K-State out to snap 2-game skid as Cincinnati comes to town trying to reach bowl eligibility

Cincinnati (5-5, 3-4 Big 12) at Kansas State (7-3, 4-3), Saturday, 8 p.m. EST (ESPN2)

BetMGM College Football Odds: Kansas State by 8 1/2.

Series record: Cincinnati leads 4-2.

What’s at stake?

Kansas State is desperate to snap a two-game losing streak when it takes on Cincinnati, which still needs to win one of its final two games to achieve bowl eligibility. The Wildcats blew a nine-point fourth-quarter lead at Houston before turning the ball over three times and fumbling the snap on two field-goal attempts in a home loss to Arizona State last week. Those two losses dropped them off the pace of Big 12 championship game contention.

Key matchup

Kansas State QB Avery Johnson against the Cincinnati defense. Johnson has struggled in back-to-back games, getting thoroughly out-played last week by Arizona State's Sam Leavitt. The Wildcats would like to see the dual-threat QB use his legs more, especially in the red zone, and that should put more pressure on a Bearcats defense that has allowed at least 31 points each of the past three games.

Players to watch

Cincinnati: QB Brendan Sorsby, who threw for 426 yards in a shootout with Texas Tech, was held to just 66 yards passing by Iowa State last week. He compensated for the meager production through the air with 141 yards rushing and a touchdown.

Kansas State: RB DJ Giddens ran just 14 times for 133 yards last week against Arizona State, though the numbers are a bit misleading. Many of them came late in the game, when the Sun Devils went to prevent-style defenses to hang onto their lead, giving Giddens more room to break a few long runs.

Facts & figures

The schools have only met six times, the last a 35-0 win by Kansas State at home on Sept. 9, 1996. ... The Bearcats can become bowl-eligible for the sixth time in seven seasons. ... Cincinnati RB Corey Kiner ran for 120 yards last week at Iowa State. He has 2,312 for his career, moving into ninth in school history. ... Bearcats LB Jared Bartlett has 7 1/2 sacks to rank second in the Big 12. ... Giddens moved into ninth in school history with 3,512 all-purpose yards last week. He has 2,872 yards rushing to rank fourth. ... Kansas State was shut out by the Sun Devils in the first half last week. It was the first time getting shut out in any half since 2022 against TCU.

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The Associated Press