On December 2, Snyder, who had signed a five-year extension before the season began, announced his retirement.[1][2] His final record was 215–117–1 in 27 seasons. On December 10, North Dakota State head coach Chris Klieman was hired as Snyder's successor.[3]
Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2017 season 8–5, 5–4 in Big 12 play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place. They were invited to the Cactus Bowl where they defeated UCLA.
Preseason
On December 6, 2017, it was announced that offensive coordinatorDana Dimel was hired as the new head coach for UTEP.[4] Coach Dimel fulfilled his final OC duties for KSU while participating in the Cactus Bowl before moving to his new job.[5] His son Winston Dimel also transferred to UTEP after three seasons at Kansas State.[6]
Kansas State announced its 2018 football schedule on October 26, 2017. The 2018 schedule consisted of seven home and five away games in the regular season. The Wildcats hosted Big 12 foes Texas, Oklahoma State, Kansas, and Texas Tech and traveled to West Virginia, Baylor, Oklahoma, TCU, and Iowa State.
Kansas State's Isaiah Zuber was credited for saving the game with two key plays: an 85-yard punt return with South Dakota leading 24–12. Later in the game Zuber caught a touchdown pass from Skylar Thompson with 7:21 left to give K-State its first lead of the second half.
Kansas State scored all but seven of its points on field goals and special teams. Sophomore kicker Blake Lynch scored Kansas State's first 12 points on field goals of 22, 24, 38 and 44 yards. Kansas State racked up 13 penalties for 129 yards, but maintained more control of the ball with 37:39 of offense compared to South Dakota's 22:21.[19] going over 100 years for the first time since 2016 against Florida Atlantic.[20]
Among the penalties committed by Kansas State had significant impact on the game. An illegal block negated a punt-return touchdown by Duke Shelley; holding penalties erased first downs; and an Eli Walker interception was taken away by a pass-interference penalty and Walker was subsequently flagged for spiking the football.[21]
South Dakota quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 257 yards and one touchdown, continually finding receiver Levi Falck (11 catches, 140 yards) open against top K-State cornerback Duke Shelley. The Coyotes led 24–12 at halftime.[22] ESPN reported "... one solid takeaway is how well the Coyotes were in control for much of the game. They did a great job limiting the Kansas State offense for three quarters and had many Kansas State fans, players and coaches frustrated throughout the night."[20]
Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald made his first appearance on the football fields since November 2017, when a foot injury sidelined him for the season and a 1-game suspension kept him out of the season opener. Fitzgerald threw for 154 yards with two touchdowns and ran for another 159 yards. Mississippi State compiled a total of 538 yards of total offense where Kansas State only managed 213.
Kansas State continued with its two-quarterback system, switching snaps between Skylar Thompson and Alex Delton. Kansas State running back Alex Barnes managed 75 yards rushing, but the Wildcats fell short to lose the game 31–10.[23]
Kansas State achieved a "confidence builder" by pulling together with a victory over San Antonio. Sophomore Skylar Thompson shared quarterback duties again with Alex Delton, but made more of a statement for his role with the team by throwing for 216 yards and rushing for 66—producing two touchdowns by the air and a third on the ground. After losing the ball on a fumble, Delton entered the game and hit Isaiah Zuber for a 72-yard touchdown, placing the Wildcats well ahead by a score of 41–7. Kansas State scored in five of six possessions in the first half.[24] The final score was Kansas State 41, San Antonion 17.[25]
On defense, San Antonio gave up over 400 yards to Kansas State and dropped their record to 0–3, where Kansas State advanced to 2–1 for the season. San Antonio Coach Frank Wilson said, "Unfortunately we did not always execute to the fullest, 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."[25]
West Virginia had originally planned to have a game the previous week against North Carolina State, but it was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. The team and coaches began preparations against Kansas State early. Mountaineer Coach Dana Holgorsen said, "Kansas State's a tough outfit that we've got to prepare for."[26]
