A Confident Group with a Chip on Its Shoulder
Dec 02, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
For No. 10 Kansas State, this is it. When the Wildcats meet No. 3 TCU to decide the Big 12 Championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, they'll have their chance to reach the top of the mountain in the only top-10 contest in this season's conference title games. They'll get their opportunity to silence the doubters once and for all. And they could very well bring the Big 12 Championship trophy back to Manhattan.
"It'd mean everything to me," sixth-year senior nose guard Eli Huggins says.
Picked fifth in the Big 12, K-State is the No. 10 team in the College Football Playoff Top 25 as it heads into its first Big 12 title game in 19 years — a remarkable climb for a lightly-regarded squad that made an early-season splash with a win at then-No. 6 Oklahoma and has grown stronger as the season wore on.
However, K-State was considered an underdog in many of its games, and is the underdog again for Saturday's contest.
"They know they've been doubted quite a big this year," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says. "Our guys have really risen up, especially when people doubt them. They're risen to the top and I can't say enough about our team leaders and captains because they control that locker room and this player-led team has taken ownership in it. I think that's really cool."
K-State fans recall the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game — a 35-7 win over undefeated and No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium — that provided chills and a mass celebration across purple nation.
Now the Wildcats, 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12, have a chance in this Big 12 title game to topple another undefeated foe. The Horned Frogs, 12-0 and 9-0, are the first Big 12 team to be 12-0 since Texas in 2009.
K-State, which captured the 2012 Big 12 title without playing in a league title game (the Big 12 paused league title games from 2011 to 2016), has a chance to reach a double-digit win total for the first time in 10 years.
"We've been working for this for 12 months now," running back Deuce Vaughn says. "We set out to accomplish this goal back in January. All the sweat and tears leads to this. A championship would be a big thank-you to everybody who's poured into us this entire season year."
There were doubters, for sure, although all three of K-State's losses have come against nationally-ranked teams.
K-State suffered a 17-10 home loss to Tulane, which is 18th in the CFP Top 25 and playing for the American Conference Championship. K-State suffered a 38-28 loss at then-No. 8 TCU on October 22 and then fell to No. 24 Texas, 34-27, two weeks later.
"We definitely have a little chip on our shoulder and something to prove," Huggins says. "I don't want to say I'm happy we lost (to TCU) the first time, but it's hard to beat a team twice, so I think we're in a good spot."
TCU is the first team since 1975 to win seven straight games by 10 points or less. Following its first meeting against TCU, K-State closed out its regular season by winning four of five games. The Wildcats won their four games by 48, 28, 17 and 20 points, including last Saturday's 47-27 win over Kansas to clinch a spot in the championship game.
"We've done some really good things and being able to carry the confidence that we've grown and built is really the biggest thing," says quarterback Will Howard, who saw his first action this season in the first game against TCU. "We know that when those plays are out there we've made them before, and we can make them again."
K-State led TCU, 28-10, in the second quarter before the Horned Frogs scored the game's final 28 points against a Wildcats squad that suffered injuries on both sides of the ball during the game.
The Wildcats used three different quarterbacks as both starter Adrian Martinez and backup Howard were each sent to the sidelines. Howard eventually returned and finished the day 13-of-20 for 225 yards and two touchdowns and one interception during his first action of the season.
"I was sick after that game," senior center Hayden Gillum says. "Every loss isn't fun but that one I left and I was like, 'We left a lot out there.' I think a lot of guys had the same taste in their mouth.
"We know we owe these guys one and know we can give them more than we did in the first round."
Klieman warns that K-State cannot "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to facing TCU for a second time.
"There's a reason why we're here and they're here," Klieman says. "You have to make adjustments to the plan but you try not to make too much of it…our players and their players know who they're going against."
Howard finished the regular season as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the Big 12 with 13 touchdowns to just two interceptions in his five games. Time and time again, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound junior has found his targets in pressure situations. Malik Knowles has 46 catches for 679 yards and two touchdowns to go along with five rushes for 114 yards and three scores.
