Mike Roach
If Texas didn’t have the history they have with Kansas State I’d probably pick this as a somewhat easy win. The Wildcats don’t have much on offense, and the Texas offense has enough big plays in them to get a few scores against even a tough defense. D’Onta Foreman will be the X-factor for Texas against a tough Kansas State defense. The Purple Wizard and his crew have excelled at stopping the run this season, but special running backs find ways to gain yards and make plays. If Texas can put the same pass rush pressure on K-State that they put on Iowa State last week they could force some negative plays and turnovers to help their offense along. If Texas performs like they have on the road over the tenure of Charlie Strong’s career, this could be a long afternoon for the Horns. In a season full of critical contests for Strong’s future, this one seems the most pivotal. I see it as a low scoring game Texas is able to grind out with some inspired play.
Score Prediction: Texas 23 Kansas State 21
Taylor Smith
As I stated before the Oklahoma State game, I think 11am games favor the home team. So, I think Texas playing Kansas State in Manhattan, Kansas, on Saturday at 11am will be a tough matchup for the Longhorns. The Wildcats will be looking to rebound after a loss to Oklahoma, and Texas will be trying to get its offense going before the second half (referring to the Iowa State game). The Longhorns can’t come out sluggish in order to have a chance at victory. Kansas State can put up points, as seen against Tech at home when the Wildcats scored 44 points. The Wildcats can also have a slow offensive day, as seen against the Mountaineers when they scored 16 points and lost by one. Texas can’t rely on a slow offensive day from Kansas State; the Longhorns offense needs to score often and control the clock to give the defense a chance for crucial stops in the fourth quarter. We didn’t see the Texas offense we want to see in the first half against Iowa State, and that can’t happen this Saturday at Kansas State. If the Longhorns come out and score 14 points in the first quarter, they win this game.
Score Prediction: Texas 38 Kansas State 30
Ryan Bridges
I’m basing my entire prediction on the belief that, having assumed control of the defense, Charlie Strong truly has diagnosed the problems and hasn’t forgotten the lessons of last week (namely, the KISS principle). Texas’ plan for K-State last year was to play mostly 4-3 and nickel with four DL, and on the back end they played predominantly man coverage. It worked, even though the freshmen linebackers hustled to every hole except the correct one. Tidy up the run fits — I cannot stress enough how bad they were last year, so improvement should not be hard — and tackle well and the defense should be fine. On offense, eventually there will be an opponent that can slow down D’Onta Foreman for more than a half. In my experience, it’s usually not the opponent you would expect; it’ll probably be Baylor next week or West Virginia in mid-November. That said, K-State is going to throw its safeties at the problem and make Shane Buechele and the passing game beat them. So long as the right tackle — whether it’s Brandon Hodges or Tristan Nickelson — can keep Jordan Willis at bay long enough, I think he’s up to the task. This week, facing two 5’9″ corners, would be a good time for Dorian Leonard (6’4″), John Burt (6’3″) or Collin Johnson (6’6″) to step up and win some jump balls. Take a deep shot or three, get an early lead, then sit back and chuckle as Kansas State’s offense burns the clock and its chances of a comeback.
Score Prediction: Texas 30 Kansas State 23
Will Baizer
This game will be a tale like the Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight of the Longhorns’ high flying offense vs the Wildcats’ stout defense. Simultaneously, it will be the matchup Hulk vs Bugs Bunny fight of the Longhorns “super strong and fast but incredibly unskilled†defense (think of Breckyn Hager) vs the “could win a heavyweight wrestling match through sheer pluck†Wildcat offense. Maybe David vs Goliath would have been a more apt description for this game and the two programs… but I like the Hulk vs Bugs Bunny.
Synder has whipped up an offense that can take advantage of the Longhorn second level’s inability to read blocks and attack the ball well. But for me, a lot is pointing Texas’ way this game. Jesse Ertz and Joe Hubener are no Collin Klein and Jake Waters. Jesse Ertz is banged up and his OL is pretty bad against the pass rush. The Longhorns’ DL can win the run game match-ups against the traditional Synder running plays, and their passing game is not good enough to take advantage of the defense’s major flaws if the Longhorn defense remains in Iowa State form.
If the defense can slow itself down and keep it simple like they did against Iowa State, I think they can land a few punches on the old wascally wabbit.
However, we are dealing with a wizard here. On top of that they’re facing the best defense this team has seen.
Most know the base and strength of Gilbert’s Veer and Shoot offense is the run game. Well, D’Onta Foreman may run into a bit of trouble in Manhattan. The KSU run defense ranks 3rd in the nation in yards/game (89.83 yards) and 4th in yards/attempt (2.95 yards). Their attack is led by their NT Will Geary who will make Shackleford regret not playing on the same team as him and Elijah Lee who is the soundest LB I’ve ever seen. Malik Jefferson take notes.
