The K-State football team returns home this week for their first Big 12 home game against the Baylor Bears.
The Wildcats are looking to bounce back after a mistake filled 26-13 loss in Stillwater, Oklahoma, at the hands of Oklahoma State.
“As players we did not execute at a high level like we usually do,” senior running back James Gilbert said. “We watched the film, there were opportunities for big plays to happen. We just didn’t execute, so that’s on us.”
Senior offensive lineman Adam Holtorf blamed execution as well.
“There’s a lot of frustration because we weren’t able to execute and take advantages of the opportunities we had,” Holtorf said. “We should have been able to make the adjustments and execute.”
It was not just the lack of explosive plays for K-State. They also want to try to hold opponents to fewer explosive plays.
“They had, I think, ten explosive plays,” head coach Chris Klieman said. “I think we had like two.”
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K-State begins a three-game homestand against Baylor on Saturday
Klieman opened Tuesday’s press conference by mentioning the explosive plays and offensive struggles on third down as two big factors in the loss.
“We weren’t able to stay on the field,” Klieman said. “We were 1-13 on third downs, you can’t do that on the road and you can’t do that in the type of offense we want to play.”
K-State also struggled in the passing game last week without freshman wide receiver Malik Knowles.
“There’s a lot of different ways to go about [improving passing],” Thompson said. “At the end of the day, we have to get open and I have to make the right reads and get them the ball. I felt like there was a lot of things going wrong.”
Thompson only amassed 118 yards on 11 completed passes. No receiver caught more than three passes or gained more than 39 yards in the game.
A win would help the Wildcats get rolling in a key stretch of three straight home games against Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma. The games could make or break the season.
“The most important game is the one that you are preparing for,” Holtorf said. “We’ve got a great home stretch. It feels like forever since we’ve been at home so it’s important that we start this homestand off on the right note.”
The game against Baylor will kick off at 2:30 p.m. at Bill Snyder Family Stadium and be broadcast on ESPN2.
