enters the game 2-5 on the season, losing all four of its Big 12 games after last week’s 57-24 loss at Oklahoma State.
The Buffaloes took a 24-23 lead into the half, but were outscored 37-0 in the second half. The defense allowed 598 yards of total offense, including 410 passing yards to Drew Mestemaker.
Oklahoma State scored on 11 of its 13 offensive possessions, finishing with six touchdowns and five field goals.
Now, without Johnson, the Wildcats don’t possess the offensive firepower of the Cowboys. However, they have the ability to control this game at the line of scrimmage, and they have to capitalize on that.
This game will come down to who can finish in the big moments
Both of these teams had second-half leads last week on the road, but neither got the job done. Klein lamented the missed opporunities from last weekend, and even talked about some gutsy decisions he made that ended up backfiring.
There is no question the Wildcats are dealing with adversity, but this is a great chance for Klein and his team to bounce back and not allow another great opportunity slip away.
Last week, that game was right there for the taking, and the Wildcats were unable to get the job done. For Klein and his team, Saturday presents another chance to take that next step, and it will start with the guys up front.
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