The Red Raiders represented the first true test for the Wildcat defense. It was the first spread offense they had seen, and it's safe to say they failed the test. Because of that, doubt could very easily sink in once again. It was just one season ago that the unit ranked 117th in the nation out of 119 teams in total defense.
But before anyone is ready to jump ship on this team, it is important to remember that Mike Leach's offense is a systematic scheme that has caused headaches for a lot of defensive coordinators in college football since he became the Tech coach in 2000.
Since 2002, the Red Raider offense has ranked no lower than No. 6 nationally in total offense while averaging nearly 510 yards per game during the seven-year span.
If you don't play well, Tech will humiliate you. That's what they did to K-State last Saturday, and that's what they've done to several other teams through the years.
In 2004, Tech hung 70 points on a Nebraska defense that ranked 56th in the nation. In 2005, Red Raider quarterback Cody Hodges threw for 643 yards against a K-State defense that ranked 45th nationally in total defense in a 59-20 victory. Last season, they marched into Lawrence and defeated Kansas 63-21.
So it's important not to read too much into Saturday's blowout loss.
Did they play poorly? Most definitely. Did the defense look like the one of 2008? Hard to argue. The tackling was almost as poor as Kansas City Chiefs' cornerback Maurice Leggett's effort on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys, when he made Dallas receiver Miles Austin look like the second coming of Jerry Rice.
But the Tech game is in the past. How K-State bounces back will be the defining point for this team, for when adversity begins to sink in, it's how you respond that defines a team's character.
"They're in a position right now where either somebody steps up or we take a deeper dive in the tank," K-State coach Bill Snyder said following the loss at Tech.
Which makes the upcoming contest against the Aggies all the more important. K-State fans are going to learn a lot about the character of this team. Can it put the Tech game behind it or will it only get worse?
Midway through the 2007 season, it only got worse. Following the Wildcats' 41-21 victory at Texas, everything seemingly — for whatever reason — fell apart defensively. It was a snowball effect that carried into the 2008 season.
What the 2009 team must prevent is the snowball effect. The Tech game was embarrassing, but it was merely one game in a 12-game season. Now is not the time for this team to hang its heads.
There's still plenty to play for. The Wildcats cannot afford to let one game define the rest of the season. If they do that, it will be a painful final six games.
We will know a lot more about this team a little after 9 p.m. Saturday night as the moon casts a light over Bill Snyder Family Stadium, and Snyder hopes he sees his team step up and put the loss behind it.
"We'll see how they respond," he said. "I'd like to think that we have some young people that truly are pained by this and certainly don't want it to happen again."
