Texas Longhorns football preview: Game vs. Kansas State could determine Big 12 title
With four games left in the regular season, Texas and Kansas State find themselves in a pack of five teams atop the Big 12 standings. The winner of this game will have a clear path to the conference title game next month in Arlington.
No. 7 Texas (7-1, 4-1) vs. No. 23 Kansas State (6-2, 4-1)
11 a.m., Royal-Memorial Stadium
TV/radio:Fox, 1300, 98.1, 105.3 (Spanish)
Line: Texas is favored by 3½.
Weather: Finally, some football weather. Clear skies, temperatures in the mid-60s at kickoff and a sunny 75 by the final whistle.
Texas history: Kansas State
All-time: Texas leads 13-10
Last meeting: Texas 31, Kansas State 24 (2022)
Most memorable meeting: Texas 24, Kansas State 20 (2003). After seeing a smattering of playing time through the first four games of his freshman season, Longhorns quarterback Vince Young came off the bench to throw a 52-yard pass to Tony Jeffery and then scored on a 1-yard run late in the game as No. 13 Texas edged No. 14 Kansas State.
Know the foe: Kansas State
Last week: The Wildcats dominated Houston 41-0 for their third straight win. The past two victories over Houston and TCU have been by a combined score of 82-3.
Players to watch: Now in his fourth season, QB Will Howard is in the midst of his best collegiate campaign with 1,628 yards passing, 313 yards rushing and 20 total TDs . … RB DJ Giddens has assumed the lead role in the backfield after the graduation of former Cedar Ridge product Deuce Vaughn and has 962 yards of offense and eight TDs. … S Koby Savage, who’s on multiple postseason awards lists, captains the secondary with senior savvy and a nose for the ball, as evidenced by his team-high 43 tackles
Central Texas connections: None.
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When Texas has the ball
In his first start in place of the injured Quinn Ewers, Maalik Murphy shook off a pair of early turnovers to throw for 170 yards on 16-of-25 passing, but Kansas State gives up a conference-low 15.9 points per game ... Uso Seumaio, a 340-pound defensive tackle, anchors a run defense that ranks third in the Big 12 with 109.4 yards rushing allowed per game, which means the Big 12’s leading rusher, Texas’ Jonathon Brooks, will face his toughest task on the ground since Alabama in the second week of the season. … Defensive ends Nate Matlack and Khalid Duke have combined for nine sacks and 12½ tackles for loss and will give Texas tackles Kelvin Banks Jr. and Christian Jones a test on the edge.
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When Kansas State has the ball
A quarterback rotation of Howard and Avery Johnson has wreaked havoc on opponents in recent weeks. Johnson, who has 268 yards passing and 259 yards rushing, ran for five TDs in a win over Texas Tech on Oct. 14, and Howard threw for 164 yards on 15-of-17 passing last week against Houston. … The Wildcats are the only team in the Big 12 to convert more than half of their third-down attempts, but the Texas defense leads the conference with a 27.8% conversion rate on third downs. … Texas linebacker Jaylan Ford leads Texas with 57 total tackles, and he’ll have his hands full diagnosing a K-State running game that ranks second in the conference with 208.3 yards a game behind Giddens, both quarterbacks and Florida State transfer Treshaun Ward.
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The key matchup
Kansas State guard Cooper Beebe against Texas defensive tackles T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II: Beebe, a 6-foot-4, 335-pound senior who has started 43 games, earned All-American honors last season as well as the Big 12’s offensive lineman of the year award, and he’ll face off against Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded tackle tandem in the nation in No. 1 Sweat and No. 8 Murphy.
How we're calling the game
Kirk Bohls:Texas, Texas, 27-24. This more than any other game outside of Alabama figures to be a line of scrimmage challenge. Whichever team asserts its will on the line will prevail, and I believe Texas is slightly superior to Kansas State there and will hang on for a win.
Danny Davis: Texas. After the dust settles in Austin this weekend and Bedlam happens for perhaps the final time, the Big 12 should have definitive front-runners in the race for the conference crown. Expect Texas to be in the pole position after beating Kansas State for the seventh straight time.
Cedric Golden:Texas, 27-24. Don't expect a shootout. Steve Sarkisian loves to air it out, but he has to understand that the running game should be front and center. Jonathon Brooks goes off, and the Horns walk out with a win.
Thomas Jones:Texas, 23-20. Sarkisian won't bypass any field goals this week in a hard-nosed battle between arguably the Big 12's two most physical teams.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Longhorns football preview: Kansas State offers Big 12 test
