3. Kansas State at TCU
LINE: TCU -8.5
ATS PICK: Kansas State
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Skylar Thompson is a gamer’s gamer, but the Kansas State starting quarterback is extremely questionable – that should be a injury report designation – against TCU after suffering an arm injury in the 31-21 win over Texas Tech. Freshman Will Howard stepped in and was fine – he hit some big shots and a touchdown pass – but isn’t Thompson.
While all that was happening, TCU dropkicked Texas with a brilliant 33-31 win as QB Max Duggan showed off why his star is rising.
However, it’s not like the Horned Frogs stuffed the Longhorns. They played well and they pulled off the win, but Kansas State knows a little something about gutting out good victories over brand-name programs, beating Oklahoma earlier in the year.
Kansas State hasn’t quite hit its stride when it comes to controlling the clock, converting on third downs, and doing all the little things the program normally does, however …
It leads the nation in turnover margin, the special teams are fantastic, and – Howard is a part of this – it leads the Big 12 in yards per completion. It might lose this – and probably will – but it’s getting a whole lot of points just because of Thompson.
TCU was able to beat both Texas and Kansas last year by more than 8.5, but those were the only two times that happened in the last 21 Big 12 games.