Kansas State vs. Iowa State 2012: Wildcats get road win over Cyclones

It was a potential let-down game for Kansas State. A sneaky tough Iowa State team, plus a road game, plus it being the week before a huge showdown with West Virginia made The Wildcats' game with the Cyclones full of upset potential.

K-State held its ground, though, topping Iowa State 27-21.

The game wasn't without its faults, though. According to SB Nation's K-State blog, Bring On The Cats, this game brought up a few things in need of repair because, in its words, "the Cats can't afford to stumble around next week" against the Mountaineers.

Coaching is a main topic of concern.

Defensively, we still have the 3rd-and-long problem, but I'm starting to lay that more on the coaching staff's tactics than on the players themselves. When you see the secondary giving a seven-yard cushion on 3rd-and-5, it's hard to blame them. The problem is from above. There were several great defensive stands, however, none moreso than the final one which secured the victory.

Iowa State was 4-for-12 on third downs, and had 231 total yards of offense. K-State held a 40:54- 19:06 advantage in time of possession. The Wildcats never trailed in the second half, but never put the Cyclones behind by more than a score except for a 3:49 stretch of the third quarter into the fourth quarter.

Still, the result worked in K-State's favor.

It's a win, though, and now we're 6-0, bowl-eligible, and about to face the biggest game we've played in almost a decade. Let's just hope the coaching staff has the game plan down perfectly, otherwise we're in trouble.