MANHATTAN, Kan.-Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman says that he doesn't have to discuss with his players exactly where the Wildcats sit in the race for a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game.
There's a more pressing topic at hand: Beating Baylor, which looks to blaze a clearer path to AT&T Stadium if it can win for a fourth-straight time Saturday night.
"If you start thinking about variables and what needs to happen or can happen, as soon as you start getting too much into that you're not going to do what you need to do in order to be successful," Klieman said. "It's such a difficult league that you'd better focus on the task at hand and control what you can control."
Coming off a tough 34-27 loss to Texas, No. 19 K-State prepares to battle the Bears in Saturday's 6 p.m. kickoff (FS1) at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.
The Wildcats will have to draw upon their night-game road-warrior mentality once again. All of three of their Big 12 road games have been at night this season.
"There's something about going on the road that this team really embraces," quarterback Adrian Martinez said. "We embrace that us-against-everybody mentality. That's our mindset. That's how we approach it and really bond together and realize that it's just us in this big stadium and we're going to take them on.
"We want to take the fight to them. That's the game plan every week, but especially against Baylor. They're a physical group and play tough football, but so do we."
Baylor quarterback Blake Shapen earlier in the week asked for fans to pack the 45,140-capacity McLane Stadium. Third-year head coach Dave Aranda is 12-3 in games played in Waco. The high temperature is expected to be around 55 degrees with a low of 32 degrees in Waco on Saturday.
"We need as many fans as we can get out to the game," Shapen said. "It's going to be a night game, it's going to be a big game, and we need everyone there."
K-State, Baylor and No. 18 Texas all have identical records — 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12 — good for second place in the league standings with three games to go. The Wildcats next travel to West Virginia before closing out the regular season against Kansas. Meanwhile, No. 7 TCU, No. 18 Texas and Baylor still must play one another, setting up an exciting finish in a league that already has featured 18 interconference games that have been decided by 10 or fewer points.
"Any team that plays can win," defensive tackle Jaylen Pickle said. "TCU is undefeated and last year they weren't undefeated. It's a crazy conference. I feel like we match up well and that's the same with any team we play. I always have confidence in our guys.
"Every day is a grind. Everybody around the country is doing it. It's three games of grind."
K-State will look to change its recent trend against Baylor. The Wildcats have dropped four straight in the series and the last two trips to Waco have been one-score games — 37-34 in 2018 and 32-31 in 2020. The Wildcats suffered a 20-10 loss last season in Manhattan.
Baylor is 3-1 at home this season; K-State is 2-1 on the road with wins at then-No. 6 Oklahoma (41-34) and at Iowa State (10-9) and a loss at then-No. 8 TCU (38-28). All three of K-State's losses this season have come against teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 (the Wildcats suffered a 17-10 loss to Tulane, which is now ranked No. 16).
"It's going to be another tough battle this week going to Baylor, a great place to play," Klieman said. "A really good team and they're playing really well. We have to have great plans because it's going to be a big challenge for us. They're playing with a lot of confidence."
Since starting out 1-2 in the league, Baylor has won three straight games against Kansas (35-23), at Texas Tech (45-17) and at Oklahoma (38-35).
"I'm always impressed with Coach Klieman and Kansas State," said Aranda, who is 20-12 overall at Baylor. "They play a game that I really respect and I know our staff does. They're tough, physical. What a challenge we have in front of us. We fully recognize where we're at and what's at stake. We're excited to attack all of it.
"We're going to need our best players to play their best here at the end and have to keep the focus on the day to day. Those two things are strong for us. We're going to need both of those to win this game. I'm very impressed with Kansas State and their fight for everything, too. It'll be a hell of a game."
This matchup will feature two of the top 20 rushing offenses in the country — K-State ranks 15th (218.11) and Baylor ranks 18th (210.33). Deuce Vaughn has 173 carries for 975 yards and five touchdowns and is on the verge of becoming just the third player in K-State history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in multiple seasons.