The Longhorns will be making their living on offense through the air. I would imagine that the run/pass ratio with shift from 60:40 to about 50:50 this game because it’s the weakness of this defense if there was one. Texas appears to match up well against their pass defense which is nowhere as stout as their run game but still nothing to thumb you nose at.
If the offense can connect on more deep balls and take what the Kansas State defense will give them (my guess is the intermediate plays and over the middle), it will force the Wildcats to take a man out of the box and the Longhorns have a running game to make them pay.
In the end I think it’s a defensive battle and the Longhorns come away with the first win in Manhattan since 2002.
Score Prediction: Texas 27 Kansas State 24
Daniel Seahorn
Last year Texas beat Kansas State at their own game by being more physical, running the football, and playing good defense. This time around Texas heads into Manhattan, a place they haven’t won game in since I was a freshman in high school. If Texas wants to string together consecutive victories against the Wildcats, then they will need to get D’Onta Foreman going early against a solid KSU defense that is good against the run. On top of that, they need to get Shane Buechele in a comfort zone early with some easy throws and get his confidence up, as The Purple Wizard and his staff will no doubt try to rattle his cage early.
KSU QB Jesse Ertz is expected to play despite suffering an injury last week against Oklahoma, but with or without him their offense hasn’t been very potent. If Texas can continue to play sound defensive football like they did against Iowa State they will more than have a shot to win this ball game. Keep KSU behind the sticks and off schedule, contain and keep Ertz in the pocket when he is in the game, and be disciplined against the QB run game.
I’m not sure how healthy Ertz is going into this game, but if Joe Hubener has to get in the game for an extended period of time, then KSU is going to look like they did last year on offense, which is vanilla and one dimensional.
It’s hard to pick Texas with confidence with the venue being in Manhattan, but based on how the teams matchup it’s a game that Texas SHOULD win. If Texas plays the style of game they desire then they will win by double digits. If KSU is able to dictate the pace, then this will be an ugly game and they will win in ugly fashion. My gut is telling me Texas wins this one, but they will have to sweat it out a bit before pulling away.
Score Prediction: Texas 34 Kansas State 20
Chris Flanagan
Vegas started at -3 KSU and has since changed to -1 Texas. So it’s a toss-up. It won’t be.
The Iowa State game was a very clear indication that the Longhorns are moving in the right direction. Texas held Iowa State to 280 total yards of offense. “Yeah, but it’s Iowa State!” Stop it, stop it now. That’s the lowest amount of yards they have gained on offense all year to this point. That’s better than the 47th ranked defense in the country’s performance against Iowa State (Iowa), and nearly 200 yards better than the 18th ranked defense in country did against Iowa State (Baylor). So Texas showed HUGE gains on defense.
However, the Wildcats are the best defense the Longhorns have played all season so this battle will come down to whether Texas can be efficient on offense. If Texas gets to 40, they win the game. I think they get there.
Score Prediction: Texas 42 Kansas State 17
Harrison Wier
Texas looks to win in Manhattan for the first time in 14 years. This will be no easy task, as the Wildcats are sound and disciplined on all aspects of the field. Bill Snyder is not called the Purple Wizard for nothing, but Charlie Strong has the personnel to win this game.
In the end, Texas cannot beat themselves. 10 penalties for 100 yards cannot happen. Bone-headed mistakes that result in turnovers cannot happen. Texas is going to have to play their most fundamentally sound game of the season in order to win this ball game. Kansas State has the #3 rushing defense in the country. Can D’onta Foreman bounce back from a sub par performance against Iowa State? More importantly, can the offensive line out physical the Kansas State defensive front (especially Jordan Willis)?
Charlie Strong simplifying the defense seems to have worked out in his favor. Moving Vance Bedford to defensive backs coach also seems to be working well. The Kansas State offense is by no means overpowering, but have a 100% scoring rate in the red zone this season. Texas must have a ‘bend but don’t break’ mentality throughout this game. If they hold Kansas State to field goals, they win this game.
For whatever reason, I feel really good about this game. Maybe it was seeing the defense finally coming together against a team that held their own against Baylor and Oklahoma State. Maybe it was seeing some more wrinkles in an already powerful offense. Anything can happen on Saturday, but I have faith that coach Strong can reverse the spell of the Purple Wizard.
Score Prediction: Texas 28 Kansas State 24
Aaron Carrara
The Longhorns haven’t been able to pull of a win in Manhattan since 2002 but things change on Saturday. The Texas offense has the capability to outscore the K-State attack, which ends up being the difference in this game. An improved Texas defense will get the job done and propel the Longhorns over .500 on the season keeping bowl hopes alive.
Score Prediction: Texas 34 Kansas State 31
Prediction Records
Harrison Wier: 4-1
Taylor Smith: 4-2
Mike Roach: 3-3
Ryan Bridges: 3-3
Daniel Seahorn: 3-3
Aaron Carrara: 3-3
Chris Flanagan: 2-4