#9 Kansas State (10-3) finds themselves in a great spot for their future. They won five conference road games, won their third ever Big 12 title, got their best recruiting class in school history and now face a national powerhouse in #5 Alabama (10-2) in a New Years Six Bowl.

This 2022 K-State team has the chance to be the most accomplished Wildcats team in school history. No other K-State team has won a conference championship and a bowl game in the same season.

Four Wildcats can boast the title of being an All-American this season. Offensive lineman Cooper Beebe, running back Deuce Vaughn, defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah and wide receiver/return specialist Malik Knowles all earned All-American honors from various outlets.

They will now play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans for the first time ever against the Crimson Tide also for the first time. A win on NYE would be K-State’s fourth bowl win in the last five tries dating back to 2016. That would be the first time K-State has accomplished said feat. This is the first K-State team to compete in 14 games in a season.

A win over Bama would also clinch 11 wins for the season, which would be tied for the most in school history. There have been seven teams to win 11 games with the most recent being in 2012 (’97, ’98, ’99, ’00, ’02, ’03, ’12). Their ten wins this season is the 11th time K-State has reached double-digit wins in a season.

Head coach Chris Klieman has been almost perfect against top ten teams. In just four years, his teams have defeated five top ten teams with three coming this season (#6 Oklahoma 41-34, #9 Oklahoma State 48-0, #3 TCU 31-28). K-State had won just one in their previous 16 tries.

Klieman talked about the resilience of this team and that his squad is deserving of playing in a New Years Six bowl. 

They will hope to do it with junior quarterback Will Howard once again leading the K-State offense. Howard has thrown for 15 touchdowns in his last six games, including tied for the most in five consecutive games since Ell Roberson in 2003.

He is 4-0 this season in his starts against Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Kansas and TCU (Big 12 Championship game). Howard has been incredibly efficient this season. His passing efficiency rating stands at 162.2 on the season which is the highest in school history with a minimum of 100 attempts.

Howard knows that he has a tough test ahead of him on Saturday.

Howard’s ability to create deep plays with his arm helps draw away attention from Vaughn, who has also had an amazing 2022 season.

Vaughn ranks 10th in the nation and 2nd in the Big 12 in scrimmage yards per game with 136.9. He’s also 11th in the country and 2nd in the conference in rushing yards with 1,425 only behind Texas’s Bijan Robinson. His rushing yard total also ranks him 7th in school history in a season. For his career, he’s racked up 3,741 rushing yards and 1,280 receiving yards.

Vaughn knows that his workload in the Sugar Bowl won’t be light.

 He can add to his historic resume on Saturday and has a decision on whether he wants to run it back in 2023 or enter the NFL Draft. After this season, he has two years of eligibility remaining.

The leader of the offensive line Cooper Beebe will also have a choice on whether he wants to go pro or return to Manhattan next season. The junior was a preseason All-American and preseason All-Big 12 this year. Beebe also made First Team All-Big 12 in 2021 and earned Honorable Mention for Big 12 Offensive Lineman of the Year.

Beebe said that the guys around him know exactly what it takes to take down the SEC juggernaut.

The same decision waits for Anudike-Uzomah. King Felix amassed 8.5 sacks this season which is the most in the Big 12. He has totaled up 20.5 in his illustrious career as a Wildcat which ranks tied for sixth in school history. Many draft experts are projecting him as a first-round draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

Anudike-Uzomah said he has been getting a lot more respect this season drawing double teams and opposing offensive play callers trying to prevent him from applying pressure, but he still has an underdog mentality that has fueled himself and his teammates.

This K-State team is complete with great play from all three levels. Their offense is the first K-State team in the Big 12 era to have 375+ yards in every league game. In their last six games, they averaged 38.7 points per game which ranks first in the Big 12 and ninth among Power 5 schools.

Their 420.2 yards per game is ranked fifth in school history. They are also 280 yards shy of the second-most yards in a season in school history.

As for the defense, they are very good in late down situations. K-State opponents have a third down conversion rate of just 35.4%, which ranks 25th in the nation and third in the Big 12. They are also 20th in opponent fourth down conversion rate at 39.4%.

K-State wouldn’t be K-State without their special teams. It’s been a rocky year with some struggles in kick and punt returning, missed kicks, kickoffs out of bounds and not great punting in the early portions of the season.

However, towards the end of the season, the special teams turned the corner. Ty Zentner is a big reason for the turnaround on the third phase of the game. He is one of just three players to punt, kick-off and place kick for their team (Ryan Coe – Cincinnati, Jack Browning – San Diego State).

Zentner has not missed a single kick since taking over the place-kicking duties. He is a perfect 29-for-29 on extra points and 9-for-9 on field goals, including the game-winning 31-yard field goal in overtime against TCU to clinch the Big 12 Championship game. To no one’s surprise, Zentner is a Ray Guy semifinalist.

Zentner is trying to take it all in during his last ride as a Wildcat. 

Alabama is going through a “down year” some would argue. However, they brought back a Heisman winning quarterback, who won the national title with Alabama in 2020 and will likely be the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They also have another potential top-three pick in edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. Both of their losses also came down to the last play of the game.

