Looking ahead to gameday: at Texas

Aug. 10, 201110:16 a.m.


Editor’s note: In preparation of the upcoming football season, K-Stated will look ahead to all 12 games on the Wildcats’ 2011 schedule. Next up, Texas A&M

There’s a pretty easy way to look at the Big 12’s new round-robin schedule: It’s a positive for the old south division teams and a negative for the old north division teams.

If you’re a team like Texas, you’ve got to like the idea of playing Kansas, Iowa State, Kansas State and Missouri on a yearly basis. If you’re a team like K-State, you’ve got to hate the idea of playing Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas, Baylor and Texas A&M every single year.

Or … do you?

While the first paragraph of this blog is true for most teams in the new-look Big 12, it could be viewed the opposite way by the Wildcats and Longhorns.

Coming off three straight wins over Texas, an amazingly easy 39-14 romp in Manhattan last year and an all-time record of 6-5 against the Horns, K-State may be the only team around that will look forward to playing Texas year-in, year-out.

The Wildcats will see if they can keep their winning streak going in Austin this November. Read More »

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Postgame: K-State 39, Texas 14

Nov. 7, 20105:17 p.m.

At one point during its 39-14 victory over Texas, Daniel Thomas said one of the Longhorns’ defensive backs began complaining of boredom.

That pretty much sums up what happened Saturday night. The Wildcats ran the ball so effectively and often that Texas cornerbacks and safeties had little to do. The plan caught the Longhorns by surprise and K-State easily picked up its sixth win of the season and became bowl eligible.

Here’s a deeper look:

THE GOOD
1. Collin Klein added a whole new element to K-State’s rushing attack. The sophomore quarterback made the first start of his college career and rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries. He made good reads throughout the night, and his speed was a nice complement to Thomas’s bruising running style. Read More »

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Gameday Preview: Texas at K-State

Nov. 6, 201010:58 a.m.

Coming into the season, this looked like a very compelling game.

After dropping its last two games to Kansas State, it seemed like Texas would have revenge on its mind today in Manhattan. And with a traditional Big 12 powerhouse coming to town, the Wildcats would have the chance to pick up a statement victory.

The game is still compelling enough to be televised nationally at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, but it isn’t the match up everyone expected. The Longhorns (4-4) are struggling like never before under coach Mack Brown. The Wildcats (5-3) have lost two in a row.

Still, bowl implications mean the game is still important for both sides.
Read More »

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Looking ahead to Gameday: Texas

Aug. 27, 201010:11 a.m.

GARRETT-GILBERT-TEXAS-QB

Editor’s note: In preparation of the upcoming football season, K-Stated will look ahead to all 12 games on the Wildcats’ 2010 schedule. Next up, Oklahoma State.

When Ron Prince was fired by Kansas State during the 2007 football season, two fan bases were pleased.

Wildcats fans looked forward to the return of Bill Snyder, and Texas fans said adios to the coach that never lost to Colt McCoy.

Regardless of what Prince did during his other 35 games as K-State’s football coach, there is no denying that he was a thorn in the Longhorns’ side.

In 2006, he picked up a signature 45-42 win over Texas on the way to an appearance in the Texas Bowl. In 2007, he guided the Wildcats to an eye-popping 41-21 blowout victory in Austin.

At Big 12 Media Days, I asked a few Texas players if they had any thoughts as to why K-State was able to take those two games, and they shrugged. Read More »

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Texas downplays revenge factor

July 28, 201012:58 p.m.

One of the comments I’ve seen popping up in season previews of the Texas Longhorns is that they are looking forward to having Kansas State back on the schedule.

Writers have dubbed the game, which will be played Nov. 6 at Snyder Family Stadium, a revenge match. The Wildcats defeated the Longhorns in each of their past two meetings, and were the only Big 12 team Colt McCoy was unable to beat during his stellar career.

