Everyone keeps debating what is wrong with the team. Today it was everything. Your criticism is probably correct. It was the offense, defense, special teams, coaches, players... everything.
We lost by 3 points. Let's breakdown some of the opportunities.
Our first drive we had to start at our five yard line because we ran it out of the end zone to the 10 and got a penalty. If we had taken a touchback, we start on the 25 instead. We finished the drive on the kansas state 40. If we had taken the touchback, we finish the drive on their 20 and have a shot for a field goal. I have no idea if we make it, but there was a chance for three points. Instead we punted.
At some point, we punted, could have had them on the 1 and let it go into the end zone for a touchback.
On offense we were 3-11 on third down and 0-2 on fourth down. Our offense failed to capitalize on 3 turnovers yet again. The WR drops were atrocious. We also had some terrible blocking on key third downs.
On defense we constantly let Kstate convert third downs in the first half (did a better job in the second half). Kansas State was 2-2 on fourth downs. Our defense let Kansas State possess the ball for for 38:25/60 minutes, limiting offensive opportunities. Keeping our offense off the field was a huge part of why Kansas State won. We also gave up 405 yards. The defense did create turnovers in the second half.
We constantly had dumb penalties on offense and defense. A lot of these penalties gave Kansas State first downs and stopped our offense. We had a false start on offense on a 4th and 1 in Kansas State territory that forced us to punt. Kansas State also got 7 off of a late hit on third down before halftime that would have been a stop.
Our coaches went into panic mode on the 4th down attempts. Instead of kicking a field goal, we went for it on 4th down. Gilbert did call a good play, but the WR dropped an easy catch. That said, we probably should have attempted the field goal even with our bad kicker.
Instead of punting, we went for it on 4th and 17. Again Gilbert had the play and the TD, but our WR dropped the ball.
When we finally did kick the field goal, we missed. Before the season, someone said if Strong did not find a kicker it would cost us a game or two. Strong did not find a kicker and it was partially responsible for costing us the game. Also, our onside kick went straight out of bounds.
Overall, we failed on offense, failed on defense, failed on special teams (worse than offense or defense), failed with dumb penalties, and failed with coaching decisions. We were bad in all phases of the game. We almost won because we were playing a 3 loss team that probably finishes 6-6, only beating Kansas and Iowa State on the remainder of their schedule. This game today was being played to see who could get to 6-6 and bowl eligibly. Kansas State won and will probably make a bowl instead of us.
We did outscore Kansas State 14-3 in the second half, but managed to piss away comeback opportunities. Charlie Strong fell to 14-18 overall, 2-7 in games played out of state including 2 shutouts (6 game out of state losing streak!), 1-15 when losing at halftime, 0-16 when losing to start the 4th quarter, and 4-8 in games decided by 7 points or less.
When nearly everything is bad in a game, that falls on the head coach.
To end on a positive note, Foreman had a great game yet again. Hats off to him for gaining 124 yards against a good defense. Swoopes also had a good game. He converted a third and short when he was asked to and got a touchdown. Today was a good day for Swoopes and the 18 wheeler package. I am sure there may be a few other deserving players, but for the most part, everyone else performed badly. Buechele did not have a perfect game, but I would overall say he had a positive performance given that his WRs dropped perfect passes and his offensive line did not block well in some key situations.
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Last edited: Oct 23, 2016