While there were deficiencies, of course, the dominant rushing attack, proved to be enough to set the tone.
Grade: B-
DEFENSE
The last team to hold Kansas to 10 points or less was Texas on Nov. 15, 2008.
On Saturday, K-State clamped down on a Jayhawk offense known for big plays and big yards, which has normally meant big points.
The Wildcats held KU to 301 yards of total offense, while forcing quarterback Todd Reesing into three turnovers — one interception and two fumbles — and sacking him twice.
Grade: A
SPECIAL TEAMS
It wasn't a good day for the Cats here as the opening play seemed to foreshadow a long day for the special teams unit when Darrell Stuckey returned the opening kick 67 yards to the KSU 32.
Kicker Josh Cherry, while making a career-long 47-yard field goal, also missed one of 39 yards and booted the ball out-of-bounds on a kickoff.
Brandon Banks was slowed down as well, limited to just one punt return for 9 yards and one kick return of 19 yards.
Grade: D
COACHING
Ending a three-game losing steak to Kansas should earn solid grades, no matter how it was accomplished. The game plan to stop KU's offense worked perfectly, while the clock-control, pound-it-out ground attack by K-State also proved invaluable.
Bill Snyder has his team in the driver's seat of the Big 12 North, again. It's also worth noting that KU coach Mark Mangino still hasn't defeated Snyder in Manhattan.
Grade: A
NOTEBOOK
Thomas reaches 1,000 yards
K-State junior running back Daniel Thomas rushed 24 times for a career-high 185 yards, which gives him 1,087 on the season. That total ranks eighth in school history and is the third-highest total for a junior in KSU history. Thomas has five 100-yard games this season, which is tied for 10th-most in school history.
Thomas' 11 touchdowns on the year are the most by a KSU running back since James Johnson's 12 in 2007.
K-State as a team rushed for 266 yards on 43 carries. Since 1990, the Wildcats are 86-7 when rushing over 200 yards.
Sunflower Showdown
K-State is now 37-65-5 in the Sunflower Showdown. Under Snyder, the Wildcats own a 14-4 mark against the rival Jayhawks — including nine straight wins in Manhattan.
Vandalism at Vanier
The Vanier Football Complex was vandalized sometime between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. Saturday morning. Red and blue paint was reportedly spread over the powercat logo on the entrance into the complex.
Snyder informed his team of it at the team meeting that morning, adding a little more fuel to the Wildcats' fire.
"That's a huge slap in our face," said Wade Weibert. "Our logo is like our flag — it's like in America with our flag. You're going to do everything you can to protect that powercat.
"That symbolizes us as a family and a team. The fact that someone can come in and do something bad to it — that definitely ticked us off."
No police report was filed.
Bowls representatives on hand
Representatives from the Holiday Bowl, Insight Bowl and Independence Bowl attended the game.
