Kansas State and Kansas will meet for the 114th time in football Saturday in Manhattan with the Wildcats having a chance to enhance its post-season bowl qualifications. The Chiefs, after a 19-17 loss to Tampa Bay, will take on the dreaded Denver Broncos Sunday without much of a mountain high feeling.
Wildcat Coach Bill Snyder holds a 20-4 advantage over the Jayhawks — winning the last seven games.
Will he pound on KU again? Hmm. The Cats are a 27-point favorite. This, after KU pulled off a 24-21 overtime victory over Texas last Saturday in Lawrence to snap a 19-game Big 12 losing streak. Also, that was the first victory over the Longhorns since 1938.
That many points! Geez. Well, the Cats, 4-3 in the conference and 6-4 overall, can guarantee a winning season with a victory and a chance to move up in the bowl pecking order. Right now, they’re projected to play Georgia in the Liberty Bowl. But beating KU and TCU could place them in a higher rated bowl, either Texas or Russell Athletic.
The Jayhawks, now 1-7 and 2-9, could end another losing streak Saturday; they have lost 43 straight on the road.
The Cats have made a lot of mistakes and the play-calling has been inconsistent throughout the season. However, they looked impressive last Saturday at Baylor, winning 42-21.
The Cats have the top conference defense in allowing points, surrendering just 23.7 a game. However, their controlling offense has a lot to do with that. Besides, their pass defense ranks eighth in the league, allowing 280 yards a game.
The offense has picked up a bit, averaging 37 points over the last three games. And in the victory over Baylor, redshirt freshman running back Alex Barnes rushed 19 times for 129 times. Barnes, big and fast out of Pittsburg, had only one carry in the first half, but it was his show after that, especially in the third quarter. That’s when he scored three of his four touchdowns, and Kansas State held the ball for 11:37 and outgained Baylor 186-38.
It was the first win for the Wildcats in Waco since 2002 and made them bowl eligible for the seventh straight season.
KU has no bowl hopes but they sure showed happy faces after senior kicker Matthew Wyman knocked through a field goal to force overtime, then drilled a 25-yarder in overtime for the win.
Will Snyder’s hold on the Jayhawks continue? Will KU’s bubble of excitement after the win over Texas make the trip to Manhattan? Will K-State quarterback Jesse Ertz be able to run — and pass against the weak KU secondary? If K-State eliminates the mistakes, the game could turn into a rout.
Wildcat fans puff with pride the way Snyder has held the upper hand against KU. Many of them may not recall the Doug Weaver coaching tenure, 1960 to 1966, when K-State didn’t beat KU and never even scored a touchdown. That was then, this is now.
However, laying 27 points seems to be too much. I’ll take KU for $11.
For the Chiefs, so many questions, so few answers.
They have been able to get by with poor play-calling on both sides of the ball for most of the season. But it caught up with them last Sunday. Dink and dunk passing failed. A defense that allowed Tampa’s mediocre offense to stay on the field didn’t help. And where are the kickoff and punt returns?
Quarterback Alex Smith apparently doesn’t have a long ball in his repertoire. Yes, his best deep receiver, Jeremy Maclin, is out with an injury. But you gotta test a secondary like Tampa’s. Yes, Smith has been efficient. But his quarterback rating of 61.1 ranks 19th in the NFL. Interestingly, in the woeful effort Sunday, league stats show he gained positive points on 77 percent of his plays and had a QBR of 94.1 — the best rating of all quarterbacks for the week.
Here we criticize the defense and the Chiefs have allowed the fifth fewest points a game, 18.7. But as they say, statistics are for losers.
The Broncos have the same record as the Chiefs, 7-3, but they have been far from stellar. They are relying on Trevor Siemian, a 24-year-old seventh-round draft choice, as their quarterback.
They get it done with their defense, led by linebacker Von Miller, who has 9.5 sacks. The team has given up just 18.9 points a game.
Do you think the Chiefs can bounce back after such a pitiful performance? I don’t. I will take the Broncos and lay the 3 points for $22.
