Kansas State Football: Why Do Bad Things Happen to Bad Teams?

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Some of the greatest minds in human history have struggled with the question of why good things happen to seemingly (or actually) bad people and bad things happen to seemingly good people. I’ll save y’all save y’all the Philosophy 101 explanation of the “Problem of Evil,” but it’s a question I’ve been pondering this football season, with a twist.

As someone who writes about Purdue, Kansas State, and Clemson football, I’ve spent all fall wondering why bad things happen to bad teams.

I’ve watched in numb disbelief all season as all three teams have found creative and increasingly frustrating ways to lose football games. I’ve watched Purdue lose a home game to Rutgers after surrendering not one, but two, field goals in the final 1:06. Clemson lost to Georgia Tech on the road on a 55-yard walk-off field goal. The Tech kicker has attempted three kicks from outside 50 yards this season; the only one that was close beat Clemson. Then there was Saturday in Salt Lake City. Utah is the better team. If the Wildcats had simply gone out and lost a decently competitive road game to the 14th-ranked team in the nation, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. Instead, they played their best game of the season on offense, had the game in the palm of their hands, and still found a way to lose it. It was awful to watch, but it did help me further explore why bad teams find ways to lose games, even when they play well.

Kansas State lost a game it should have won because it couldn’t get out of its own way on defense, couldn’t make plays on offense when it mattered most, and was on the wrong end of some bad calls and bad luck. The defense was awful, but that’s been par for the course this season. No Chris Klieman team should lose a game when the offense puts up 47 points, and yet, here we are, talking about a 51-47 loss. Utah’s first touchdown drive was a microcosm for the entire K-State season. The Utes drove the ball 70 yards on nine plays to tie the score at seven, on a drive that should have been stopped dead in its tracks multiple times.

First, safety Gunner Maldonado was flagged for pass interference after a third-down incompletion that should have given the defense a three-and-out. Next, Jordan Allen gets whistled for lining up offside, turning a 3rd and nine into a 3rd and 4. Utah completed a 5-yard pass to keep the drive alive on 3rd down. Finally, Ryan Davis loses his entire damn mind and spears the Utah quarterback in the side of the helmet, essentially after the play. Instead of Utah kicking a long field goal, they were awarded an automatic first down, and one of the few remaining pass rushers on the roster was sent to the bench. Personally, I’m okay with Davis never taking another snap for this team. That was one of the dirtiest and most selfish plays I’ve witnessed on a football field in some time. Targeting is a difficult rule to adjudicate, but if Davis hadn’t been attempting to injure the Utah quarterback, I’d love to hear him explain what the hell he was doing. There’s no room in the game for that sort of play, but that’s kind of what bad teams do…they make bad plays at the most inopportune moment. Instead of giving up, at minimum, three points, Davis essentially hung seven on the board for Utah. Again, that’s what bad teams do. Football games are hard enough to win without giving the opponent seven points.

I’m hesitant to lay any blame at the feet of an offense that up 51 points on the scoreboard, including 472 rushing yards, but the offense steadfastly refused to put the game away when given the opportunity. They did the same thing against Oklahoma State last week, but didn’t get punished because they were playing Oklahoma State. Utah is not Oklahoma State. If you give them an opportunity to win the game, they’re going to accept it. The Wildcats opened the door on what should have been the game-sealing touchdown when, after running down Utah’s throat all game long, they decided to throw a slant to a freshman tight end, and had it returned for two points the other way. Instead of a seven or eight-point swing, the Wildcats only tacked on four points to the lead, despite crossing the goal line.

Utah took the kickoff, drove down the field, and once again the Wildcats refused to let them get off the field. They extended the drive with a 4th-and-1, a too-many-men-on-the-field penalty, and then allowed Utah to turn a 3rd-and-22 into a 4th-and-1 and a subsequent first down. If the defense makes either of those plays, Kansas State wins.

