What would Kansas State's offense look like without Deuce Vaughn and Briley Moore?
The answer: Not pretty.
The Wildcats found that out the hard way during a 37-10 loss to West Virginia on Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, W.Va. The Wildcats struggled mightily to move the ball as the Mountaineers held K-State's star running back in check and knocked the Cats' pass-catching tight end out of the game before halftime with a back injury.
After starting Big 12 play with four straight victories thanks to a steady stream of monster plays from Vaughn and Moore, the Wildcats were only able to muster 225 yards against West Virginia as Vaughn and Moore had little impact on the game.
"We just couldn't get anything going," K-State running back Harry Trotter said. "A big thing for us is working on just staying on the field. They had a lot of possession today, and that is something we can learn from."
Vaughn looked mortal for the first time as a college football player, finishing with 22 rushing yards on nine attempts and 1 receiving yard on a pair of catches. To put his struggles in perspective, he entered Saturday's game averaging 9.1 yards per touch.
Did the Mountaineers provide a blueprint for future teams to follow? Or are they simply as good as advertised on defense?
"They tackled as well as any defense that we have played this year," K-State coach Chris Klieman said. "That was the biggest key. They didn't allow (Vaughn) to break outside contain. They didn't play much man coverage. They played a lot of zone, which is what they have done all year. We would love to have every game where he makes explosive plays, but give those guys credit on defense."
West Virginia also limited K-State's top receiving threat.
Moore still got open for a pair of important passes in the first half that resulted in 37 yards, but he was unable to play after halftime. Klieman said Moore's back locked up on him following an awkward tackle and the Wildcats didn't want to risk further injury by inserting him back into the game.
That put immense pressure on freshman quarterback Will Howard to make plays, and, well, he responded like most freshman quarterbacks would. Unlike previous games, when he mostly took care of the ball and stayed out of the way while K-State won with a mixture of strong defense and special teams, Howard hrew multiple interceptions and was unable to create any magic with his receivers.
Howard's final line: 19 of 37 for 184 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.
Compounding matters, his mistakes were all big ones. His final interception of the day was returned by West Virginia for a touchdown that gave it a 34-10 lead.
But he was far from the only problem on offense.
K-State only rushed for 41 yards ... on 23 attempts.
"We're for sure not going to hang this on Will Howard," Klieman said, "because I think he is continuing to improve. I thought he made some really good throws. We have to be better for him and we have to be better with a lot of things we are doing offensively. I mean, we have got to block better, we have got to catch the ball better. We have got to do a lot of things better."
If there is one thing Klieman has proven he will never do over the years, it's throw his starting quarterback under the proverbial bus.
"I'm not worried about Will," Klieman reiterated. "He's got that 'it' factor. He's going to be fine."
Still, this had to be a demoralizing loss for both Howard and the Wildcats. It's the first time they have seen their own blood since Howard took over for an injured Skylar Thompson at quarterback. It's the first time Vaughn has run circles around the competition. It's the first time they got outclassed by an opponent.
"They did a good job schematically on defense," Trotter said. "It was tough not just for Deuce but for the entire offense in general. We had less than 50 yards rushing today, and we need a lot more than that to have a chance to win games."
This was a swing game for K-State. A victory would have put them in excellent position to reach the Big 12 championship game. Now, it likely needs to split upcoming games against Oklahoma State and Iowa State just to stay in the race.
Klieman called the Wildcats' upcoming schedule "a gauntlet."
It's too early to write off K-State's football team. Sometimes one loss is just one loss. But the Wildcats have been winning with smoke and mirrors (at least on offense) for a while now.
Can they bounce back now that someone has stopped both Vaughn and Moore? We will learn the answer to that question next week.
