MANHATTAN, Kan. – Five Big 12 home games – including a Thursday-night primetime contest against TCU – and a trip to SEC foe Mississippi State highlights Kansas State’s 2019 football schedule that was announced today by K-State Athletics officials and the Big 12 Conference.

The Wildcats open with two games at home before traveling to Starkville, Mississippi, to take on Mississippi State. The 2019 season sees the Wildcats host Big 12 opponents Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, West Virginia and TCU, the latter being a Thursday-night game on October 17.

“We are pleased to announce our full 2019 schedule, which includes seven games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, five of which are Big 12 Conference matchups,” Athletics Director Gene Taylor said. “Our gameday atmosphere continues to be one of the best in the Big 12, and I know the K-State Nation will be in full force not only the rest of this current season but also in 2019, which features our first Thursday-night home game since the 2015 season. The select few non-Saturday conference matchups that are played each year continue to be a big part of our league’s television arrangement, and we look forward to having the eyes of the college football world on Manhattan against TCU.”

The 11^th-annual K-State Family Reunion against Nicholls State is set for August 31, prior to the Wildcats hosting Bowling Green on September 7.

K-State makes a return trip to Mississippi State next season, as the Wildcats travel to Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi, on September 14. The game against the Bulldogs precedes a bye weekend, one of two for the Wildcats in 2019.

Kansas State opens Big 12 play on the road for the 19^th time in the 24-year history of the league when the Cats travel to Oklahoma State on September 28. K-State opens its Big 12 home slate against Baylor on October 5, followed by another bye weekend and the Thursday-night contest against TCU.

The second half of the 2019 campaign begins on October 26, when the Wildcats host Oklahoma. Kansas State then hits the road in consecutive weeks, traveling to KU for Dillions Sunflower Showdown on November 2, before facing Texas in Austin on November 9.

The Wildcats are at home for two of their final three games, hosting West Virginia on November 16, and traveling to Texas Tech on November 23, before entertaining Iowa State in the regular-season finale on November 30.

The 2019 Big 12 Championship will be played Saturday, December 7, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with the top two teams in the regular season standings squaring off.

Ticket prices and options, in addition to individual game promotions and events, will be announced at a later time.

2019 K-STATE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

August 31		Nicholls State		Manhattan, Kansas
September 7		Bowling Green		Manhattan, Kansas
September 14		at Mississippi State		Starkville, Mississippi
September 28		at Oklahoma State		Stillwater, Oklahoma
October 5		Baylor		Manhattan, Kansas
October 17 (THURSDAY)		TCU		Manhattan, Kansas
October 26		Oklahoma		Manhattan, Kansas
November 2		at Kansas		Lawrence, Kansas
November 9		at Texas		Austin, Texas
November 16		West Virginia		Manhattan, Kansas
November 23		at Texas Tech		Lubbock, Texas
November 30		Iowa State		Manhattan, Kansas

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Thanks to their impressive performances in Kansas State’s 31-12 victory over Oklahoma State last Saturday, junior running back Alex Barnes and senior defensive back Duke Shelley have been named Big 12 Players of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.

In addition to his co-Defensive Player of the Week accolade, Shelley was also named to the Paul Hornung Award Honor Roll.

It was the first time in Barnes’ career he earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors, while it was the second weekly conference award for Shelley following last year’s Texas Tech game. The Wildcats now have 51 conference player of the week accolades since 2011, tied for second in the league.

Barnes rushed a career-high 34 times for 181 yards and a career-high tying four touchdowns against the Cowboys, part of a 291-yard rushing day for the Wildcats. He also led the team with three catches for 51 yards as he became just the third player in school history with 175 rushing yards and 50 receiving yards in a single game, joining Tony Jordan (1986 vs. Iowa State) and Darren Sproles (2003 vs. Oklahoma).

Coupled with his 250-yard, three-touchdown output against Baylor the previous week, Barnes leads the Big 12 in rushing (112.6 yds/game) and touchdowns (9), while he is second in all-purpose yards (132.3 yds/game). He also ranks fifth nationally in total rushing yards (788), sixth in rushing touchdowns and 20th in all-purpose yards.