The Crimson Tide are making their 17th Sugar Bowl appearance and have a record of 9-7. Head coach Nick Saban has become one of the greatest coaches in college football history because of his postseason success. Saban has won seven national titles with six coming in his 16 years with Alabama. His bowl record is 15-6 with the Crimson Tide.

Saban’s teams are known for rising to the occasion when faced with a tough opponent. He is the all-time leader in wins against AP Top 25 teams and will get his 100th career ranked win, if they can knock off the Wildcats in the Big Easy.

Alabama has historically struggled against the Big 12. In their 27 games against current Big 12 teams, they are just 11-14-2. The only teams they haven’t faced are the two Kansas teams. Their most recent game against the Big 12 was a 20-19 win at Texas on September 10th.

Six members of the Crimson Tide earned All-American honors this season: safeties Jordan Battle and Brian Branch, cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry (yes, really), defensive end Byron Young, as well as running back Jahmyr Gibbs and Anderson Jr.

While a good amount of expected first round picks that won’t be participating in the College Football Playoff have decided to opt out, this will not be the case for the Crimson Tide. Expect Alabama to have everyone that is healthy and on the roster to play this Saturday.

Saban talked about why Young and Anderson came to their decision to play. 

K-State’s 3-3-5 defense, which the Cats started running at the beginning of 2021, is something that Alabama hardly ever sees. It will be interesting to see how Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’ Brien adjusts to a system that they aren’t used to playing against.

There have been rumors of O’Brien returning to the NFL to be the next offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. O’Brien was quick to shut down any rumors and said his full focus is on Kansas State. 

O’Brien was a part of the Patriots franchise from 2007-11 with varying roles. His stint in the NFL ended after being the head coach and general manager of the Houston Texans and has spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Alabama.

As for O’Brien’s offensive scheme, expect to see a lot of Gibbs not just out of the backfield but running a lot of routes as well. He leads the team in receptions with 42. The junior Georgia Tech transfer has a team-high 1,455 all-purpose yards with 132.3 per game, which ranks fourth in the SEC and 20th in the country.

Young has regressed a good amount from his 2021 Heisman campaign, but he has still been very good. Last year he posted a ridiculous 4,872 passing yards and has followed that up with 3,007 this year. He did miss a game and a half with an injury.

O’Brien has received a lot of criticism for Young’s regression. Young was quick to defend his offensive coordinator. 

The junior quarterback is third in Alabama history with 75 passing touchdowns and second in passing yards. All these accolades come in just three seasons.

Young gets great protection from a very talented offensive line. Offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor Jr. made First Team All-SEC and Javion Cohen and Tyler Steen made the Second Team.

One of the things this Alabama has been missing unlike other seasons is a breakout star at wide receiver. Alabama will likely go without a 1,000-yard receiver for the first time since 2017.

Their leading receiver is sophomore Ja’Corey Brooks, who has just 623 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. His season-high was a 117-yard effort against Vanderbilt. It was Brooks’ lone game with 100+ yards.

Many people thought junior Jermaine Burton would have a breakout season, but it just didn’t come to fruition. Burton had 590 yards and six touchdowns this season with only 49.1 yards per game. Gibbs is third on the team in receiving yards with 378.

In total, Alabama has the fourth-highest scoring offense in the country with 40.8 points per game. They are also ninth in scoring defense only allowing 18 points per game.

To say their defense has talent would be an enormous understatement. The Wildcats will have their hands full with Battle, McKinstry, Anderson Jr., and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o who all made First Team All-SEC.

Anderson Jr. is seventh in the country in sacks with ten. He’s also ninth in tackles for loss with 17. Anderson was not shy about his passion for the game and love for his teammates being the reasons he wanted to come back for one last game. He also talked about his high level of respect for K-State’s program.

Prediction

Keeping the game close and even down to the wire will have huge ramifications for K-State’s future. Having their name next to Alabama on ESPN’s scorebug and remaining competitive will loom large with future recruits fixating their eyes on K-State football on New Year’s Eve. If they can stay in the game and keep it at least close, viewership for the game will go up and more people will recognize that K-State football is an up-and-coming program that will be a perennial power in the new Big 12.

The odds of them making it a good game to the end I think are high. K-State’s defense is the best in the Big 12 in many statistical categories and one of the best in the country. The odds of Alabama dropping 50+ points on defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman’s squad are very low. I also think K-State’s balanced offense will also be able to make some big plays if they can get in the open field.

Alabama’s secondary and linebacker corps is one of the best in the country so the Cats will have their hands full. This means offensive coordinator Collin Klein will have to be creative and improvise, which he has shown he can do well.

I think the Cats will start off slow for just the second time this season but will claw their way back into the game at the end of the second quarter. K-State notoriously struggles in the third quarter, so I think Bama puts up double digit points in the frame. The Wildcats will battle back and outscore Alabama in the fourth quarter, but I think they will ultimately come up just short.

Alabama 34, K-State 28.