MANHATTAN — Kansas State’s football will reintroduce itself to the Wildcat fans after almost a month away when Kansas visits Bill Snyder Family Stadium at 7 p.m. Saturday for the 122nd Sunflower Showdown.
For No. 16-ranked Kansas State (6-1, 3-1 Big 12), which has won three straight and became bowl eligible last week with a 45-18 blowout victory at West Virginia, the game has greater implications than just bragging rights against a rival. The Wildcats are currently tied for third in the Big 12 and very much in the hunt for a spot in the conference championship game and ultimately the College Football Playoffs.
The Wildcats are coming off back-to-back road victories, rallying to beat Colorado two weeks ago before pulling away from West Virginia in the second half. The KU game will be their third in a row at night and fifth this season under the lights.
KU (2-5, 1-3) ended a five-game losing streak last week with a 42-14 victory over Houston.
K-State is 5-0 against Kansas under coach Chris Klieman, while KU coach Lance Leipold, now in his fourth year, 0-3 vs. the Wildcats.
Here are five things to know, plus a prediction, for Saturday’s game.
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It’s home sweet Homecoming for Kansas State football
When K-State takes the field against Kansas it literally will be a homecoming in more ways than one.
The Wildcats have not played at The Bill since they beat then-No. 20 Oklahoma State, 42-20, on Sept. 28 to start their current three-game winning streak. It marks the second straight season that K-State has had a four-week gap between home games.
This is also K-State’s homecoming game, which should be a good omen for the Wildcats. They have won their last seven on homecoming and are 27-7 in those games since 1990.
Incidentally, Kansas stretched its homecoming winning streak to three last week with its blowout of Houston at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The Jayhawks are playing their home conference games at Arrowhead while its own Memorial Stadium is undergoing a major renovation.
Sunflower Showdown history: Wildcats have dominated of late
The Sunflower Showdown have been a one-sided affair in the past decade-and-a-half, with K-State bringing a 15-game winning streak in the series into this week’s game. Since going 0-3 against the Jayhawks under Ron Prince from 2006-08, the Wildcats have won the last 10 under Bill Snyder and five more under Klieman.
But since KU’s resurgence under Leipold, the intensity has picked up. Last year in Lawrence, K-State trailed the Jayhawks by 11 points in the second half but came back to win, 31-27.
KU leads the all-time series, 65-52-5.
This will be the 114th straight year for the Sunflower Showdown, dating back to 1911, which makes it the third-longest uninterrupted series in FBS history. The schools first met in 1902 with the only interruption when they did not play in 1910.
Turnover turnaround has fueled K-State’s recent surge
Turnovers were a stumbling block for the Wildcats early in the season and especially in its one loss at Brigham Young. K-State turned the ball over three times as they fell 38-9 to the Cougars without getting one of its own.
Through the first four games, the Wildcats were minus-2 in turnover margin, but in the three games since they have flipped that by going plus-4 and now have forced nine for the season while giving up seven.
Turnover margin played a big role in the Wildcats’ success the past two years when they were among the top 10 nationally, finishing eighth in 2022 and fifth last season.
Wildcats no longer just ground and pound
After wearing down opponents with its powerful rushing attack, K-State flipped the script last week against a West Virginia defense that went all-in on stopping the run.
Running back DJ Giddens, who went into that game leading the Big 12 in rushing yards, was held to 57 yards on the ground, dropping him to third in the current conference rankings with 843 yards, though he did run for two touchdowns against the Mountaineers.
West Virginia’s commitment against the run opened up the passing game for Avery Johnson, who passed for a career-high 298 yards with three touchdowns.
K-State injury update: Wildcats good to go on offense
K-State had some injury concerns on offense going into the week, especially with offensive linemen Hadley Panzer and Carver Willis. But Klieman pronounced starting right tackle Willis fit on Monday, he was less certain about left guard Panzer.
But an upbeat Panzer showed up for Monday’s media session and said he felt good, suggesting he also would play.
On Thursday, offensive coordinator Conor Riley said he expected tight end Brayden Loftin to be back in the lineup this week after missing the previous three games.
The lone casualty last week was backup middle linebacker Beau Palmer, who was lost for the season with a knee injury.
Prediction: Kansas State 31, Kansas 27
A repeat of last year’s final score seems like a good place to start for this week’s game. KU’s record might not show it, but the Jayhawks have been in every game, leading in the fourth quarter in four of its five losses. K-State is on a roll and has been especially strong at home but look for this to be much closer than the 10-point Las Vegas spread.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on X (formerly Twitter) at @arnegreen.
