The Kansas State Wildcats invade Waco to take on the Baylor Bears in a BIG-12 match-up on Saturday, November 19th. The gridiron battle will take place at High Noon ET and can be seen on the ESPN2 Network. As of this article, the Wildcats are -2 point favorites and the game’s total is at 59.
Kansas State is entering Waco off of a bye week that allowed the Wildcats to recharge their batteries for this BIG-12 match-up. Currently, the Wildcats sit at 5-4 and need to capture one victory in their next three games to give coach Bill snyder his seventh straight bowl berth.
Kansas State (5-4):
The Kansas State offense has been contributing a little more to the overall success of the team as of late. While Jesse Ertz is never going to be a prolific passer, he is a talented runner with a team-best 630 rushing yards and nine scores. When he passes the rock, he has completed 109 balls for 1,165 yards with seven touchdowns and four picks.
Running back Charles Jones pitches in with Jesse Hertz to fire-up the Wildcats ground game. This year, Jones has tallied 509 yards on just under 100 carries and two trips to the promise land.
The passing game isn’t the Wildcats first option but when they do pass, three receivers pitch in to move the chains for coach Snyder. The trio has gathered in 81 balls for just under 1,000 yards and six touchdown catches.
Kansas State’s strength is on the defensive side of the football. The unit tops the conference in total defense. They are led by defensive end Jordan Willis who leads the BIG-12 in sacks with nine. The Wildcats are also ranked 11th in the nation against the run, allowing only 112 yards a contest.
Baylor (6-3):
The Bears went on a roll for the first half of the 2016 season, but now have ran out of gas. New head coach Jim Grobe needs to rally the troops after three straight defeats, including two lopsided losses to Oklahoma and TCU.
Things went from bad to worse for the Bears last Saturday, when starting quarterback Seth Russell’s season was ended with an ankle injury. It appears that the Zach Smith era in Baylor will get started sooner than expected on Saturday.
A large dose of the running game is to be expected from Baylor this weekend. Shock Linwood returns from his one-game suspension to boost the running game for his greenhorn quarterback.
Terence Williams and Shock Linwood are the two-headed monster that ramps up the Bear’s running attack. Together, the duo has collected just over 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns.
KD Cannon is the receiver that has been moving the ball down the field consistently for the Baylor Bears in 2016. The talented wide out has reeled in 47 catches for 687 yards and eight scores. Three other Baylor receivers have caught at least 20 balls and have multiple end zone appearances.
The Baylor defense absolutely fell apart when they ran into the meat of their schedule four weeks ago. Since that time, they have allowed an average of 37 points a contest BIG-12 foes. They are especially weak against the run, giving way to 210 yards a game.
Trends and Notes:
The Wildcats are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Bears are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
The Under is 4-1 in Wildcats last 5 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
The Under is 7-2 in the Bears last 9 games overall.
The Underdog is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings.
Game Prediction:
Kansas State should have plenty of motivation for this contest against the Baylor Bears. A win and they will be bowl bound for coach Snyder once again. It isn’t always pretty, as the Wildcats like to grind it out three yards at a time. Kansas State has one of the nation’s most talented defenses and they count on them to keep them in games.
Baylor’s tumultuous season continues to spiral downward. To make things worse, not only do they have a new coach to lean on for help, but a quarterback too. This couldn’t be any worse of a time for a rookie signal-caller to take his first snaps. Kansas State’s defense flat out performs.
I said last week that if Baylor suffered another defeat like they did against TCU, then you could stick a fork in em’. Well, stick that fork in em’. Take the Kansas State defense and it’s running game to grind out a win in Waco and head to a bowl game.
