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THE DEFENSES
| STATISTIC |  |
 |
| Passes Broken Up | 29 | 23 |
| QB Hurries | 6 | 4 |
| Fumbles Forced | 2 | 10 |
| Interceptions | 7 | 8 |
| Sacks | 11.0 | 17.0 |
| Tackles for Loss | 39.0 | 44.0 |
| 3rd Down Conversion % | 35.85% | 39.80% |
| Rushing Yards Allowed | 111.43 (20, 3 | 99.29 (11, 2) |
| Rushing Avg. Yards/Attempt | 3.28 | 3.15 |
| Passing Yards Allowed | 170.57 (12, 2) | 226.57 (62, 4) |
| Passing Avg Yards/Attempt | 5.3 | 6.3 |
The defense is even better than it was last year for Kansas St. At least, that's what I think. Sometimes I don't know what to make of forced fumbles, but it usually means that the Wildcats are knocking the snot out of someone that has the ball and forcing players to think about ball security or catching the ball over the middle. When I was first putting these stats together, I go in order, and when I saw that they only had 4 quarterback hurries, I was encouraged, thinking that they were not really getting to the passer, but then I got to the sacks and I sunk my head a bit. Texas Tech is having a rough go at it on the offensive line and a defensive group that can sack the quarterback is worrisome. I think that teams saw what they did to the left side of the line, in particular Beau Carpenter. I think at least one of the sacks was a stunt with the speed rusher for TCU flipping and heading right up the gut. Carpenter didn't have the foot speed to pick him up and it meant QB Seth Doege getting batted around.
TCU was really good at the run, but K-State has even better numbers and that's bothersome. I really want to see the running game get back on track, but I don't think it's going to happen this week. I am slightly encouraged by the passing yards allowed, but I really shouldn't be. The only team to pass for more than 300 yards was Oklahoma. I do understand that part of their problem was turnovers in that game, but the Wildcats literally would not let West Virginia do anything, allowing 23 of 35 completions for a 4.4 yards per attempt average. I don't know what they did against WVU, but I'd guess that we see a similar game plan this week.
For Texas Tech, I am still encourage, but I will say that these averages for yards allowed are slowly but surely creeping up and I was expecting that during conference play. I am encouraged that this team is doing a pretty good job of getting behind the line of scrimmage and have been pretty consistent throughout the year. I'd still like to see more turnovers, but there's nothing wrong with limiting the opposing offenses to more than 200 yards less per game.
THE OFFENSES
| STATISTIC | |
|
| Red Zone TD % | 75.00% (27/36) | 67.50% (27/40) |
| 3rd Down Conversion % | 54.26% | 53.95% |
| Passing Yards | 361.71 (4, 2) | 201.00 (90, 9) |
| Yards/Passing Attempt | 8.2 | 10.0 |
| Rushing Yards | 154.43 (76, 8) | 233.86 (14, 2) |
| Rushing Yards Per Attempt | 4.66 | 5.49 |
| Touchdowns | Turnovers | 39 | 11 | 39 | 4 |
| Turnover Margin | -0.14 | 1.86 |
| Yards/Play | 6.68 | 6.94 |
| Sacks Allowed / Pass Attempt | 28.09 | 28.20 |
I'm a little surprised to see Texas Tech have a higher red zone touchdown percentage than K-State, although having the ball in the redzone for three overtimes will help the average. Still, it's not all that much different. On an overall yardage standpoint, Texas Tech has a slight edge, but K-State has Tech on a yards per play basis, which is probably more impressive considering the relatively few opportunities when the pass. However, when K-State does pass, they make it count, averaging over 10 yards per passing attempt. And yes, I know that the graph still reads wrong, but Texas Tech is on a pretty good roll. I'll suffer looking like a dolt until Texas Tech loses again.
And if you want to really know why Kansas St. is winning football games, look no further than their turnover margin. Texas Tech is winning football games despite their turnovers, but K-State has been on the negative side of the turnovers only once this season, to North Texas as they lost two turnovers and gained only one. Other than that, they've been near flawless and were +3 against Oklahoma, +5 against Kansas, 0 against Iowa St. and +2 against West Virginia. This is a team that just isn't turning the ball over and they are +13 on the year as they've created 17 turnovers and only given it up 4 times. For comparison purposes, Texas Tech is -1 on the year, as they've gained 10 turnovers and given up 11 turnovers.