Vaughn has 1,295 rushing yards and 348 receiving yards this season. He had more than 1,300 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards last season. ESPN Stats & Information reports that only Christian McCaffrey has had multiple seasons of 1,300 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards among Power 5 running backs in the past 15 seasons.
K-State has averaged 40.2 points in its last five games, the fifth-most points by a Power 5 school over that stretch.
"When I came into the game at TCU that was my first time playing this year but now that I have been out there I've settled into a rhythm a little bit," Howard says. "I'm into it a little more now and definitely have some more reps with the ones, so I feel good going into this.
"I feel like we're as confident as we could be."
The Wildcats will face a TCU defense that ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring defense (24.5), fifth in total defense (383.5), fourth in passing defense (238.7) and fifth in rushing defense (144.8).
"It's been interesting even self-scouting in how we've grown through the year — they have, too," offensive coordinator Collin Klein said. "They're doing some different things than they were six weeks ago. Credit to them. Their defense is flying around right now. It'll be a fun challenge."
TCU outgained K-State 495-390 in their first meeting.
"You play in those big games against great teams it's going to be a game of inches and if that's a first-down play, a second-down play, or a third-down play on the third, fourth or five drive of the game, we've got to claw for every inch," Klein says. "It might be the difference."
Just as Howard didn't start the first game of the season for K-State, TCU quarterback Max Duggan didn't start the season as the starter, either.
However, K-State will face one of its biggest challenges of the year in going against Duggan, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Duggan leads the league in completion percentage (66.6), passing yards (3,070), passing touchdowns (29), and passing efficiency (171.3).
Wide receiver Quentin Johnson, a 6-foot-4 NFL prospect, has 49 catches for 764 yards and five touchdowns.
Running back Kendre Miller's 1,260 rushing yards are the most by a TCU player in seven years and he has scored a touchdown in 13 straight games, the longest stretch since LaDainian Tomlinson scored a touchdown in a school-record 15 straight contests.
TCU ranks first in the Big 12 in scoring offense (41.3), first in total offense (473.3), third in passing offense (274.8) and fourth in rushing offense (198.5). The Horned Frogs are tied with Tennessee atop the FBS with 13 offensive touchdowns of at least 50 yards.
"They just have tremendous playmakers at the receiver position and their tight ends are playmakers and Duggan makes it go and Miller is a stud," defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman says. "It's a delicate balance. That's going to be the chess match all game long."
The Horned Frogs will go against a K-State defense that ranks first in the Big 12 in scoring defense (19.4), second in total defense (357.3), second in passing defense (214.1) and fourth in rushing defense (143.17).
K-State has held every FBS opponent under its scoring average at the time that the teams have played.
"We're tough," linebacker Austin Moore says. "We're battle tested. We've had some adversity but we've overcome it and we're the toughest we've been all year."
Klanderman laments the first game against the Horned Frogs in which several key players went down due to injury. The Wildcats have allowed just 15 second-half points over the last five games, but were unable to solve the Horned Frogs in the second half back in October.
"At that time (in the season) we were still trying to find ourselves a little bit," Klanderman says. "There was a stretch in that game when we were playing pretty well and then it went sideways and we lost Deuce Green, Julius Brents and Khalid Duke, and it became a rash of things there for a minute.
"We have a veteran group of guys and I think they'll respond in big moments."
Excitement abounds as the Wildcats prepare for this opportunity to bring home a title.
"I've seen pictures of students grabbing their tickets from Bramlage and all types of things on Twitter about fans getting things together to go to the game," Vaughn says. "We appreciate that so much. We only go as far as our fans and everybody who loves and pours into us. They've done an amazing job pouring into us. We're super excited to get out there and play in front of them down in Arlington."
K-State is virtually assured a spot in a New Year's Six bowl. A Big 12 title would be a great reward following a grueling regular season. A victory would certainly further cement this team alongside some of the most memorable squads in school history.
"I'm geeked up," Vaughn says. "When I woke up Monday, everything had to be amped up. This is what you've worked for. You can't let up on the gas.
"This is it."
