The Kansas State Wildcats, now sitting at 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the Big 12, got absolutely run over tonight, falling 31-26 to a 4-0 Cincinnati team at Nippert Stadium. Cincinnati’s running game was the absolute nightmare fuel, piling up 271 yards on the ground and punching in three touchdowns, including a terrible third-quarter sequence where the Bearcats scored twice in under three minutes to seal K-State’s doom.
That Run Defense Is a Serious Problem
This wasn’t just a bad night, this was a full-on meltdown against the run. Cincinnati averaged over seven yards a carry on 38 attempts, and K-State’s defense just had no answer. The concern we saw last week against Tulane, where they struggled to stop the run, showed up immediately. Cincinnati hit runs of 22 and 15 yards on the first two plays of the game! Shoutout to Darien Whitaker and Wendell Gregory for some big tackles for loss that at least forced a punt on that drive, but man, the dam broke later. Cole Tabb was making them look silly with runs of 11 and 30 yards before JC French found Malachi Henry for a 39-yard touchdown pass. Tabb then followed up with a 5-yard touchdown run and later a 30-yard touchdown run. This defensive unit just has to be better.
Avery Johnson’s Accuracy Wasn’t the Issue, But The Fumbles Were
On offense, Avery Johnson’s accuracy woes from previous weeks seemed to vanish tonight, even with 20 incompletions. Most of those were apparently on balls thrown almost perfectly that were just mishandled. He avoided a sack and kept drives alive. Johnson hit Jaron Tibbs for a deep ball that Tibbs mishandled, then connected with Garrett Oakley twice to move the chains. Another first-down pass to Tibbs led to a fumble and injury, but thankfully, that got overturned. A 26-yard play to Derrick Salley got them into the red zone, but they settled for a 22-yard field goal from Luis Rodriguez. Johnson even ripped a huge 40-yard pass to Will Anciaux, but Anciaux was called for offensive pass interference and got injured. Salley then snagged a 39-yard reception, and Johnson used his legs to set up a short-yardage situation that led to Rodney Fields breaking loose for a 19-yard touchdown. But that second-half fumble from Salley on a 34-yard completion, the very first play after halftime, that was just brutal and led directly to a Cincinnati touchdown that tied the game.
Dropping to 0-1 in the Big 12 hurts, and K-State has to figure out how to stop the run, fast. It’s that simple. That kind of defensive showing just cannot happen again if they want to make any noise this season.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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