Kansas State's offense does not impress in shutout win over Texas

They may have beaten Texas 23-0 nothing, but Kansas State didn't play as well as a team that many predict will win the Big 12 should have.

In fact, until they took a three-score lead halfway through the fourth quarter, it was hard to believe the Wildcats had gone toe-to-toe against the likes of Oklahoma and Auburn.  

Coming into the game there was a lot of concern over Jake Waters's arm strength, as K-State's quarterback took a nasty shot from an Oklahoma defender in the third quarter of last Saturday's game. 

While he may not have been at 100 percent, Waters's arm strength was not the problem in this one - the senior quarterback completed 19-of-30 passes for 224 yards. It was the Wildcats' inability to effectively run against a defense that routinely surrenders over 100 rushing yards per game that proved worrisome.

Although they finished the game with 123 yards on the ground, they only managed to secure 88 yards before entering run-out-the-clock mode at the end of the fourth quarter. While they managed to pad their stats with those last-minute carries, the Wildcats' 2.9 yards per rush is something that Bill Snyder will certainly look to rectify  before K-State takes on Oklahoma State next week. 

It's crazy to think that Texas, a team that couldn't get anything going offensively and racked up 77 yards of penalties, was very much in this game until the fourth quarter. 

Only time will tell whether or not the Wildcats have enough firepower to compete with teams like TCU and Baylor for a Big 12 title, but if Saturday's whitewashing of Texas was any indication, their defense is certainly up to the task.

K-State's defense played at an elite level as the Wildcats handed the Longhorns their first shutout in 10 years. They also held a Texas team that scored 48 points against Iowa State last week to under 200 yards of total offense and 4-of-13 on third down attempts. To say that they appear ready for a championship run would be an understatement.