No. 16 Kansas State will seek its 16th straight victory over in-state rival Kansas when the teams meet in a Big 12 game Saturday night in Manhattan, Kan.
While Wildcats fans will boast about the longest winning streak in the history of the Sunflower Showdown, Kansas fans will point to the fact that the Jayhawks still have won more than they have lost in the all-time series.
For the coaches, those are just numbers in the past. The only thing that matters is Saturday.
“Because it’s KU vs. K-State, we’re not going to have that problem this week,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said Monday when it was suggested his team lacked energy at the start of its game last Saturday vs. West Virginia. “Just because of the respect both programs have for each other.”
That was Klieman’s way of saying the records don’t matter. The two programs aren’t fond of each other.
The Jayhawks (2-5, 1-3) snapped a five-game losing streak with a 42-14 victory over Houston last Saturday. It was a relief for Kansas coach Lance Leipold.
“We were able to put pressure on the quarterback,” Leipold said of the difference between Saturday’s contest and the five previous games. “We were able to create a few turnovers and get some momentum.
“Offensively, we were able to take some shots and get the ball down the field.
“This team has been very fragile for a while, because we’ve been so close. For us to have a win of this margin is something we’ve been waiting for.”
Kansas defensive back Cobee Bryant tied a school record with three interceptions against Houston. Bryant was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance, which also included three tackles and one tackle-for-loss.
The Jayhawks now must switch their focus from celebration to preparation.
“I think (the players have) handled it extremely well,” Leipold said Monday. “They came in with a good attitude today, obviously pleased with the good outcome Saturday, but understanding that it’s one game and we have plenty to improve on.
“We have a very good opponent coming up, and we’re going to have to travel to Manhattan to play a good football team.”
The Wildcats (6-1, 3-1) also won last Saturday, defeating West Virginia 45-18 in arguably their best game of the season. Avery Johnson completed 19 of 29 passes for a career-high 298 yards and three touchdowns. When the Mountaineers took away the running game, holding DJ Giddens to a season-low 57 yards, the Wildcats took to the air.
“It was not a very good performance in the first half,” Klieman said. “Two plays solidified or gave us the chance to be successful. One was the fourth-down stop that we had at the end of the first half (which allowed K-State to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room).
“The other one was when we had a fourth-and-6 or fourth-and-7 in the first drive of the second half and we decided to go for it. Avery did a great job making a rusher miss, and Ty (Bowman) made a big catch and got a first down. We scored on that drive and ended up playing really good football in the second half.”
But again, that’s in the past.
“(Kansas) has a lot of really good players on both sides of the ball,” Klieman said. “We’ve got to come up with a really good plan.”
