How to Watch: Kansas State Wildcats at Texas Longhorns

When K-State finally got over the hump and knocked off Nebraska in 1998, the era of long losing streaks against opponents pretty much came to an end. And once upon a time, it was the Wildcats who had a winning streak against Texas. When the Wildcats clinched the 2012 Big 12 title with a regular season-ending 42-24 win over the Longhorns, they hadn’t lost to Texas in almost a decade. Then the teams traded wins for four years before Texas started winning... and kept winning.

The Longhorns have won six in a row now, and it’s mostly been an agonizing flurry of paper cuts except for the disastrous 69-31 blowout during The COVID Year. The other five losses in the streak have been by a total of 26 points, and usually came down to someone’s final drive.

With Texas departing for the SEC, this may be the last chance to get scoreboard. The Wildcats know this, know their history, and most importantly know how important this game is for 2023, never mind revenge.

The Game

The Kansas State Wildcats (6-2, 4-1 Big 12, 23 CFP) visit the Texas Longhorns (7-1, 4-1 Big 12, 7 CFP).

The Longhorns lead the all-time series 13-10, 10-9 in the Big 12 era. Before this Longhorn winning streak, K-State was up 10-7 and 9-4, which is especially galling.

Steve Sarkisian has always been kryptonite for the Cats; he’s 2-0 against K-State as a head coach and 1-0 as a quarterback, having led BYU to their Cotton Bowl win after the 1996 season. Chris Klieman is 0-4 against the Longhorns.

With Quinn Ewers out due to injury and Arch Manning being held out to preserve his redshirt, Maalik Murphy has taken over as the starting quarterback. The media gushed over his performance in a 35-6 win over BYU, but he was only 16-25 for 170 yards with two touchdowns and an interception — a 46.1 QBR. Compare that to Will Howard last week, who was good but not mind-blowing with a 94.8 QBR.

The real threat will be Jonathan Brooks, who has 923 rushing yards and seven touchdowns — plus 22 catches for 212 yards and a score. Brooks is averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Thankfully, K-State’s run defense will almost certainly hold Brooks to less than his normal output, but he’ll still be a load.

Kickoff

Saturday, November 4, 11:00am CT at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (100,119) in Austin, Texas.

Tickets

If you want to head to Austin on a whim, there are tickets to be had all over the stadium. The low end is $58 in the upper deck, while lower level seats top out at $330; there’s also some $500+ Touchdown Club seats up for sale. The average cost per ticket is right at $100.

Weather

Early tailgaters will be a little chilly, as temperatures aren’t expected to break 60° until about 10am. But they’re going to climb fairly quickly from that point; it should be in the mid-60s at kickoff and the mid-70s by the end of the game. It should be partly cloudly, with only a trace of a chance of precipitation.

Odds

At open, Texas was an 8.5 point favorite, but the bettors have swung that down hard in a hurry. DraftKings now only has K-State +4 with the over at 49.5, which projects out to a 27-23 Texas win. The money line is -185 for Texas, +154 for K-State. Oddsshark’s computer is a jerk, projecting a 39-28 win for the Longhorns.

Television

Big Noon Saturday on FOX, with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, and Jenny Taft.

Radio

As always, Wyatt Thompson, Stan Weber, and Matt Walters will be on hand on the K-State Sports Network as well as via satellite on SiriusXM 109 or 200, 954 on the app.

Internet Streaming

The game will stream on the FOX Sports app, but a cable or eligible streaming package subscription will be required since it’s being aired on the main network. Audio available via kstatesports.com. Live stats provided by Sidearm.