Snyder leaves Jayhawks hurting again

For Kansas State, it was just another day at the office. Since Bill Snyder arrived in Manhattan, the Wildcats guru has made it routine business to pummel in-state rival Kansas with considerable gusto. If you totaled the scores of Snyder's 16 wins over KU in his two stints on the K-State sideline, the number would look the gross national product of a Central American country. So, despite plenty of pregame bravado from the Jayhawks, Saturday's 59-21 thrashing probably didn't qualify as a shock. Hey, it was 59-7 in Lawrence last year, and Snyder has beaten KU in 13 of the last 14 meetings. The victory boosted the 'Cats to 7-0 overall (4-0 in Big 12) with Oklahoma coming to visit the "Little Apple" next weekend. For Kansas, however, this one may have longer-lasting consequences. Second-year coach Turner Gill already was catching grief for the Jayhawks' general ineptitude while going 5-14 in just over a season and a half. But a few things made this latest annihilation more painful than usual and perhaps more meaningful over the long term. The fact that Kansas is now 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the conference is only the tip of the iceberg. For one thing, KU coaches and players seemed to truly believe and said openly this would be a close game. Kansas had fought Oklahoma on even terms for a half just a week earlier, and everyone close to the program thought the corner had been turned. Plus, even though K-State arrived undefeated, every win other than a blowout over Kent State had been nerve-jangling close. The 'Cats looked vulnerable at least from Lawrence. "This game would have been a big confidence-booster for our team," admitted KU safety Bradley McDougald after the rout. "I saw a lot of guys work hard this week, but it didn't show up, and it hurts." The next issue that left KU fans and boosters steaming, however, put a spotlight squarely on Gill and his staff. It was pretty clear this hammering wasn't about pure athletic talent. K-State is a tough, resilient football team, but has few big-time recruits and remains 12 scholarships under the NCAA limit. In terms of speed, strength and raw skill, KU probably can match the 'Cats in terms of basic ability. But in everything that had to do with coaching, it was a wipeout. K-State leaped on the Hawks, as usual, running up a 21-0 lead before KU mounted its first serious drive. The 'Cats were crisp and efficient, executing very basic stuff both on offense and defense. Quarterback Collin Klein did just what KU had seen on tape, running for four touchdowns and throwing for another, orchestrating an offense that rolled up 466 yards and seemed to have the 'Hawks a play behind all afternoon. As for Kansas, well, they looked lost. Two lost fumbles, nine penalties for 105 yards, blowing all coverage on Tyler Lockett's TD on the second-half kickoff and a slew of other simple mistakes tell their story. Even more worrying in the KU camp, Gill seemed to be blaming his players for failing to grasp his staff's concepts during his postgame remarks. Speaking about a long kick return that was wiped by THREE penalties on KU, Gill said, "It's discipline. Our guys need to come out and really do what they need to do. "We had a couple guys that maybe were trying to compensate instead of doing what they've been taught. That really cost us." Then there was Gill's response when asked about a big pass play in the final seconds of the first half, when Klein hit Lockett wide open over the middle, allowing Anthony Cantele to knock through a 26-yard field goal that put K-State up 31-14. "We had a guy who didn't do what he's supposed to do," Gill said. "He went to another receiver instead of staying in his quarter of the field. They threw the ball right where he left." "That was a huge play in the game. There were several others that we didn't execute as well, but that one hurt." Even scarier was a comment from KU cornerback Greg Brown. "Things are getting repetitive," Brown said. "You don't like losing. You don't like getting used to losing, which it seems like we're doing as a team." K-State, naturally, could afford to be gracious. "You look at the scoreboard and that really doesn't reflect the difference in the two teams," Snyder said. "KU is a better team than that." The Wildcats actually gave a back of the hand to KU by suggesting they'd made plenty of mistakes of their own and just needed to clean things up. "It was another step," Klein said, sounding a lot like his coach. "We have a lot of work on Monday." Asked about preparing for a rivalry game on the road, Snyder may have slipped and been a little too honest with his answer. "It's another Saturday," he said. "I think our players played, and did so with some spirit and emotion and didn't look beyond this ballgame." That was a nod to Oklahoma, but Snyder referring to the Sunflower Showdown as just "another Saturday," well Gill can't enjoy hearing that.