Even after giving up that incredibly frustrating drive, Avery Johnson and Matt Wells still had a three-point lead with 4:13 remaining and an unstoppable running game. I’m not going to spend the time doing the math, but I figure two, at the max three, first downs end the game. The offense advanced the ball one yard in three plays and took only 22 seconds off the clock. It was probably a sign of things to come when Johnson, fresh off the sideline, in the biggest drive of the season, appeared to forget the play call on first down. I’m not sure what the call was, but I’m going to guess it was a run play for Avery. I’m not sure why they decided to run it with Avery when Joe Jackson and Antonio Martin were both in the midst of career games, but Matt Wells called his quarterback’s number, and his quarterback froze. Instead of following his blockers, Avery just kind of stopped and waited to get sacked, putting K-State behind the sticks. That came back to bite them after Joe Jackson was stopped for a two-yard gain on second and 11, setting up a 3rd and 9. Remember, on Utah’s previous drive, they converted a 3rd and 22 into a first down. Johnson completed a no-hop six-yard completion to Tibbs, and Coach Klieman, with the game on the line, decided to put his faith in the defense and punt the ball instead of trying to pick up a 4th and three. I get it, that’s a tough call to make in your own territory, but the defense had just given up a 75-yard touchdown drive. The offense had to win the game because the defense was cooked and the Utah offense was cooking. Everyone in the stadium knew they were going to win the game if they got the ball back. Every Kansas State fan at home on the couch knew what was going to happen if Utah got the ball back. The only person who wasn’t dialed into the reality of the 2025 K-State football season was Coach Klieman, who called on the punt team and put the game in the hands of a defense that had already allowed 44 points.

The least surprising thing that happened on Saturday was Utah driving 70 yards in 1:29 for the game-winning touchdown. The fact that the biggest play of the drive came on a 59-yard, 4th and one run felt fitting. The Wildcats had a shot to end the game, but instead lost because they couldn’t make a single play when it mattered most. It was even more fitting when Avery Johnson threw across his body, late into traffic, and was picked off yet again. Again, I’m not going back to check, but it wouldn’t surprise me if 3/4 of his interceptions this season came on similar plays.

Bad things happen to bad teams because bad teams play losing football.

I thought the officiating was terrible. Every close call went Utah’s way. That’s going to happen when you’re on the road (whispers…and the Conference has several million dollars riding on the outcome). Some of the calls, like the hold on Cure that took 7 points off the board, were impossible to avoid. If the refs decide they want to find something on a play, they’re going to find something. I’m not saying that’s what happened, but I’m also saying that I’ve seen the downfield block Cure makes a few thousand times this season, and it’s the only time I’ve seen a flag thrown, mainly because he wasn’t holding.

There were a few other questionable calls, but the worst was a non-call. Cure was interfered with, or at the very least, held, on the two-point conversion that was returned, but I put that on the K-State offensive staff. There’s only one outcome that can really hurt you on the play, and Matt Wells brought it into play when he decided to get too clever by half and dial up a slant to a freshman tight end playing wide receiver. One of the main reasons Cure doesn’t get the call is that he stops on the play. Instead of fighting through contact, he looks for a flag. Granted, the flag comes, but he gives them just enough cover to pick it up when he stops on the route. If you’re going to throw the ball to a tight end, playing wide out, why go to a little-used Freshman when you have Oakley on the roster?

You know who doesn’t quit on that slant?

Garrett Oakley.

At worst, it ends up incomplete.

I’ll go further than that, though. Why, when you have two backs averaging over 10 yards a carry, do you dial up a pass in that situation? Matt Wells decided, after a record-setting performance from his running back, to go four wide and throw the ball on a two-point conversion instead of handing it to the aforementioned record-setting back. The run game was working so well, they decided to do something different when all they needed was two yards. I don’t get it.

That’s not Chris Klieman football.

That’s losing football.

Kansas State has played losing football all season, even in some of its wins. That makes me extremely nervous for the 2026 season if they decide to move forward with this roster. Bad teams play losing football. Kansas State has played losing football all season. Saturday was the latest example. If you don’t nip losing football in the bud, it spreads.

Coach Klieman needs to be ruthless with this roster in the offseason. Some of the most talented players on the team don’t play winning football. That’s a tough spot. It’s cost an untold number of coaches their jobs. This offseason will be the most important in recent program history. Get it right, and 2025 is a weird blip on the radar. Get it wrong, and 2025 will be looked at as “the beginning of the end” of the Klieman era. Personally, I hope he nails it, but for the first time in his tenure at Kansas State, I have some serious questions about the state of the program moving forward.

Bad things happen to bad teams, and this is a bad team.

I’m hopeful things will be better in 2026, but not confident after what I witnessed Saturday night.

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