Kansas State Football will try to claw its way back into the win column when the Wildcats host Iowa State on Saturday for the 105th meeting in this long-runng rivalry dubbed, Farmageddon. K-State is coming off two tough losses that saw undefeated Oklahoma State and Oklahoma both edge the Wildcats. As for Iowa State, the Cyclones have had a couple trip-ups this season, falling to Iowa (6-0) and Baylor (5-1), but looking strong otherwise.
Farmageddon has become one of the closest rivalries in college football. The current streak of 104 games ranks eighth among active uninterrupted series. Over that span, Iowa State leads the all-time series by just two wins at 51-49-4. Adding fuel to the rivalry fire (totally a thing), Kansas State has won 11 of the last 13 meetings and is 25-6 in the last 31 meetings dating back to 1990.
The home team has had the advantage, as of late, with the hosting team winning the last four games in the series. The Wildcats certainly have enjoyed being the home team in this series lately; K-State has won seven-straight over ISU in Manhattan dating back to 2006.
The last time in Manhattan, K-State earned a 27-17 victory in the regular-season finale. The game featured scoring runs by both teams as K-State scored the first 14 points of the game before ISU came back with 17-straight points to take a three-point lead. The Wildcats then scored 13-straight points of their own – capped by a field goal by Blake Lynch with 3:04 left – for the victory. In 2017 in Manhattan, K-State trailed 19-7 early in the fourth quarter before pulling to within five points thanks to a 13-play, 83-yard touchdown drive. Following an ISU punt, K-State started a drive on its own 13-yard line with 1:55 left and proceeded to march 87 yards in 10 plays, capped by a Skylar Thompson touchdown pass to Isaiah Zuber in the back of the end zone on the final play of the game to secure a 20-19 victory.
Quick Look at the Cyclones and Wildcats (Saturday, Oct. 16 on ESPN2 at 6:30p CT, 7:30p ET)
Scouting Kansas State Football
• K-State dropped its first two Big 12 games at Oklahoma State (31-20) and to Oklahoma (37-31).
• The Wildcats' two conference opponents, plus its difficult non-conference schedule in which they went 3-0 against, has their strength of schedule No. 5 nationally in the Sagarin Ratings.
• QB Skylar Thompson returned against the Sooners after missing the previous two games due to injury, and he put together one of the best passing performances of his career by setting highs in completions (29) and attempts (41), and tying his high for touchdown passes (3), while he threw for the second-most yards in his career (320).
• Thompson's favorite receiver against OU was Deuce Vaughn, who hauled in 10 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown. It was the second 100-yard receiving game of his career and just the seventh in school history by a running back or fullback.
• This year, Vaughn has totaled 650 scrimmage yards (444 rush/206 receive) and seven scores. In his 15 career games, Vaughn has at least 100 scrimmage yards 10 times – including all five games this year – and he ranks third nationally among active players in career all-purpose yards per game (124.73).
• Vaughn and Thompson have the luxury of playing behind an experienced line that brought back 100% of its starts from last year.
• Receivers Malik Knowles, Phillip Brooks and Landry Weber have combined for 39 receptions for 525 yards and two scores.
• The Wildcats, deploying a new 3-3-5 look and regularly rotating in over 25 players on defense, rank seventh in the nation against the run (86.4 yds/gm) and 16th in sacks (3.2 per game).
• Linebackers Cody Fletcher (32) and Daniel Green (29) lead the team in tackles, and each have three stops behind the line.
• Defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah leads the Big 12 and ranks eighth nationally with five sacks on the year.
• The Wildcats have five interceptions as safeties Russ Yeast and TJ Smith each recorded a pick against Stanford, defensive tackle Jaylen Pickle had one against Southern Illinois, cornerback Tee Denson picked off Nevada, and Julius Brents had one against Oklahoma.
• Malik Knowles has returned a kickoff for a touchdown in each of the last two games, and he leads the nation with a 39.3-yard return average.
Scouting Iowa State Football
• Iowa State is coming off a 59-7 win over Kansas, breaking the school record for most points scored in the 1st Q (28).
• ISU enters the game at K-State with a 3-2 record, including a 1-1 mark in Big 12 play.
• The Cyclones rank fifth in the Big 12 in rushing offense with 182.6 yards per game, while they are sixth in total offense at 442.0 yards per game.
• Quarterback Brock Purdy has thrown for 1,133 yards and eight touchdowns on 94-of-132 aim and four interceptions.
• Purdy became the sixth player in Big 12 history to amass 10,000 passing yards (10,115) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,079) in a career.
• Purdy's favorite target has been Xavier Hutchinson, who has 381 yards and three touchdowns on 31 receptions.
• Purdy ranks second on the team in rushing to Breece Hall, who has 551 yards and eight scores.
• Defensively, ISU ranks third nationally by allowing only 234.2 yards per game.
• Jake Hummel leads the Cyclones with 35 tackles, just ahead of Mike Rose's 34 stops.
• In its last 10 games dating back to 2020, ISU has given up just 35 points and two touchdowns in the second half (excluding non-offensive TDs).
• Iowa State's defense ranks in the Top 5 nationally in the following categories: passing defense (2nd, 143.2), total defense (3rd, 232.2), yards per play (4th, 4.04), yards per rush (5th, 2.6).
• All-American RB Breece Hall broke ISU's career rushing TD mark (38) by scoring a pair in the Kansas win.
• Hall owns an active streak of tallying a rushing TD in 17 consecutive games, a Big 12 record and the nation's fifth-longest FBS streak since 1996.
Big 12 fans, and college football fans around the country, will be able to catch the 105th meeting between Kansas State and Iowa State when Farmageddon kicks off on ESPN2 at 6:30p CT, 7:30p ET.
