Your Kansas State Wildcats finally looked like a competitive football team in 2025 during their 34-20 win over UCF in Manhattan last weekend. It certainly wasn’t perfect, and they still have a ways to go to get back on track for preseason goals, but it was a significant step in the correct direction. Now the Wildcats will need to show that it wasn’t a one-game aberration.
The Wildcats are in Waco this morning for a game that’s going to feel more like an early September game than an early October game on
the thermostat. The Baylor Bears enter today’s game at 3-2, but haven’t looked any more impressive than the 2-3 Wildcats. The Bears are just 1-2 at home, dropping their season opener 24-38 to Auburn, and sandwiching wins against SMU (2OT in Dallas) and Samford with a 24-27 loss to Arizona State. Last week, the knocked off struggling Oklahoma State 45-27, but that game felt far closer than the final score would indicate.
So this is a toss-up game. Being at home doesn’t seem to have given the Bears much of an advantage so far this season. K-State hadn’t looked particularly impressive regardless of location until last weekend. But at 11am in Waco, with a Bears fanbase that seems to be returning to apathy for non-rivalry games, this is at-worst a neutral site game. This also have the potential to be a swing game for both teams, but especially K-State. A win should give some momentum for the second-half of the season, while a loss could easily signal the beginning of the end.
So Avery Johnson, Dylan Edwards, and a K-State offense that’s finally starting to get players back to health will need to continue their progression. They should an ability to be efficient as well as explosive, things we expected at the beginning of the season. Johnson finally seemed to let loose on the ground, and it was a huge part of opening things up early for the Wildcats’ offensive gameplan.
For their part, the defense continued to look solid, aside for giving up a few big plays. But that’s what they’ve been all season so far, but the big difference last week was that they were aided by the offense staying on the filed for more than three plays at a time and getting scores occasionally.
The K-State team that showed up to work last weekend is a team capable of picking up a big win in Waco today. But any steps back could spell disaster for this Wildcats squad.
We’ve got an 11:00am CT kickoff from McLane Stadium in Waco, and you can catch the action on ESPN+ with Pete Sousa (Play-by-Play), Legar Douzable (Analyst), and Tori Petry (Sidelines) on the call.
If you can’t access the ESPN+ 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. 382, 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.
