Rapid Recap: Kansas State seeking revenge

KANSAS STATE HEALTH UPDATES

Kansas State has looked like the walking wounded, recently. Will Honas has not played all season, Justice Clemons had surgery and is out for the year in all likelihood and all three of Deuce Vaughn, KT Leveston and Eli Huggins left the Texas Tech game at one point.

Vaughn returned and will be fine going forward. However, Honas will be out for the foreseeable future and it is sounding unlikely that he will play this season. His leg is not responding the way that he would like after everything that he has endured through in his career.

There was another positive health update, though. Huggins will play on Saturday and was available to meet with the media on Tuesday, as was Leveston.

HOW TO USE DUKE

Khalid Duke looked as close to 100 percent as he has all season against the Red Raiders. He had three sacks and was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. It was also the first time that he has played near the line of scrimmage that much.

But K-State wanted to cut the pass rusher loose. However, that approach will be game-dependent. It won’t always be that way and they’ll continue to use his versatility and have him be a bit of a swiss-army knife.

Texas Tech’s offense commanded that Kansas State feature Duke in that role. But they will look at it more moving forward. Having him on the same side as Felix Anudike-Uzomah helped the two find more one-on-one battles.

BEST VERSION OF IOWA STATE

Iowa State is reeling a bit after falling to Kansas 14-11 last week and losing to Baylor 31-24 the week before in a game that probably wasn’t as close as that score would indicate. Because of that, it is very likely that K-State will see the best version of the Cyclones.

They are a successful program with a strong culture, desperate, eager and hungry for a win and have their backs against the wall in a night game inside Jack Trice Stadium. Chris Klieman is aware of that. He has a tremendous amount of respect for Matt Campbell and knows the Iowa State boss will have his guys ready to play.

PRAISE FOR AUSTIN MOORE

Austin Moore is having a heck of a season for Kansas State. He leads the team in tackles with 35 and is second on the team in tackles for loss. Klieman raved about his linebacker for the season he has had and went as far as to call him an All-Conference player.

The work he put in during the offseason and how much he learned from Cody Fletcher a year ago was invaluable. Moore doesn’t make any mistakes. They call him a machine for a reason. And he made a great play on a fourth and short against Texas Tech to stop the Red Raiders.

NOT JUST A RIVALRY GAME FOR KANSAS STATE

While Iowa State is a rivalry game and Farmageddon is a big deal to the K-State players, that isn’t the only thing on their minds. A majority of the players were there in 2020 when the Cyclones beat the Wildcats 45-0 and a few, such as Deuce and Felix, have yet to defeat Iowa State in their career.

Brendan Mott grew up in Iowa City amongst a household of Iowa fans. His father Joe played for Iowa and it was engrained into him at a young age to have hatred for the Cyclones. It was a relief to him to keep that attitude when he joined Kansas State.