The Kansas State defense was flat-out bad against Houston. Not just a little off, but totally dominated at the line of scrimmage, and it cost them their second straight game. Houston’s tight end, Patrick Overmyer, absolutely went off, bagging 4 touchdowns. When you lose the line of scrimmage this badly, you’re gonna lose the game. It happened again for K-State’s D-line, and that’s why they’re on a two-game skid.
The Run Defense Was a Disaster, Period
Houston hammered the ball 43 times, racking up a ridiculous 233 yards on the ground. Wanna talk about getting dominated? K-State’s defense managed just *one* tackle for loss the entire game. And on Houston’s 30 pass attempts? Zero sacks. That’s a big fat 0.0. The Cougars ran wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and the Wildcats had no answer.
Houston attacked every single gap. They went A-Gap for 10 attempts, 47 yards (4.7 YPC). B-Gap for 12 attempts, 62 yards (5.2 YPC). Outside runs? 13 attempts, 58 yards (4.5 YPC). And those end arounds/WR jet sweeps? Two attempts for 41 yards, averaging a wild 20.5 yards per carry. It wasn’t just one broken play, either. Houston only had one run over 15 yards. This was a methodical beatdown, chewing up yards and clock, keeping the K-State offense stuck on the sideline while the defense couldn’t get off the field. That’s the recipe for a blowout, plain and simple.
Who’s Stepping Up? Nobody Up Front
Let’s look at the numbers for these defensive linemen, because they tell a rough story. Defensive End Wendell Gregory played 54 snaps and had 3 tackles. Jordan Allen was out there for 49 snaps and recorded exactly 0 tackles. Darien Whitaker Jr. got 38 snaps for 1 tackle. Jayden Bryant had 15 snaps for 1 tackle, and Elijah Hill played just 5 snaps.
Over at Nose Tackle, Kamari Burns took 37 snaps for 2 tackles, while Austin Ramsey had 7 snaps with no stats. Defensive Tackle Travis Bates, who played a team-high 57 snaps on the D-line, only notched 1 tackle. Eli Jackson looked like one of the few bright spots with 5 tackles and 1 T.F.L. on 31 snaps, and De’Arieun Hicks saw 13 snaps.
Honestly, you gotta feel for Travis Bates a little, because the dude feels totally miscast at defensive tackle. The idea of putting a strong-side defensive end inside is supposed to be that they’re quick enough to beat guards. But Bates? He’s not quick. He works hard, he’s relentless in effort, and he’s strong, but he’s not strong enough to just bully interior guards. When he’s on the edge, that strength and effort can work, but inside, he’s getting swallowed by guys 30-40 pounds heavier. Over the last three games, Bates has played 159 snaps and only has 1 tackle and 3 quarterback pressures to show for it. He’s not the kind of space eater you put inside who impacts the game without stats; he needs to be making plays, and he’s just not right now.
The defensive brain trust has got to figure out a way to fortify this defensive line. Until they do, every opposing offense is just going to keep running the ball right down their throats until K-State proves they can actually stop it.
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.
Leave a Reply