Both teams started conference play with this game. Kansas State entered the game with a record of 2–1[27] where West Virginia had already secured victories against Tennessee (40–14) and Youngstown State (523–-17)."[26] This game is the ninth meeting between the two teams with the Wildcats holding a 5–3 overall lead. The teams have split the four games played at West Virginia.[28]
West Virginia managed to take control of the game mid-way through the second quarter after Kansas State failed to convert on fourth down. West Virginia ended ahead at the half 21–0.[29] Kansas State managed control the ball more on offense but it wasn't enough, as West Virginia achieved 464 total yards compared to Kansas State's 318. Although West Virginia had four turnovers to Kansas State's one, the Wildcats lost 69 yards on 8 penalties compared to the Mountaineer's 35 yards on 3 penalties. West Virginia was 8–12 on third down conversions compared to Kansas State's 3–14.[30]
In the second half of play, Kansas State was successful with two field goals and additional scores by the Mountaineers put the game to a conclusion of West Virginia's victory 35–6.[29]
Texas lost their first game on the road at Maryland and then won their next three games at home, and their last two victories came against ranked teams—No. 22 Southern California and No. 17 TCU. But the travel games (especially in this series) have not been in the Longhorn's favor. The home team has won last six games between the two teams and Texas has not won in Manhattan since 2002.[31]
Texas was the only team to score in the first half of play, with two touchdowns, a field goal, and a safety. Kansas State had a chance to score a touchdown on the final play of the first half when Alex Delton threw a pass to Adam Harter that was dropped in the end zone. The score at the half was Texas 19, Kansas State 0.[32]
Kansas State fared better in the second half, holding Texas scoreless and replacing Alex Delton with Skylar Thompson. Thompson led Kansas State to score two touchdowns in the second half with 14 points. In the end, Texas held the lead with a final score of 19–14.[33] For the next week Texas played Oklahoma after stopping the second-half comeback by Kansas State.[34]
Baylor held a slight edge in the pregame analysis. Coming into the game Baylor was considered better than they were at this same time last year and has won 3 games (Kansas, Texas-San Antonio, and Abilene Christian), the Bears have also lost 2 (Duke, Oklahoma). In Baylor's previous game against Oklahoma, they achieved 493 yards of offense in their loss—something expected to be a challenge for Kansas State on defense.[35]
The game started with Kansas State holding the lead at the end of the first and second quarters. Baylor pulled ahead in the third quarter but missed several field goals. Baylor's Charlie Brewer threw for 296 yards and Kansas State's Alex Barnes rushed for 250 yards[36] (he ran for 129 yards and four touchdowns in the 2016 matchup also at Baylor).[37]
Kansas State had its share of mistakes: K-State missed a field goal and an extra point and were also ineffective on kickoff returns. Kansas State also gave up a fumble on the kickoff return after a controversial play review to start the third quarter and Baylor scored a touchdown two plays later.[38] Wildcat turnovers and penalties led to three touchdowns for Baylor.[39] They also had problems with a punt return they recovered and an extra point was blocked.[37]
Baylor's Connor Martin had a rough day as the kicker, missing three field goals and an extra point, yet among all that he ended up kicking the game-winning field goal from 29 yards with 8 seconds left in the game. The final score was a Baylor victory, 37–34.[37]
The Oklahoma State Cowboys came in to the game after a loss the previous week to Iowa State by a score of 48–42, and that loss put extra pressure on the Cowboys to win coming into the game. Some of the issues the Cowboys brought in to the include lack of discipline, a disconnected defense, and a failure to force turnovers on defense. The 2018 loss to Iowa State had many similarities to the 2017 game between Oklahoma State and Kansas State that resulted in a K-State victory 45–40.[40]
Those issues carried through into the game as Oklahoma State produced its worst offensive performance since 2014.[41] The score at halftime put Oklahoma State ahead 6–3, but strong performance by the Wildcats in the second half helped take Kansas State to a victory 31–12.[42] Kansas State's Skylar Thompson completed 11-of-22 passes for 130 yards and the offense achieved 291 yards on 55 carries.[41]
