Drew has the scoop on the Wildcats bowl destination
That desert heat @RateBowl pic.twitter.com/St3dwtfg3g
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) December 8, 2024
Kansas State’s bowl fate had been revealed. The Wildcats are headed to the desert for a showdown against the 7-5 Rutgers Scarlet Knights from… (checks conference list) The Big 10.
Rutgers, led by head coach Greg Shiano in his second stint as head Knight, had an up and down season in the Big 10. The started strong, opening the season with 4 wins, including a win on the road against Virginia Tech. They dropped their first game of the season, 14-7 to Nebraska, in week 5 and promptly went on a 4-game losing skid. They snapped out of it with a win against Minnesota and finished the season strong winning 3 of their last 4.
On offense they’re led by senior running back Kyle Monangai, who put up 1276 yards on a Big 10 leading 256 carries. The defense is anchored by junior linebacker Dariel Djabome, who led the Scarlet Knights with 102 tackles, including 7 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. Rutgers averaged 27.9 points per game (69th nationally) on offense and gave up 23.8 points per game on defense (59th nationally). Their best win came against 7-5 Minnesota on November 9th (26-19), and their worst lost came against Wisconsin (7-42) on October 12th. All-in-all they’re a typical run oriented, well coached Greg Shiano team that forces you to beat them.
There are worse ways to spend a winter break in Kansas than traveling out to the desert to take a break from the frigid temperatures. If nothing else, you get to warm up for a few days and replenish your Vitamin D.