The 2021 Kansas State Wildcats football team represented Kansas State University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at the Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas, and competed in the Big 12 Conference. The team was led by third-year head coach Chris Klieman.
Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2020 regular season 4–6 and 4–5 in Big 12 play to finish in seventh in the conference. They removed themselves from consideration to play in a post season bowl game.
Preseason
Big 12 media poll Big 12 media poll 1 Oklahoma 365 (35) 2 Iowa State 351 (4) 3 Texas 273 4 Oklahoma State 266 5 TCU 255 6 West Virginia 185 7 Kansas State 163 8 Baylor 124 9 Texas Tech 103 10 Kansas 39
Schedule The 2021 schedule consisted of 7 home, 5 away, and 1 neutral site game in the regular season.
Game summaries
Vs. Stanford
Sources:
Statistics StanfordKansas State First downs 1415 Total yards 233344 Rushing yards 39200 Passing yards 194144 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 32:5327:07 Team Category Player StatisticsStanford Passing Tanner McKee 15/18, 118 yards, 1 TD Rushing Austin Jones 9 carries, 25 yards, 0 TD Receiving Brycen Tremayne 5 catches, 62 yards, 1 TDKansas State Passing Skylar Thompson 9/14, 144 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 13 carries, 128 yards, 1 TD Receiving Phillip Brooks 3 catches, 81 yards, 0 TD
Kansas State began with a 15-point lead at halftime with performances by quarterback Skylar Thompson and running back Deuce Vaughn. The Wildcats managed to score 24 points before allowing Stanford to put points on the board with 3:16 left in the game. Stanford coach David Shaw stated: "This game was not indicative of how hard we've played, how hard we've practiced and how well we practiced. Disappointing to me that we didn't go out there and execute better." Shaw is in his 11th season as Stanford's coach.
Kansas State dominated on defense and Stanford's offense continued to make mistakes while not producing a strong running game performance. Kansas State defense only allowed 39 total rushing yards for the game.
The Wichita Eagle reported that the stadium was mostly filled with Kansas State fans and that Kansas State significantly out-performed Stanford. Specifically, the paper published "The Kansas State football team opened its season with a statement victory on Saturday at AT&T Stadium."
Stanford's next game is their sixth consecutive road game, traveling to play the USC Trojans. Kansas State will play at home in Manhattan against Southern Illinois.
No. 8 (FCS) Southern Illinois
Sources: ESPN Box Score ESPN Team Stats
Statistics Southern IllinoisKansas State First downs 1724 Total yards 276380 Rushing yards 100208 Passing yards 176172 Turnovers 34 Time of possession 26:0433:37 Team Category Player StatisticsSouthern Illinois Passing Nik Baker 16/27 for 176 yards 0TD, 1 INT Rushing Javon Wiiliams Jr 12 carries for 46 yards, 2 TD Receiving Landon Lenoir 6 catches for 57 yards, 0 TDKansas State Passing Skylar Thompson 3/4 for 96 yards, 1 INT Passing Will Howard 8/17 for 76 yards, 1 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 26 carries for 120 yards, 3 TD Receiving Malik Knowles 4 catches 112 yards
Southern Illinois came in to the game with split #8/#9 rankings in the FCS. Before the game, SIU head coach Nick Hill said his team will focus on running: "We're gonna to try to the line of scrimmage and run the ball, but ultimately it's our job to move the ball, whatever you've gotta do." SIU defeated Southeast Missouri State the previous week by a score of 47–21.
Kansas State was leading 21–3 in the second quarter when starting quarterback Skylar Thompson left the game with an injured knee. With backup quarterback Will Howard stepping in, SIU pulled ahead at halftime 23–21 with multiple mistakes for Kansas State. SIU failed to score in the second half and Kansas State was able to pull ahead to win 31–23.
Bright spots for Kansas State include Deuce Vaughn's rushing touchdown with less than two minutes in the game and a forced fumble at the end to close out the game. Highlights for SIU included Cornerback P. J. Jules returning a 41-yard interception for the team's first defensive touchdown since 2018, and safety Qua Brown produced a team-high nine tackles in the game. Southern Illinois also forced three turnovers in a row against the K-State offense.
After the game, plans seem to point to Howard taking the starting reigns like he did in the previous season. Coach Klieman said that he will be staying for the "foreseeable future" at K-State. In 2020, Howard led K-State to victories over Texas Tech, TCU, and Kansas. SIU will host Dayton the next week in the first of fime home games.
Nevada
Sources: ESPN Box Score | ESPN Team Stats
Statistics NevadaKansas State First downs 14 22 Total yards 331 398 Rushing yards 25 269 Passing yards 306 129 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 29:00 31:00 Team Category Player StatisticsNevada Passing Carson Strong 27/40, 262 yards, 6.6 yds ave, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Devonte Lee 10 carries, 24 yards, 2.4 yds ave, 1 td, long 6 yd Receiving Elijah Cooks 4 rec, 45 yards, 11.3 yards ave, 1 TD, long 24 ydsKansas State Passing Will Howard 7/10, 123 yards, 12.3 yds ave, 1 TD, 0 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 23 carries, 127 yards, 5.5 yards ave, 1 TD, long 15 yds Receiving Daniel Imatorbhebhe 1 for 68 yards, 68.0 yards ave, 1 TD, long 68 yds
In the week prior, Nevada completed their second win of the season by defeating Idaho State by a score of 49–10 and is at the top of the Mountain West Conference with a 2–0 record. Oddsmakers go into the game considering the two teams to be well matched and expect a close game: both teams have combined to score 48.5 points against their opponents in two games and both teams have the same record of 2 wins and 0 losses.
