At what point do we start to believe in Kansas State?

Beating Texas isn’t really a big deal at this point, but still, to come up with a shutout against a Longhorn offense and a quarterback in Tyrone Swoopes who was just starting to find their stride is a big deal.

There’s real work ahead for the Wildcats with road games at TCU, West Virginia and Baylor still to deal with, but for now, they’re doing what they need to do. The call went out from the Texas coaching staff to D up this week after a rough few games, and Kansas State still managed to come up with the easy win despite a strong Longhorn effort.

The running game didn’t really work so well, but Jake Waters and the Kansas State passing game kept things moving. Unlike the Auburn game, the placekicking was great, and the defense was absolutely stifling. The goal was to stop Stoops first – after his threw for over 300 yards in his previous two games – and it worked. He barely had any room to move, and he didn’t have anything going on down the field. While there wasn’t a whole bunch of help from the receivers, he was held to 106 yards – Kansas State’s defense had a lot to do with that.

Texas has turned into the epitome of inconsistent. The O worked against Iowa State and late against Oklahoma, but this week it was non-existent. The D had been struggling, but this week it was moving faster and seemed to be more decisive. But Kansas State still came up with the shutout because it’s playing like the real deal.

It’s going to take some work to get enough credit to get into the playoff, but for now, Kansas State has put itself in the right position.