A product of Pittsburg, Kansas, Barnes entered the school’s career top-10 list in career rushing yards with his performance against the Cowboys, a mark that now stands at 2,049 yards.

A product of Tucker, Georgia, Shelley came away with the first multi-interception game of his career when he tallied two picks, a pass breakup and six solo tackles against OSU. He now has three interceptions on the year – all coming within the last two games – to rank fourth in the Big 12 and tied for 27th nationally. He improved his career interception total to eight – with half of those coming against Oklahoma State – as he is now two away from tying for 10th in school history.

Shelley has 12 total passes defended this season to rank second in the Big 12 and eighth in the country. The senior improved his career passes defended total to 39, a mark that is tied for third nationally among active players and ranks seventh in school history.

In addition to his work on defense against Oklahoma State, Shelley also returned a kickoff 26 yards, while his last interception was returned for 30 yards, an effort that landed him on the Hornung Award Honor Roll.

Kansas State is idle this weekend and returns to action on October 27, when the Wildcats travel to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the ninth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners. The Wildcats then travel to TCU on November 3, before hosting Kansas on November 10.

— K-State Athletics —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State broke huddle against Oklahoma State at one point Saturday with three running backs joining quarterback Skyler Thompson in the backfield, the quartet making a unique diamond-like formation that coach Bill Snyder said has been part of the playbook for 30 years.

True or not, the claim was fitting given the Wildcats’ entire game plan looked about that old.

Almost entirely abandoning the passing game, Kansas State bludgeoned the Cowboys with an old-school, ground-based attack. Alex Barnes rumbled for 181 yards and four touchdowns, the Wildcats piled up 291 yards rushing and they dominated the time of possession in a 31-12 rout.

“Our running game, we’ve addressed this week-in and week-out, it’s gotten better, gotten better, gotten better,” Snyder said. “Alex got a lot of yards but you get a lot of yards because someone up front is knocking someone else back. It’s a team-oriented deal.”

Thompson only had 130 yards passing, enough to keep the Cowboys honest, but added 80 yards to the rushing total in helping the Wildcats (3-4, 1/3 Big 12) end a three-game skid.

They’ve now beaten the Cowboys (4-3, 1-3) in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002.

“We have to look and see what we’re doing, where we are at and what we can do to correct it,” Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said. “We are trying to do what we can as soon as possible to fix the problems.”

Oklahoma State led 6-3 at halftime before the Wildcats got their ground game going. They leaned heavily on Barnes, who ran for a career-best 250 yards last week against Baylor, and that allowed them to chew up the clock while keeping the Cowboys’ offense off the field.

Kansas State took the lead when Barnes capped a nine-play drive with a touchdown midway through the third quarter. He added his second scoring run a few minutes later, then answered a TD run by the Cowboys’ Taylor Cornelius with his third touchdown dart with 9:41 remaining in the game.

Cornelius finished 17 of 35 for 184 yards and two interceptions, while Cowboys running back Justice Hill spent most of afternoon bottled up. He carried 11 times for just 41 yards.

“We were tired of losing,” Kansas State linebacker Justin Hughes said, “so we came out with the mentality that we weren’t going to lose. Once we stopped Hill and made them throw we had them.”

The first half resembled an old-school, Big Ten-style slugfest — hardly the pass-happy Big 12.

The Wildcats dared the Cowboys to beat them through the air, and Cornelius had 45 of his 97 yards passing in the first half on the only completion that made them pay. But despite that long play getting the Cowboys in scoring position, Kansas State’s defense managed to hold for a field goal.

The Wildcats squandered a chance to score just before halftime, when Thompson was sacked on third down in the closing seconds. Without a time out, the clock expired without a field-goal attempt, and Snyder stalked his team all the way into the locker room.

Kansas State’s offensive line atoned for that mistake in the second half.

