What a weird, ugly season this has been for the Kansas State Wildcats. From the loss in Ireland, to one of the most disappointing home losses in at least two decades (but maybe school history) to Army,
and now we’re coming off what could easily be argued as one of the worst wins in over 30 years.
So now the Wildcats (5-5, 4-3) take their roller coaster out west to face the #13 Utah Utes for the first-ever meeting between the schools on the gridiron. The Utes enter the contest today at 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play, and their two losses are to 10-1 Texas Tech and 9-1 BYU. Kyle Wittingham, who took over as head coach at Utah before Bill Snyder retired the first time, has his program turned around after a rough initial season of Big 12 play last year saw the Utes finish at 5-7 and their first missed bowl game (in a normal year) in a decade.
So easily the most flawed team Chris Klieman has put together for a full season heads to the Salt Lake valley, and thankfully doesn’t need today’s game to become bowl eligible. Because the likely-hood of K-State winning today is extremely low, and it’s more likely that this ends up in a blowout loss for the Wildcats. Sorry for the pessimism, but the way this season has gone, it’s with good reason.
So can K-State win today? Sure, anything is possible. But we’d at least like to see some fight from the Cats down the stretch. A team that actually looks alive, instead of the zombie unit that managed to stumble out of Stillwater with more points on the scoreboard. So keep your expectations low, and just try to enjoy a college football game that has no real bearing on anything important.
We’ve got a 3:00pm CT kickoff from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, and you can catch the action on ESPN2 (or online at ESPN.com) with Dave Flemming (Play-by-Play), Brock Osweiler (Analyst), and Stormy Buonantony (Sidelines) on the call.
If you don’t have ESPN2 or can’t access the stream, the game can be heard across the 28-station K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), former K-State quarterback Stan Weber (analyst), and Matt Walters (sidelines) calling the action. The game will also be on SiriusXM Satellite Radio Ch. 384, and available online at K-Statesports.com. Live stats are also available at k-statesports.com, and social media updates (@KStateFB) will also be a part of the coverage.
Go Cats!