Nevada brought 6 foot 4 inch Carson Strong as their quarterback, who has been widely touted as a sought-after future quarterback for the National Football League. Kansas State defense is looking forward to the challenge. Coach Klieman's game plans include using the defensive line to put pressure on strong in the backfield and having the defensive backs "play the ball in the air" and go for interceptions.
Kansas State spent most of the game on the ground, led by Deuce Vaughn with 127 yards and one touchdown. In this game, Sophomore Vaughn because the fastest in team history to achieve 1,000 career rushing yards in just 13 games. Kansas State ran the football 48 times and only made 13 passing attempts.
Wildcat quarterback Jaren Lewis also got some time after three drives. Lewis completed 2 for 3 passes with 9 yards. Kansas State made a touchdown and field goal under his two drives. Kansas State led 17–7 at halftime, but Nevada tied the game 17–17 in the third quarter. It was in the fourth quarter when Kansas State made a clear statement for victory by scoring three touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Will Howard rushed for 56 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did complete 7 of 10 passing attempts including a 68-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Imatorbhebhe on the second play of the game.
Kansas State's defense allowed a season-high 331 yards, but only 25 on the ground. Nevada quarterback Carson strong wa sacked three times, one more than in their first two games combined. The final score was Kansas State 38, Nevada 17.
Nevada's Carson Strong was successful in passing to nine different receivers. His 14-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Cooks tied the score at 17 in the third quarter. Nevada manage to tie the score up twice (7–7 and 17–17) but never held the lead.
Kansas State improved to 3–0 with the win and reduced Nevada to throwing short instead of long. K-State Coach Klieman said, "We challenged the guys early in the week that we needed to take the next step as a football team. We were prepared for it. We were built for this."
Nevada is idle next week but then travels to play Boise State on October 2.
At Oklahoma State
Sources: ESPN box score ESPN team stats
Statistics Oklahoma StateKansas State First downs 25 12 Total yards 481 260 Rushing yards 137 62 Passing yards 344 198 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 35:06 24:54 Team Category Player StatisticsOklahoma State Passing Spencer Sanders 22/34, 344 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT Rushing Jaylen Warren 27 attempts, 123 yards Receiving Tay Martin 9 catches, 100 yards, 1 TDKansas State Passing Jaren Lewis 10/19 148 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Will Howard 3 attempts, 28 yards Receiving Deuce Vaughn 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 TD
In the previous week, Oklahoma State narrowly defeated Boise State 21–20 in the face of a few injuries in their starting lineup. Oklahoma State was ranked No. 22 in the Coaches Poll, and Kansas State was ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll.
Kansas State's defense prevented Oklahoma state from scoring any points in the second half of the game, but the 31 points scored in the first half was enough for the Cowboys to win. Kansas State switched quarterbacks during the game as second-string Will Howard started the game but was injured and Jaren Lewis took over the bulk of the duties. Oklahoma state won 31–20.
No. 6 Oklahoma
Sources: ESPN box score ESPN team stats
Statistics OklahomaKansas State First downs 22 21 Total yards 393420 Rushing yards 132100 Passing yards 261 320 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 27:18 32:42 Team Category Player StatisticsOklahoma Passing Spencer Rattler 22/25 for 243 yards, 9.7 avg, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Kennedy Brooks 15 car, 92 yds, 6.1 avg, 1 TD, 28 long Receiving Marvin Mims 4, 71 yds, 17.8 avg, 0 TD, 50 longKansas State Passing Skylar Thompson 29/41 for 320 yards, 7.8 avg, 3 TD, 0 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 15 car, 51 ydds, 3.4 avg, 0 TD, 13 long Receiving Deuce Vaughn 10, 104 yards, 10.4 avg, 1 TD, 33 long
Skylar Thompson returned from injury to start the game at quarterback and developed a 7–3 lead early on, keeping the score tied at 10–10 until just before halftime when Oklahoma managed a field goal to pull ahead 13–10.
In the third quarter, Kansas State executed an onside kick and recovered the ball. After video review, the call on the field was confirmed as a Kansas State recovery. OU head coach Lincoln Riley then challenged the replay call for double-touching, claiming that Kansas State kicker Zentner contacted the ball twice while kicking it. The challenge was upheld after a second review and Oklahoma was given the ball at midfield. The second replay review was considered "controversial" and such challenges after video review are rare. This and another officiating call reversal were critical to the Oklahoma victory: final score Oklahoma 37, Kansas State 31.
Iowa State
Sources:ESPN box score ESPN team stats
Statistics Iowa StateKansas State First downs 19 21 Total yards 418342 Rushing yards 210 136 Passing yards 208 206 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 33:4526:15 Team Category Player StatisticsIowa State Passing Brock Purdy 22/25 for 208 yards, 8.3 avg, 1 TD Rushing Breece Hall 30 for 197 yards, 6.6 avg, 2 TD Receiving Jaylin Noel 5 for 48 yards, 9.6 avgKansas State Passing Skylar Thompson 15/23 for 206 yards, 9.0 avg, 2 TD, 1 INT Rushing Deuce Vaughn 18 for 99 yards, 5.5 avg Receiving Phillip Brooks 3 for 54 yards, 18.0 avg, 1 TD
The 2021 annual rivalry known as "Farmageddon" began with Kansas State winning 15 of the last 16 games played in Manhattan, but the pattern failed to hold as Iowa State outperformed Kansas State on the field and on the scoreboard. Kansas State failed to score in the second and third quarter, and only managed 20 points to Iowa State's consistent performance to tack up a total of 33.