In-State Rivalry Turns Into Rout: Kansas State Rolls Over Kansas, 59-7

SB Nation Kansas City previews the pivotal K-State run game:

Kansas State for all intents and purposes relies on the run. The Wildcats rank 26th in the nation in terms of their ground attack while reaching the opposite end of the spectrum with the 107th ranked passing attack. Daniel Thomas ran wild through three weeks of the season and is viewed as one of the top runners in the nation. A solid offensive line and a consistently solid gameplan by Bill Snyder only adds to the effectiveness of the Wildcat running game. What Kansas State doesn’t have is a particularly potent weapon at quarterback.

But again, that’s where the strength of the Kansas defense lies. The Jayhawks contained one of the best option attacks in the nation against Georgia Tech and while they didn’t completely shut it down by any means, they were able to limit it enough to get a win. No Kansas isn’t great against the run, but they are serviceable and the same linebackers that struggle to cover in space are strong in run support.

One of SB Nation’s Bring On The Cats bloggers relates his personal history with the Kansas-Kansas State game:

The week of the Big Game -- be it in football or basketball -- always brings with it thoughts of my dad. Some of my best memories of him are wrapped up in K-State games. I remember Jack Hartman (whom my dad idolized), and Lon Kruger (whose Silver Lake team was beaten my dad’s Lewis Spartans in the quarterfinals of the 1970 Kansas state basketball tournament). I remember the 1982 football season, and how it was a flicker of light down a long, dark hallway leading to 1990. Without Coach Jim Dickey, and his boy Darrell, my early Wildcat football memories would have contained naught but losing, from my first memories of listening to Cats’ games, in my dad’s farm truck, as a kindergartener back in 1979, all the way until Coach Snyder arrived on the scene in late 1988.

In fact, as a know-it-all 14-year-old, I was singularly unimpressed with the “old man” (that’s honestly what I called him, even back in 1988, when he was all of 49) who stepped to the podium that day. It was my dad who told me, “Give him some time, Kev. I think he might be different.” As in most things, my dad was right.

SB Nation’s Rock Chalk Talk and Bring on The Cats break down crucial elements of Thursday night’s game:

This is the 108th meeting between the state rivals, with Kansas holding a 65-37-5 advantage in the all-time series. KSU however, won last year’s showdown, 17-10, in Manhattan.

The Wildcats enter the tilt hoping to rebound from their first loss of the campaign, as they were thrashed, 48-13, by No.6 Nebraska on Thursday. It marked the fourth home game in five outings for KSU, which now sits at 4-1 on the campaign.