So I’m sure there are some on Texas’ roster who want the chance to knockoff K-State. But not as many as you might think.
Read More »

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Now at the podium: Texas

July 28, 201011:45 a.m.

Texas football coach Mack Brown spent his time at the podium reflecting on conference realignment and cracking jokes.

He said he was thrilled to learn the Big 12 was going to survive, and that he will miss playing both Nebraska and Colorado on a regular basis. He will particularly miss the Cornhuskers and mentor Tom Osborne.

When asked about the big deal Nebraska fans were have been making about this year’s UT/NU clash, Brown said it was a compliment to the Longhorns that the Cornhuskers were talking about them in July.
Read More »

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With history on their side, Bat Cats have little reason to fear No. 1 Texas

May 7, 20101:07 a.m.

The Texas baseball team sure has a lot going for it right now. Let us count the ways:

The Longhorns are the No. 1 ranked squad in the country. They boast an overall record of 39-7. At 19-2 in Big 12 play, they stand one win away from locking up a regular season conference title. They have the best pitching staff in the nation. They are on a 21-game winning streak.

Whew, that’s a long list. Some might call it intimidating.

But Kansas State fans shouldn’t. Lately, some of their best memories have come while the Longhorns were at their best. Just think back to Jan. 18, which was the last time a Texas squad had so much going for it. On that day, the Texas basketball team took a 17-0 record and No. 1 ranking to Bramlage Coliseum.

Behind the (then) highly touted trio of Avery Bradley, Damion James and Dexter Pittman, Texas appeared rock solid. But the Wildcats handed it a 71-62 defeat on national TV. All of a sudden K-State had the nation’s respect, and it went on to make the Elite eight.
Read More »

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Postgame: K-State 71, Texas 62

Jan. 19, 20103:26 a.m.

All season, the Big 12 has been considered a two-team race.

But now that No. 10 Kansas State has given No. 1 Texas its first loss of the season — a 71-62 decision at a rowdy Bramlage Coliseum — there are three teams in the running for a conference championship.

Wildcats leading scorer Jacob Pullen puts it like this: “Walking into this game you felt like (Kansas) being three, Texas being one, they knew about us, but everybody really assumed this was their conference to win. We just wanted to show people it’s not.”

“We want people to know we can win this conference,” the junior guard continued. “We got the talent and depth and the maturity. We’ve got everything you need to make a deep run in March and win the Big 12 championship.”
Read More »

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Scouting the Texas Longhorns

Jan. 17, 201011:56 p.m.

Before he left the Coors Events Center on Saturday, Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin joked that sleepless nights were ahead.

With No. 1 Texas next on the schedule, can you blame him?

From top to bottom, the Longhorns are loaded. Damion James and Dexter Pittman make up one of the nation’s best front lines, Avery Bradley is a top-notch guard and their quality backups give the Longhorns all kinds of depth.

No. 13 Kansas State gets the chance to knock off undefeated Texas on Big Monday at Bramlage Coliseum. Both coaches — Rick Barnes and Frank Martin — have been working around the clock in preparation, and a terrific game is expected. The early Vegas line has the contest as a pick ‘em.

For a closer look at the Longhorns, I have enlisted the help of Mark Rosner, who covers Texas basketball for the Austin American-Statesman.
Read More »

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Wildcats feel for Roland, Texas A&M

Jan. 12, 20103:49 p.m.

When Texas A&M senior Derrick Roland went down earlier this season with a leg injury so horrific that it has been compared to Joe Theismann’s famous break, college basketball players and coaches across the country cringed.

With the Aggies coming to Bramlage Coliseum tonight, K-State basketball coach Frank Martin said his thoughts are still with Roland (a senior guard who is now almost certainly done for the season) and the A&M basketball team.

“My heart goes out to them,” Martin said. “You don’t want to lose a senior. You don’t want to lose a four-year guy. Guys who play the game the right way don’t deserve for those things to happen to them.”
Read More »

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