Kansas State vs. West Virginia 2012: Wildcats fans react to decisive win over Mountaineers

Kansas State fans are dreaming of crystal footballs after Saturday's 55-14 victory over No. 13 West Virginia. The Wildcats built a 31-7 lead at the half on three Collin Klein touchdown runs. The Kansas State defense stifled the Mountaineers' vaunted passing game, keeping the West Virginia offense out of the end zone until the fourth quarter and limiting quarterback Geno Smith to 143 yards passing.

SB Nation Kansas State web site Bring on the Cats is calling it a statement victory:

A statement. A statement for the team, and a statement for the Heisman Trophy. West Virginia's vaunted offense did not score on the Wildcats until the starters were kicking back on the bench taking in the view, and the starting defense allowed under 200 yards of total offense (including only 88 on the ground). There's still a long road ahead, and we need to keep our heads about ourselves here, but this evening the 'Cats should be the #3 team in the nation. Oregon will scream, but it's all math; K-State only trailed Oregon by .003 points, and the combination of a poll bump from a comprehensive road win over a team held in some regard plus computer wizardry should cover that.

Klein is now on the Heisman Trophy short list, after completing 19 of his 21 pass attempts, racking up 323 yards passing, and throwing three touchdown passes. Klein added 41 yards rushing and four touchdowns on the ground. The senior quarterback now has 10 touchdown passes on the year and an additional 13 rushing touchdowns. Most importantly, Klein has the Wildcats at 7-0 with another top-25 opponent, Texas Tech, coming to Manhattan next week.