For No. 10 Kansas State, this is it. When the Wildcats meet No. 3 TCU to decide the Big 12 Championship at 11 a.m. Saturday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, they'll have their chance to reach the top of the mountain in the only top-10 contest in this season's conference title games. They'll get their opportunity to silence the doubters once and for all. And they could very well bring the Big 12 Championship trophy back to Manhattan.
"It'd mean everything to me," sixth-year senior nose guard Eli Huggins says.
Picked fifth in the Big 12, K-State is the No. 10 team in the College Football Playoff Top 25 as it heads into its first Big 12 title game in 19 years — a remarkable climb for a lightly-regarded squad that made an early-season splash with a win at then-No. 6 Oklahoma and has grown stronger as the season wore on.
However, K-State was considered an underdog in many of its games, and is the underdog again for Saturday's contest.
"They know they've been doubted quite a big this year," K-State head coach Chris Klieman says. "Our guys have really risen up, especially when people doubt them. They're risen to the top and I can't say enough about our team leaders and captains because they control that locker room and this player-led team has taken ownership in it. I think that's really cool."
K-State fans recall the 2003 Big 12 Championship Game — a 35-7 win over undefeated and No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium — that provided chills and a mass celebration across purple nation.
Now the Wildcats, 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the Big 12, have a chance in this Big 12 title game to topple another undefeated foe. The Horned Frogs, 12-0 and 9-0, are the first Big 12 team to be 12-0 since Texas in 2009.
K-State, which captured the 2012 Big 12 title without playing in a league title game (the Big 12 paused league title games from 2011 to 2016), has a chance to reach a double-digit win total for the first time in 10 years.
"We've been working for this for 12 months now," running back Deuce Vaughn says. "We set out to accomplish this goal back in January. All the sweat and tears leads to this. A championship would be a big thank-you to everybody who's poured into us this entire season year."
There were doubters, for sure, although all three of K-State's losses have come against nationally-ranked teams.
K-State suffered a 17-10 home loss to Tulane, which is 18th in the CFP Top 25 and playing for the American Conference Championship. K-State suffered a 38-28 loss at then-No. 8 TCU on October 22 and then fell to No. 24 Texas, 34-27, two weeks later.
"We definitely have a little chip on our shoulder and something to prove," Huggins says. "I don't want to say I'm happy we lost (to TCU) the first time, but it's hard to beat a team twice, so I think we're in a good spot."
TCU is the first team since 1975 to win seven straight games by 10 points or less. Following its first meeting against TCU, K-State closed out its regular season by winning four of five games. The Wildcats won their four games by 48, 28, 17 and 20 points, including last Saturday's 47-27 win over Kansas to clinch a spot in the championship game.
"We've done some really good things and being able to carry the confidence that we've grown and built is really the biggest thing," says quarterback Will Howard, who saw his first action this season in the first game against TCU. "We know that when those plays are out there we've made them before, and we can make them again."
K-State led TCU, 28-10, in the second quarter before the Horned Frogs scored the game's final 28 points against a Wildcats squad that suffered injuries on both sides of the ball during the game.
The Wildcats used three different quarterbacks as both starter Adrian Martinez and backup Howard were each sent to the sidelines. Howard eventually returned and finished the day 13-of-20 for 225 yards and two touchdowns and one interception during his first action of the season.
"I was sick after that game," senior center Hayden Gillum says. "Every loss isn't fun but that one I left and I was like, 'We left a lot out there.' I think a lot of guys had the same taste in their mouth.
"We know we owe these guys one and know we can give them more than we did in the first round."
Klieman warns that K-State cannot "reinvent the wheel" when it comes to facing TCU for a second time.
"There's a reason why we're here and they're here," Klieman says. "You have to make adjustments to the plan but you try not to make too much of it…our players and their players know who they're going against."
Howard finished the regular season as one of the hottest quarterbacks in the Big 12 with 13 touchdowns to just two interceptions in his five games. Time and time again, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound junior has found his targets in pressure situations. Malik Knowles has 46 catches for 679 yards and two touchdowns to go along with five rushes for 114 yards and three scores.