Kansas State was able to take a week of rest between the previous win against Oklahoma State and their next game against Oklahoma.[42] Oklahoma's new defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill was able to simplify the defensive plan which helped turn out good results against Texas Christian in the previous week with a Sooner victory 52–27. K-State's Coach Snyder commented: "They're very much the same football team that they were on the defensive side of the ball, on both sides actually, but certainly on the defensive side. I saw some tweaks, a few things, that you might consider to be changes -- don't know if they're changes or are just there and hadn't surfaced previously. But by and large, it's the same defense."[43]
When the game rolled around, both the offense and the defense for Oklahoma performed to control the game from start to finish, with a final score of 51–14 and an Oklahoma win.[44]
When the two Big 12 conference teams that both wear purple got together for the 2018 matchup, Kansas State lost quarterback Skylar Thompson to an injury in the first quarter and the Wildcats went to backup Alex Delton. Kansas State kept the game close but missed a PAT leaving the score 14–13 in favor of TCU. "Of course I feel horrible for him," Snyder said. "He's one of the young guys. He didn't lose the ballgame for us. There were a bunch of us that made mistakes that contributed." With the loss, K-State was left in a position to win the last three games in order to be eligible for post-season bowl games.[45]
The Jayhawks outgained the Wildcats in total yardage 347–301, but it wasn't enough. A Kansas offensive drive began with 8:29 remaining began with four penalties on their first three snaps. A Holding Penalty reversed a 74-yard Khalil Herbert run and a false start on the next play added to the situation. On the third play of the drive, KU's Williams ran for 60 yards, but center Alex Fontana was penalized for holding. The fourth penalty happened when KU's tight end Mavin Saunders tried to hide the penalty flag, bringing a call for unsportsmanlike conduct. Kansas State ended up winning their tenth consecutive Sunflower Showdown by a score of 21–17.[46]
The Red Raiders experienced their fourth consecutive loss when traveling to Manhattan. Tech was without starting quarterback Alan Bowman and offensive players Connor Killian and Mason Reed were also out. Tech ran the ball 26 times for 31 yards and has not had a ball carrier reach 65 yards iun the past seven games. Tech's 181 yards of total offense was the lowest output since 2010 against the Texas Longhorns.[47]
Kansas State held a solid lead late in the fourth quarter and ran a tackle-eligible play to right tackle Dalton Risner. Although Risner took the ball to the end zone, officials reviewed the play and declared that it was a forward pass. The ruling resulted in a penalty for illegal touching and it took away the TD. K-State's Lynch then was successful on his final field goal.[48]
Kansas State kicker Blake Lynch had not completed a successful field goal in a game for nearly two months, but managed to match a career-high with four straight and added an extra point. A blocked punt by Kansas State's Brock Monty added to K-State's success with a final victory of 21–6.[49]
In the week before the final regular season game for Kansas State, Iowa State jumped K-State in the standings, ranked 25th. The Cyclones come off a disappointing loss at Texas, but had won five of its past six. Kansas State seeks its sixth victory in the game with a chance to become bowl-eligible for its ninth consecutive season. Weather forecast for the night game at Jack Trice Stadium are for cold temperatures. “We have won two in a row and have a little momentum going,” K-State running back Alex Barnes said. “Iowa State is going to be a tough game. It’s going to be another cold game, too. It’s a night game. It’s all lined up for us to do pretty good. We just have to go out there and do it.”[50]
Iowa State's loss at Texas Saturday brought an end to the Cyclones' hopes for a spot in the Big 12 Conference title game and they also fell in the College Football Playoff rankings from #16 to #25. K-State's Coach Snyder came into the game 22–4 all-time against Iowa State and 9–0 since his return in 2009.[51] For this matchup, the pre-game consensus was that the Cyclones were favored by 14 points over the Wildcats.[50]
After a slow start, Kansas State held a solid lead for most of the game. Kansas State had racked up a 17-point lead with only 12 minutes remaining in the game. From there, Iowa State's Mike Rose grabbed a loose ball and ran it in for a touchdown. The Cyclones controlled the game from that point to rally with 21 unanswered points. The final score was an Iowa State victory, 42–38.[52]
