Game 8
2/2 Baylor at Kansas State
Date: Thursday, November 5, 2015

Kickoff: 6:30 p.m.

Location: Manhattan, Kan.

Stadium: Bill Snyder Family Stadium (50,000)

Series: K-State leads, 7-5

TV: FS1

Gus Johnson (Play-by-Play)

Joel Klatt (Analyst)

Molly McGrath (Sidelines)

Radio: K-State Sports Network; k-statesports.com

SIRIUS Satellite Radio Ch. 84, XM Satellite Radio Ch. 84

Wyatt Thompson (Play-by-Play)

Stan Weber (Analyst)

Matt Walters (Sidelines)

Twitter Updates: @kstatesports and @kstate_gameday

 

CATS HOST NO. 2 BEARS IN PRIMETIME THURSDAYNIGHT TILT
K-State will look to bounce back from its current four-game losing streak as a Thursday showdown at Bill Snyder Family Stadium against second-ranked Baylor is on the horizon. The game will be broadcast nationally on FS1 with Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Molly McGrath (sideline) on the call. The contest can also be heard across the K-State Sports Network with Wyatt Thompson (play-by-play), Stan Weber (analyst) and Matt Walters (sideline) calling the action.
A LOOK AT K-STATE

• Kansas State continues its gauntlet in Big 12 play with its fourth nationally-ranked team in the last five games coming to Manhattan.
• The Cats, guided by 2015 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Bill Snyder, are 3-4 this year, which includes close losses to No. 19 Oklahoma State and No. 2 TCU.
• K-State took the Horned Frogs down to the wire behind four rushing touchdowns by Joe Hubener and two more from running back Charles Jones. The Cats tied the game at 45 with 1:47 left, but TCU scored a late TD for the win.
• That came a week after K-State took a 34-33 lead over OSU in Stillwater with 3:01 left, but the Cowboys kicked a field goal with less than a minute left for a two-point win.
• Hubener set a career high with three touchdown passes vs. LA Tech, including overtime strikes to Dominique Heath and the eventual game-winner to Kody Cook.
• Charles Jones leads the team with 302 rushing yards, including 215 in the last three games. The junior is coming off a career-best 122-yard effort at Texas, the most by a K-State RB since the final regular-season game of 2013.
• Defensively, the Cats are paced by linebackers Elijah Lee and Will Davis with 39 tackles apiece. The two have also combined for all three Wildcat interceptions this year, including two by Lee against TCU.
• Defensive tackles Travis Britz and Will Geary have also been a force, combining for 53 tackles (7.6 per game), 13.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.

A LOOK AT BAYLOR

• Baylor enters Thursday’s game at 7-0 and 4-0 in the Big 12 after a 45-27 win over Iowa State.
• The Bears rank in the top-10 nationally in 17 statistical categories, including top marks in scoring offense, total offense and passing efficiency.
• Freshman quarterback Jarrett Stidham is expected to make his first career start after Seth Russell, one of the top QBs in the country this season, was injured last game.
• Shock Linwood is seventh nationally in rushing, while wide receiver Corey Coleman is third in receiving yards and tops in receiving touchdowns.

A LOOK AT THE SERIES

• K-State leads the overall series over Baylor, 7-5, but the Wildcats are looking to break a three-game losing streak to the Bears.
• Kansas State’s last win over Baylor was a 36-35 triumph in 2011 against a Bear squad that was ranked 15th nationally while K-State was unranked at the time.
• The Wildcats fell to the 15th-ranked Bears, 35-25, in 2013, the last meeting in Manhattan. It was the first Baylor win in Manhattan in five tries.SNYDER AMONG BEST EVER
• Head coach Bill Snyder currently has 190 career victories, 151 more than any other coach in school history.
• Snyder ranks second in the FBS in wins among active coaches at their current schools, fifth in total victories among active coaches and 30th in all-time wins.
• He is 10 wins away from becoming the 25th coach in FBS history with 200 career wins.
• Snyder, who has 109 conference wins, is one of four coaches with 100 Big 8/12 victories, joining Nebraska’s Tom Osborne (153) and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (107) and Barry Switzer (100).

 

YOUTH MOVEMENT

• A total of 12 players have made their first-career starts in 2015, including a combined 10 freshmen or sophomores.
• Of the 10 underclassmen to make starts this season, six have been freshmen as fullback Winston Dimel and center Dalton Risner have started all seven games in addition to starts by Dayton Valentine and Dominique Heath on offense. Defensively, redshirt freshman safety Kendall Adams made his first-career start at Texas, while true freshman cornerback Duke Shelley has started the last three games.
• Redshirt or true freshmen have combined to make 22 total starts this season, which is tied for the fourth most under head coach Bill Snyder. The most came in Snyder’s first year (1989) when freshmen combined for 43 starts.
• Additionally, a total of 26 freshmen or sophomores have seen playing time in the first seven weeks.IN-SEASON TURNAROUNDS
• Although K-State is 3-4 in the first seven games this year, the Cats can look at recent in-season turnarounds.
• Just two seasons ago, Kansas State began the 2013 season 2-4 but was able to win six of its last seven games, including a Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl victory over Michigan, to finish 8-5.
• In 2001, the Wildcats were 2-4 – including losses in their first four conference games – but won four of their last five regular-season contests to make a bowl.THURSDAY-NIGHT LIGHTS
• Thursday’s game will mark the fifth time in the last six years that Kansas State will play a Thursday-night contest.
• Last season, the Wildcats played a pair of Thursday-night games as they fell at home to No. 5 Auburn but won at West Virginia.
• In 2010, K-State played consecutive Thursday games, falling at home to Nebraska a week before winning at KU.
• Under head coach Bill Snyder, K-State boasts a 4-2 record inThursday-night regular season games.