#19 K-State (4-2, 6-3) no longer controls their own destiny to get to the Big 12 Championship game on December 3rd. However, they can still get there, but they will need to win their upcoming game against Baylor (4-2, 6-3), who have a chance to get to Arlington as well.

The Wildcats can get there if they win out and Texas loses one of their three final games vs. TCU, at Kansas or vs. Baylor.

The Bears will control their own destiny to get back to the Big 12 title game after winning over Oklahoma 38-35 last weekend. They can get there by winning all three of their remaining games vs. K-State, vs. TCU and at Texas.

K-State picked up their second conference loss last week to a bigger, stronger and faster Texas team but only lost 34-27. The Cats were dominated in the trenches on both sides of the ball with the offensive line not able to give quarterback Adrian Martinez much time to throw or give running back Deuce Vaughn much of a hole to run through.

Despite not having his best day, Vaughn tied with Penn State’s Saquon Barkley for the fastest player to get 3,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards. He is the only player in Big 12 history to have achieved this feat in three seasons.

He needs just 25 rushing yards this weekend to have his second-straight 1,000-yard season. He would be just the third player in K-State history to have multiple 1,000-yard seasons.

They will go up against a solid Bears run defense that is allowing just 108.1 rushing yards per game, but they haven’t faced the top three rushers in the conference yet (B. Robinson – Texas, K. Miller – TCU, D. Vaughn – KSU).

The Bears have held five of their seven opponents to under 100 yards on the ground. Last year, they were able to do it six times which is the second-most games holding a team to under 100 rushing yards in school history.

Baylor is led by junior defensive lineman Siaki Ika, who was a preseason All-American by five different outlets. However, he hasn’t been having an All-American season with just one tackle for loss and no sacks this season. Ika is only 12th on the team in total tackles.

Linebacker Matt Jones is having a better season and was on the Preseason All-Big 12 First Team. Jones has two sacks and 3.5 TFL. He is third on the team in tackles with 44.

The secondary is a bit of a weakness for Baylor. Their cornerbacks aren’t going to scare you with any one-on-one matchups. Especially with K-State’s tandem of three receivers (Malik Knowles, Kade Warner and Phillip Brooks) that have the most receiving yards per game as a group (140.4) since the trio of Tyler Lockett, Curry Sexton and Kody Cook (217.3).

Baylor does, however, often love to bring their safety Al Walcott on blitzes. Walcott leads the team with seven TFLs and 55 tackles.

As for Baylor’s offense, they have been getting better as the year has gone by. One of the reasons for this is sixth-year right tackle Kahlil Keith. Keith missed the first six games of the year and now that he is back, the offense has been more productive.

The Bears’ running game has averaged almost 80 more yards a game with Keith at right tackle. Without Keith, they were allowing 2.0 sacks a game. With him, they are allowing just 1.33 sacks per game.

Baylor has a trio of running backs that can run well. True freshman Richard Reese leads their backs with 13 touchdowns, which is most in the Big 12 and leads all freshmen in the FBS. He currently has 798 rushing yards and averages 5.1 yards per carry. Reese is 83 yards shy of tying the program record for rushing yards set by Schock Linwood in 2013 (881).

Junior Craig “Sqwirl” Williams showed his explosiveness last week with 25 carries for 192 yards and two touchdowns, including a 43-yard run that clinched the game. Williams has 401 yards and four touchdowns with 5.9 yards per carry.

Junior Qualan Jones has been a nice complementary piece with 362 rushing yards, 5.6 yards per carry and six rushing touchdowns.

In the passing game, sophomore Blake Shapen helped the team to a Big 12 championship last season after starting the season as the backup. This year, he has been the team’s unquestioned starting QB and has been solid in his first year as the full-time starter.

Through nine games, he has 1,951 passing yards and 13 touchdowns with 216.8 yards per game. Shapen has the second-highest completion percentage in the Big 12 (66.8%) but has the fourth-most interceptions (6).

Baylor doesn’t have a standout #1 wideout, but they have multiple guys who can make plays. They have four pass catchers that have more than 200 yards, but none of them have more than 500 yards.

Sixth-year senior Gavin Holmes leads the team with 470 yards with three touchdowns. Tight end Ben Sims leads the team in receptions with 27, but he only has 224 yards and two scores. Sims is also the all-time leader in touchdowns (11) at Baylor among tight ends. Sophomore Monaray Baldwin leads the team in touchdowns with four. He also has 332 receiving yards this season.

If K-State wants to win this one, they will have to once again establish an intimidating passing attack right out of the gate. The Wildcats have been able to outscore opponents 174-91 in first halves this season which is the best margin in the Big 12 at +83.

Although the Cats have not been the most pass-heavy team in the league, they are still efficient. Their combined 62.8% completion percentage is seventh-best in school history. Their 1.26% interception rate is the lowest in school history as well.

Martinez has a chance to make history on Saturday and be a part of an elite club of 10,000 career passing yards and 3,000 career rushing yards. He currently sits at 9,727 passing yards and 2,918 rushing yards. The only member is former Nevada quarterback Collin Kaepernick, who had 10,098 passing yards and 4,112 rushing yards.

Prediction: This matchup is certainly more favorable than last week’s, but it will still be a tough game for the Cats. This game is winnable, but they will need to have a short memory. K-State is 2-0 after losses so far this season, but I don’t think they will be able to bounce back like the last two times. Baylor is getting hot at the right time with three straight victories and K-State has lost two of their last three. The Bears have won the last four games in the series, and I see Baylor winning their fifth in a row.

Baylor 24, K-State 21