Asserting its will at the line of scrimmage, the group pried open holes for Barnes and backup Dalvin Warmack, who patiently danced into the Cowboys’ secondary. They kept riding that success late into the fourth quarter, when Barnes scored his final touchdown with a couple minutes to go.

“That’s what we’ve been expecting all season,” Wildcats offensive lineman Dalton Risner said. “I feel like we’ve been bringing it all season but we’ve turned it up the last few weeks.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Oklahoma State: An offense that averaged 523.3 yards per game coming into the day was rendered ineffective in the second half. Hill’s streak of 12 consecutive games with a touchdown rushing came to an end, as did the Cowboys’ impressive streak of 19 straight wins when leading at halftime.

Kansas State: The season-long search for an identity may have uncovered a smash-mouth approach that can produce results. The Wildcats were held to six points a few weeks ago at West Virginia, and two TDs in a loss to Texas. But their run-based attack has been on-point against Baylor and Oklahoma State.

STATS AND STREAKS

Oklahoma States’ streak of forcing a turnover in 33 straight games was snapped. … Barnes moved into the top 10 in Kansas State history with 2,049 yards rushing. He’s the first player with back-to-back games of at least 175 yards rushing since Darren Sproles in 2003. … Wildcats cornerback Duke Shelley had both of the interceptions. He has at least one in all three games he’s played against Oklahoma State.

UP NEXT

Oklahoma State is off before hosting ninth-ranked Texas.

Kansas State is off before visiting No. 11 Oklahoma.

— Associated Press —

WACO, Texas (AP) — A rough day for Baylor kicker Connor Martin ended with a game-winning field goal.

Martin missed three field goal attempts and an extra point, but his third made field goal was a 29-yarder with eight seconds left Saturday to give the Bears a 37-34 win over Kansas State.

“I felt like I owed everybody,” Martin said. “My job as a specialist is to help bail out the offense when they’re not able to get things going. I feel like our offense and defense bailed me out. I left a lot of points on the field, so I really wanted it for them. I was like I’ve got to make it for these guys because they saved my butt all day.”

After Kansas State tied the game at 34 on Skylar Thompson’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Warmack with 4:26 left, quarterback Charlie Brewer set up the Bears (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) for the game-winning kick by driving them 76 yards on 11 plays.

“As a quarterback in this offense, you like that situation, to have a chance to go seal the deal there at the end,” said Brewer, who completed 30 of 44 passes for 296 yards with a touchdown and interception. “Which we were able to do.”

Jalen Hurd had 11 catches for 135 yards, and the former Tennessee running back also ran for 56 yards and a touchdown for the Bears, who last year won only once in coach Matt Rhule’s first season. Trestan Ebner ran for 100 yards.

Alex Barnes ran 22 times for 250 yards and three touchdowns for Kansas State (2-4, 0-3).

“The offensive line had a really good day today, and most of those runs I was not touched,” Barnes said. “I was getting to the second and third level scot free, so it’s a well-executed game plan that we had in the run game and by the coordinators calling the game.”

A week after Thompson came in after halftime and sparked the Wildcats in a home loss to Texas, he returned to the starting role and played the entire game. He was 15 of 26 for 149 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions and ran for 50 yards and a score.

Barnes opened the fourth quarter with a 48-yard TD run that tied the game at 20 before the Wildcats’ extra point was blocked. Thompson’s 52-yard TD run with 10:38 left put the Wildcats ahead.

“I don’t know how he graded out, but he’d like to have some snaps back,” K-State coach Bill Snyder said. “He also did some good things. He played OK. He could have played better. He led some drives and did a nice job, especially early in the ballgame.”

Brewer’s 21-yard TD pass to Denzel Mims tied the game again before freshman Craig Williams scored on a 21-yard run with 6:41 left to put the Bears back in front.

