Kansas State Wants To Use Momentum From Rutgers Win Into Next Season
Kansas State rallied down 17 against Rutgers Thursday night to win the Rate Bowl and end the season at 9-4.
Now, they can use this game as fuel for next season.
"When you have a big win to end the season, it can catapult you into winning the Big 12 championship," Wildcats coach Chris Klieman said.
Klieman reflected on Kansas State's season, discussing the team's responses to the setbacks after losses or lackluster performances.
"We had some things that didn't go our way, but how do you respond," Klieman said. "You're going to have adversity in life. How are you going to respond?"
This could be applied to their comeback over the Scarlet Knights, as they recovered from an offensive slump in the middle of the game.
"We had a couple setbacks, played really well against Cincinnati," Klieman said. "Had another setback but these guys were going to go out on top."
Kansas State ended their regular season on a sour note with a playoff-eliminating loss to Iowa State. Their Big 12 championship expectations slowly dwindled throughout the season. Now, they have momentum going into next year with a strong victory and a more favorable end to the season.
"Great resolve for the starters, great leadership amongst the seniors, and the young guys stepped up," Klieman said on his ESPN postgame interview. "We talked about it last night that our young players had to step up. They did. We wanted to send these seniors off the right way."
Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
Jayden is a journalism school graduate of Howard University. He was the 2024 recipient of the Terez Paylor scholarship award. He previously worked at the Orlando Sentinel.