Vaughn has 1,295 rushing yards and 348 receiving yards this season. He had more than 1,300 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards last season. ESPN Stats & Information reports that only Christian McCaffrey has had multiple seasons of 1,300 rushing yards and 300 receiving yards among Power 5 running backs in the past 15 seasons.
K-State has averaged 40.2 points in its last five games, the fifth-most points by a Power 5 school over that stretch.
"When I came into the game at TCU that was my first time playing this year but now that I have been out there I've settled into a rhythm a little bit," Howard says. "I'm into it a little more now and definitely have some more reps with the ones, so I feel good going into this.
"I feel like we're as confident as we could be."
The Wildcats will face a TCU defense that ranks fourth in the Big 12 in scoring defense (24.5), fifth in total defense (383.5), fourth in passing defense (238.7) and fifth in rushing defense (144.8).
"It's been interesting even self-scouting in how we've grown through the year — they have, too," offensive coordinator Collin Klein said. "They're doing some different things than they were six weeks ago. Credit to them. Their defense is flying around right now. It'll be a fun challenge."
TCU outgained K-State 495-390 in their first meeting.
"You play in those big games against great teams it's going to be a game of inches and if that's a first-down play, a second-down play, or a third-down play on the third, fourth or five drive of the game, we've got to claw for every inch," Klein says. "It might be the difference."
Just as Howard didn't start the first game of the season for K-State, TCU quarterback Max Duggan didn't start the season as the starter, either.
However, K-State will face one of its biggest challenges of the year in going against Duggan, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Duggan leads the league in completion percentage (66.6), passing yards (3,070), passing touchdowns (29), and passing efficiency (171.3).
Wide receiver Quentin Johnson, a 6-foot-4 NFL prospect, has 49 catches for 764 yards and five touchdowns.
Running back Kendre Miller's 1,260 rushing yards are the most by a TCU player in seven years and he has scored a touchdown in 13 straight games, the longest stretch since LaDainian Tomlinson scored a touchdown in a school-record 15 straight contests.
TCU ranks first in the Big 12 in scoring offense (41.3), first in total offense (473.3), third in passing offense (274.8) and fourth in rushing offense (198.5). The Horned Frogs are tied with Tennessee atop the FBS with 13 offensive touchdowns of at least 50 yards.
"They just have tremendous playmakers at the receiver position and their tight ends are playmakers and Duggan makes it go and Miller is a stud," defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman says. "It's a delicate balance. That's going to be the chess match all game long."
The Horned Frogs will go against a K-State defense that ranks first in the Big 12 in scoring defense (19.4), second in total defense (357.3), second in passing defense (214.1) and fourth in rushing defense (143.17).
K-State has held every FBS opponent under its scoring average at the time that the teams have played.
"We're tough," linebacker Austin Moore says. "We're battle tested. We've had some adversity but we've overcome it and we're the toughest we've been all year."
Klanderman laments the first game against the Horned Frogs in which several key players went down due to injury. The Wildcats have allowed just 15 second-half points over the last five games, but were unable to solve the Horned Frogs in the second half back in October.
"At that time (in the season) we were still trying to find ourselves a little bit," Klanderman says. "There was a stretch in that game when we were playing pretty well and then it went sideways and we lost Deuce Green, Julius Brents and Khalid Duke, and it became a rash of things there for a minute.
"We have a veteran group of guys and I think they'll respond in big moments."
Excitement abounds as the Wildcats prepare for this opportunity to bring home a title.
"I've seen pictures of students grabbing their tickets from Bramlage and all types of things on Twitter about fans getting things together to go to the game," Vaughn says. "We appreciate that so much. We only go as far as our fans and everybody who loves and pours into us. They've done an amazing job pouring into us. We're super excited to get out there and play in front of them down in Arlington."
K-State is virtually assured a spot in a New Year's Six bowl. A Big 12 title would be a great reward following a grueling regular season. A victory would certainly further cement this team alongside some of the most memorable squads in school history.
"I'm geeked up," Vaughn says. "When I woke up Monday, everything had to be amped up. This is what you've worked for. You can't let up on the gas.
"This is it."
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