“That first college touchdown feels great,” Williams said. “I’m going to remain humble, stay patient, and when my number is called again, I’ll be ready.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas St.: Despite the loss, Barnes had another field day at McLane Stadium, where he ran for 129 yards and four touchdowns in 2016. The Wildcats had problems on special teams, including fumbling the opening kickoff of the second half, missing a field goal, muffing a punt they recovered and having an extra point blocked that would have given them a 21-20 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Baylor: The Bears could have put this one away much sooner. They reached at least the Kansas State 32 five times in the first half and had 12 points to show for it. But they did a better job of keeping drives alive and reaching the end zone in the second half. They finished 10 for 17 on third-down conversions.

BEARS CASH IN ON MISTAKES

Baylor collected only two takeaways in the first five games of the season, but it came away with three.

More importantly, the Bears turned those Kansas State miscues into 21 points.

Safties Jairon McVea and Christian Morgan recorded the first interception of their Baylor careers, and the Bears pounced on the second-half kickoff for their first fumble recovery of the season.

UP NEXT

Kansas State is home next Saturday for the only time in a four-game stretch against No. 25 Oklahoma State.

Baylor travels about 100 miles south to play at No. 19 Texas next Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Texas coach Tom Herman talked with one of his predecessors, Mack Brown, just as he does every week, and the old Longhorns coach warned him about playing Kansas State in Manhattan.

They’re a different team on the road, Brown said. They play with more energy, channeling the will of the crowd, and the team that was trounced by West Virginia last week wouldn’t show up Saturday.

“It was very much the way we told our players it would be,” Herman said.

The No. 18 Longhorns roared to a big lead, bogged down in the second half, then held on through a tense fourth quarter for a 19-14 victory that snapped a five-game road skid against the Wildcats.

“We won ugly, but the key is we won,” Herman said. “They all look pretty on Sunday morning.”

Sam Ehlinger threw for 207 yards and a touchdown, and D’Shawn Jamison returned a punt 90 yards for another score, as the Longhorns opened a 19-0 lead by halftime. Then, Keaontay Ingram churned for a first down with three minutes to go to help the Longhorns (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) seal the win.

“It shows our maturity, being able to overcome a lull in what’s going on,” Ehlinger said. “A lot of offenses would have curled up but we chose to finish.”

Skylar Thompson threw for 96 yards in relief of ineffective quarterback Alex Delton, and he led the Wildcats (2-3, 0-2) to a pair of touchdowns in the second half. But after they got the ball back with 7:12 to go, Thompson threw a pair of incompletions as Kansas State went three-and-out, and coach Bill Snyder’s offense never got another opportunity with the ball.

“All losses are painful. There is a variety of different reasons why didn’t win the ballgame,” Snyder said. “I think we became a little better football team, not necessarily because of this game but because of the way we practiced last week.”

The Longhorns leaned on their defense in the opening half, getting a pair of sacks by Charles Omenihu — one for a safety — while shutting down Kansas State’s powerful run game.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats’ dismal half was summarized by the way it ended, when they had first-and-goal at the Texas 5. Alex Barnes was stuffed, and two runs by Delton went nowhere, before his pass on the final play hit fullback Adam Harter in the hands and dropped incomplete.

The result? Texas carried its 19-0 lead into the break.

The Longhorns were so stingy on defense — and Kansas State so inept on offense — that running back Tre Watson had more yards passing after a 21-yard halfback pass than the entire Wildcats roster in the first half. Delton was 3 of 7 for 14 yards.

In fact, Texas had more yardage in penalties (80) than Kansas State had on offense (64).

The Wildcats switched quarterbacks at halftime and Thompson promptly led them 82 yards on their opening possession, capping the drive by keeping it on third-and-goal for a 7-yard touchdown run.

Suddenly, that herky-jerky offense had found its rhythm.

Texas kicker missed an opportunity to extend the lead when he pushed a 47-yard field goal right, and Kansas State marched downfield again. Thompson hit Dalton Schoen to convert one fourth down, and Barnes plowed in on fourth-and-goal from the Texas 1 to make it 19-14 with 9:55 to go.

“We rallied together as a team and came out with a different mentality than we did in the first half,” Kansas State linebacker Justin Hughes said.

