Defense Will Be Key In Kansas State Vs. Texas

Kansas State vs. Texas, 12:00 ET

A College Football Saturday this late in the season usually means one of a few things: we get blowouts as teams start to prepare for the Bowl Games or playoffs, we get upsets as teams underestimate or are underprepared for their opponents, and we get matchups that will shape the Conference Championship games. Sure, the same could be said about most weeks, but earlier in the season, the games don't have quite as significant of an impact. Today, we get a matchup between the #23 ranked Kansas State Wildcats and the #7 ranked Texas Longhorns that could be a key to the Conference Championship matchup.

Kansas State comes in with a record of 6-2 for the season. Their two losses are fairly understandable. The first one came against a good, but not great Missouri team. That was on the road. Then they lost to an Oklahoma State team that was on a skid before playing Kansas State. They've won their past three games and looked really strong specifically in their past two games. They have racked up 41 points in their past two matchups but the unique thing is that they didn't have a 100 yard rusher or 200 yard passer in either of those games. The question is going to be if their defense can hold Texas down in this one. We know that Texas has an explosive offense and their quarterback, Quinn Ewers is having a great season but is probably not going to be in this game. The Wildcats defense has been very strong the majority of the season. The more inconsistent part of the team has been the offense. They've been using both Will Howard and Avery Johnson to play quarterback, but I'm expecting Howard to play more as he is a veteran, and the home crowd of Texas will put some noise into this game.

MANHATTAN, KS - SEPTEMBER 09: Quarterback Will Howard #18 of the Kansas State Wildcats rushes past linebacker Richard Jibunor #9 of the Troy Trojans in the second half at Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium on September 09, 2023 in Manhattan, Kansas. (Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images)

Texas is 7-1 but isn't without their struggles. They lost on the last play of the game to Oklahoma in Texas. Then the next game they looked like they were going to roll Houston as they jumped out to a 21 to nothing lead. Then they surrendered 21 straight points of their own. It has made me a bit concerned for the Longhorns' future only because I'm wondering if their focus is there right now. They have done a solid job of creating a dynamic offense, but is their defense capable of stopping top offenses? They did a good job of stopping BYU last game and maybe that was the tuneup they needed. However, it does seem like there are holes if Kansas State can find them. Without Ewers I have some concern the Longhorns will become a bit more reliant and predictable in their run game. In fairness to them, against BYU, Maalik Murphy was solid with 170 passing yards and two touchdowns to one interception. Kansas State will probably dare him to try and throw the ball on them.

I don't expect this to be a high-scoring affair. I think it should be a tighter battle between two teams that are capable of scoring a lot of points, but don't have the ideal situation to do it in. The Texas defense has me a bit concerned for them, but at home, I do think they will play better and have the edge. Kansas State looked good recently but seems disjointed on offense overall. I'm going to play the under 49.5 in this one.

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