Martinez, who threw for 329 yards against Texas, closes in on a rare mark as well. With 273 passing yards and 83 rushing yards, Martinez would join Colin Kaepernick as the only two FBS players to throw for 10,000 yards and rush for 3,000 in a career.
Martinez has 106 carries for 617 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. The Wildcats have rushed for at least 200 yards in five games, including at Oklahoma (275) and against Texas Tech (343).
"We're able to put packages together that puts stress on people not only with our ability up front but with two dynamic ball carriers," K-State offensive coordinator Collin Klein said. "Our guys have executed and have made plays. When we've gotten space and given them creases we've made them pay. We need more of that."
Martinez has completed 63.1% of his passes for 1,236 yards and six touchdowns and suffered his first interception against Texas after starting the season by attempting a school-record 155 passes without throwing a pick.
Baylor's defense has a Big 12-leading 12 interceptions this season, including five in the last two contests, the most by the Bears in a two-game stretch since 1980.
"You play good teams and close ballgames, it's going to be the difference," Klein said. "Obviously they've been able to make those plays. They do a great job in coverages that they have, a lot of man principles in it, and they do a good job of playing tight coverage. They have some robbers that are lurking, so if a tight man-coverage ball gets tipped, there are people around who've been able to bring it down. It's going to be a great challenge for us."
Baylor features a trio of running backs who've each rushed for more than 300 yards this season. Richard Reese has 798 rushing yards and needs 84 yards to break the school record for rushing yards by a freshman. His 13 rushing touchdowns also leads all freshmen in the FBS. Junior Craig "Sqwirl" Williams had 25 carries for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the win at Oklahoma last Saturday. Williams has 68 carries for 401 yards and four touchdowns this season. Qualan Jones has 65 carries for 362 yards and six touchdowns this season as well.
"They keep rolling," K-State defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman said. "The wide zone and stretch scheme that they run, there are a lot of different types of players that can thrive in that system. What makes that thing go — both of those types of runners can get yards after contact — is their offensive line and how well they identify things. They're one of the most athletic offensive lines in the conference. They're very, very good at what they do."
Shapen is no stranger to K-State. As a redshirt freshman, he was thrust into action in the second quarter of last season's game against the Wildcats following an injury to Gerry Bohanon, and he completed 16 of 21 passes for 137 yards and had five carries for 44 yards.
This season, Shapen has completed 66.8% of his passes for 1,951 yards and 13 touchdowns and six interceptions, averaging 216.8 passing yards per contest.
"We were pretty excited when he came into the game last year and that dissipated kind of fast," Klanderman said. "He throws the ball really well. He's a tremendously athletic guy and he probably throws the ball better than what they were able to throw it last year. He just seems to have a very good command."
K-State will be tested against a Baylor offense that ranks among the nation's leaders in fourth-down attempts. The Bears are 21-for-30 (70.0%) on fourth down — going for it on fourth down an average of 3.8 times per game. K-State ranks 14th nationally in allowing opponents to convert just 7-of-21 fourth-down situations.
"Sometimes they treat third-and-1 like it's second-and-1 and you're going to get some shot plays," Klanderman said. "It makes it really difficult for you to be in exactly what you want to be in defensively."
K-State was where it wanted to be prior to the loss to Texas, but now the Wildcats have the opportunity to win a third Big 12 road game for the first time since 2017.
The Wildcats feel equipped for the mission.
"When we go in there, Baylor is going to have 50,000 and it's going to be against our 125 players, so we go in there with a chip on our shoulder, and want to silence the crowd and silence the noise," tight end Ben Sinnott said.
"One thing we try to emphasize, especially on the road, is being the most physical team and taking it to them right away, not letting the crowd get into it, and not giving them any momentum to put us at a disadvantage."
Players know a win could carry positive implications with just a few games left to go.
"The competitive nature of this conference is pretty unique," Martinez said. "Every team is pretty good and the margin for error is very small. Placing TCU and Oklahoma State and Texas and now Baylor, they're all really good teams and are all in line for the same spot. It's highly competitive."
K-State figures itself to be highly competitive as well.
The Wildcats have proven as much thanks in part to their road-warrior mentality.