PR HF HD RF RD Cover Streak APF APA Record
Kansas City 15.5 1-4-0 0-0-0 1-0-0 2-2-0 5-4-1 nc1 22.2 18.7 7-3
Denver 21.5 3-1-0 1-0-0 1-1-0 2-1-0 7-3-1 c1 23.9 18.9 7-3
Three NFL games are set for Thanksgiving Day and I will play one of them — Washington getting 7 at Dallas for $11.
The game will go a long way in determining the winner of the NFC East Division. Dallas holds a 2½-game lead over the Redskins; the Cowboys won 27-23 at Washington in the second game of the season. That was the start of a nine-game winning streak — they’re 9-1, the best in the league.
The Redskins have played nearly as well since that Week 2 matchup. They have just one loss over the last nine weeks, losing only to Detroit and tying Cincy in that stretch. Last Sunday, they beat Green Bay at home, 42-24. With a top running game and Kirk Cousins playing like a Pro Bowl quarterback, the Redskins have the NFL’s No. 2 offense, averaging 418.5 yards a game.
Be alert: The Cowboys are 9-0-1 against the spread.
PR HF HD RF RD Cover Streak APF APA Record
Washington 14.0 3-1-0 1-1-0 0-0-0 3-1-0 7-3-1 c3 25.4 23.3 6-3-1
Dallas 20.0 3-0-0 1-0-1 2-0-0 3-0-0 9-0-1 c9 28.5 18.7 9-1
A game that will keep Denver and Kansas City fans interested will take place Sunday when Carolina travels to Oakland. The Raiders have won four in a row and hold a one-game lead over the Broncos and Chiefs in the AFC West.
Oakland quarterback Derek Carr has to be in the discussion for MVP as he’s completing 66.2 percent of his passes and has thrown for 2,800 yards and 20 touchdowns with only four interceptions through his team’s first 10 games.
The Panthers defeated New Orleans 23-20 on Thursday but now must understand that injuries have consequences. Luke Kuechly, Mario Addison, Leonard Johnson and Ryan Kalil all suffered injuries and their status for Sunday is problematic.
Despite the injuries, I think Carolina will respond, plus the Raiders are coming down from a vigorous high altitude game on Monday Night Football in Mexico City — they beat Houston 27-20. I will take the 3½ points for $11.
PR HF HD RF RD Cover Streak APF APA Record
Carolina 16.0 2-4-0 0-0-0 0-3-1 0-0-0 2-7-1 nc2 24.4 24.6 4-6
Oakland 20.0 2-2-0 0-0-0 1-0-0 5-0-0 8-2-0 c4 27.2 24.3 8-2
Other NFL bets:
$33 — Seattle -5½ vs. Tampa
$22 — NY Giants -7 at Cleveland
$11 — Houston +1 vs. San Diego, Chicago +5.5 vs. Tennessee, Atlanta -4 vs. Arizona, Miami -7½ vs. San Fran, New Orleans -7 vs. Los Angeles, New England -7½ at NY Jets
The big game on the college national scene, of course, is Michigan at Ohio State.
The No. 2 Buckeyes (10-1) and the No. 3 Wolverines (10-1) are putting their playoff hopes on the line. The winner will be one step closer to college football’s biggest stage, while the loser will certainly be eliminated from title contention. The stakes haven’t been this high since 2006, when Ohio State and Michigan entered their matchup ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The Buckeyes won 42-39.
In betting the game, there has been a constant: The road team has gone 7-0 against the spread in the last seven matchups.
That’s good enough for me — I’ll take the 6½ points for $22 on Michigan.
Other college games:
$22 — Arkansas -8 at Missouri
$11 — LSU -6½ at Texas A&M, Texas -3 vs. TCU, Washington -6 at Washington State, Baylor -5½ vs. Texas Tech, Iowa State +7 vs. West Virginia, Louisville -26 vs. Kentucky, Colorado -10 vs. Utah
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
The next blog is scheduled for Monday