Kansas State Wildcats Coach Chris Klieman Attributes Turnovers To Iowa State Loss

The Kansas State Wildcats' early turnovers gift-wrapped 14 points for Iowa State.
Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman reacts from the side line during the second quarter in the NCAA football at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.
Kansas State Wildcats head coach Chris Klieman reacts from the side line during the second quarter in the NCAA football at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. / Nirmalendu Majumdar - Ames Tribune/USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kansas State Wildcats ended their relatively underwhelming season with a loss to the Iowa State Cyclones (10-2).

Coach Chris Klieman put it simply: the turnovers were too much to overcome.

"Guys, I mean this is the most obvious thing," Klieman said. "When we turn the ball over, we're not going to be successful. We dropped two picks. I get it man, I appreciate the questions on things. We turned the ball over, and they didn't. We had two opportunities with picks guys. Those hurt you bad."

The Wildcats fumbled twice Saturday night, once on an game-opening lateral and again early in the second quarter. Both set up short fields for the Cyclones' touchdown drives. They also dropped two would-be interceptions, adding to their turnover woes this season. Kansas State is bottom-five in the Big 12 in defensive takeaways. The offense has turned the ball over seven times in the last month to just three takeaways by the defense.

"You can't play a team like that and make the mistakes that we made," Klieman said. "We made mistakes in the first half that led to points, and you can't do that against good football teams."


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Jayden Armant
JAYDEN ARMANT

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.