But after forcing Texas to punt, the Wildcats went three-and-out and the Longhorns got the ball back. They managed to convert on third-and-11 before getting another first down to ice the win.

“When you look at our record,” Herman said, “you’re not going to see half a `W’ for this. They all count the same, and we told our guys, `Championships are won on the road.”

BECK’S STATUS

Herman said that offensive coordinator Tim Beck was recovering after being hospitalized for a bacterial infection in his elbow and should rejoin the team soon. “He had to be on IV antibiotics and had surgery Thursday to clean all that infection out,” Herman said. “That’s a lesson for all of us, you have one of those nagging deals, you should get it looked at.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Ehlinger now has nine touchdown passes and just two interceptions this season. … Texas had not won in Manhattan since 2002. … Barnes finished with 80 yards rushing for Kansas State. … The Wildcats’ Isaiah Zuber had five catches for just 33 yards. He was coming off back-to-back 100-yard receiving games. … Texas was flagged for 104 yards in penalties.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

The march up the rankings will likely continue for the Longhorns, who have followed their season-opening loss to Maryland with their longest win streak since the 2013 season.

UP NEXT

Texas: Face the Sooners next Saturday in Dallas.

Kansas State: Heads to Baylor next Saturday.

— Associated Press —

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen isn’t worried about quarterback Will Grier being overwhelmed by the attention and pressure that comes with being a Heisman Trophy candidate. Grier has thrown far too many passes. Played in far too many games. Diagnosed far too many defenses to let the hype train get in his head.

“I’m not worried about overloading him,” Holgorsen said. “He’s mature. He’s grounded. He’s comfortable on where he’s at. He knows how to handle this. He’s a professional that’s in college.”

Looks like it.

Grier and the 12th-ranked Mountaineers overcame a sluggish start to drill Kansas State 35-6 in the Big 12 opener for both teams on Saturday. The senior completed 25 of 35 passes for 356 yards with five touchdowns, three of them to David Sills, and two interceptions as West Virginia (3-0) enjoyed a rare breather against the Wildcats.

The previous four meetings between the two schools had been decided by a total of 13 points. Not this time. Once Grier and the Mountaineers got rolling late in the first half, it was over.

Grier, as he’s done since taking over the starting job at the beginning of last season, led the way. Having one of the best red zone targets in the country helps — all three of Sills’ touchdowns came on 1-yard passes — but Grier loves to go deep too. He found Marcus Simms for an 82-yard catch-and-run to open the scoring and later lofted a perfect rainbow to Tevin Bush that Bush turned into a 62-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

“Everybody looks at passing stats, but I love the way he manages a game,” Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said of Grier. “They allow him to call the offense so to speak and he does a marvelous job of that.”

Skylar Thompson completed 11 of 17 passes for 145 yards for Kansas State (2-2) and Alex Delton came on late with the game out of hand and finished 7 of12 for 82 yards. Delton also added 28 yards rushing but by then it was far too late for the Wildcats.

“We were just a bad offense, period,” Snyder said. “Like sandlot football for a while.”

TURNING POINT

Trailing just 7-0 midway through the second quarter and facing fourth-and-inches at the Kansas State 43, the Wildcats opted to go for it. Quarterback Skylar Thompson ran a quick option and pitched the ball to running back Alex Barnes, who was hit for a 4-yard loss .

Seven plays later, Grier found Sills for a 1-yard score to put the Mountaineers up 14-0. After forcing Kansas State to a three-and-out, West Virginia needed just 55 seconds to go 73 yards, the last one coming on a pretty grab in the back of the end zone by Sills, to make it 21-0 at the break.

When asked if he would run the same play again on fourth day again, Snyder responded simply “yes, yes, yes” before adding a not-so subtle dig at his team.

“I went in the locker room and I accepted the responsibility of being behind in the ball game at halftime with our players because there were two touchdowns following that,” Snyder said. “But I can’t coach a team that can’t get six inches on a play.”

NO COASTING

The Mountaineers kept pointing to last season’s 28-23 escape on the road against the Wildcats — when West Virginia was shut out in the second half and needed to hold on late — as proof they couldn’t afford to let up. They didn’t. Call it a byproduct of spending last weekend watching instead of playing while Mother Nature wreaked havoc on the Carolinas.

After a Kansas State field goal made it 21-3, Grier found a streaking Bush to push West Virginia’s lead to 25. The Mountaineers then converted a Kansas State fumble into another 1-yard touchdown to Sills and the blowout was on.

“I think having that week off really humbled us a little bit,” Sills said. “We were watching football last Saturday, just wishing we were out there. So, we came out for this game hungry. I think when you play good on all three sides of the ball, then that’s what the outcome looks like.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Kansas State: The Wildcats have some serious issues on offense. They managed just 77 yards in the first half and didn’t cross midfield until their first possession of the third quarter. Snyder declined to name a starting quarterback for next week’s game against Texas, joking there’s a chance he might get the nod.

West Virginia: The Mountaineers seem to be more comfortable going fast than slow. Four of their five touchdown drives took less than 2 minutes.

UP NEXT

Kansas State: Hosts the Longhorns next Saturday. The Wildcats have won the last five meetings with Texas at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

West Virginia: Travels to Texas Tech next Saturday. The Mountaineers have won four straight over the Red Raiders.

— Associated Press —

MANHATTAN, Kansas (AP) — For the last eight to nine months, Skylar Thompson has had to hear about the ongoing debate about who will be the starting quarterback for Kansas State. It may have taken longer than he or any Kansas State supporters may have wanted but after Saturday, Kansas State has their guy.

Thompson threw for two scores and ran for another and Kansas State ran away from UTSA 41-17 on Saturday.

Thompson, who had been in a much-discussed quarterback battle with Alex Delton, stood out with some stellar play and might have sealed up the starting job. Thompson was tough to tame through the air and on the ground.

“I felt like we played well today,” Thompson said. “Coming into this game we really wanted to build momentum going into Big 12 play and really wanted to put emphasis on starting the game well. I just trust my coaching and teammates and they made a lot of good plays today.”

The Kansas State (2-1) signal caller threw for 213 yards on 13-of-18 passing and connected on long aerial bombs to Dalton Schoen and Isaiah Zuber. Thompson also was lethal on the ground with 66 yards rushing highlighted by a 27-yard scamper for a touchdown midway through the third quarter.

“I think Skylar did a nice job and Alex (Delton) only had one throw but it was extremely well,” Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder said following the victory. “He (Thompson) played well, I do not think the demeanor of his approach was different; he just played a little better than he has. He made good decisions for the most part.”

The Wildcat defense held the UTSA (0-3) offense at bay for most of the afternoon and limited quarterback Cordale Grundy to 108 yards passing.

“Unfortunately we did not always execute to the fullest,” said UTSA head coach Frank Wilson. “But I think take away a couple of big-play opportunities, they weren’t going methodically down the field and just shoving us around. We held them to some third-down opportunities, but we just couldn’t get them off the field.”

Backup quarterback D.J. Gillins helped make the score a little more respectable late with a 10-yard touchdown pass in mop-up duty.

TAKEAWAY:

UTSA: The loss drops UTSA to 0-3 on the season and yet another game where the defense surrendered huge chunks of yardage. This time, the Roadrunners gave up more than 400 yards to a Kansas State offense that entered the game struggling to gain offensive consistency.

Kansas State: Despite the 72-yard TD pass from Alex Delton in the second half, Skylar Thompson more than likely ended the much-debated topic of who will be the Jayhawks’ starting quarterback. From the first series of the game, the Wildcats were much more efficient and balanced than they had been in their first two matchups of the season.

UP NEXT:

UTSA: The Roadrunners face Texas State on September 22.

Kansas State: The Wildcats face West Virginia on September 22.

STAT OF THE DAY: It took the Wildcats three games, but they finally scored their first rushing touchdown of the season after running back Alex Barnes rushed in from 3-yards out to give Kansas State its first score.

— Associated Press —