It wasn’t always pretty, but Texas took care of business over the weekend, defeating BYU 35-6  in redshirt freshman Maalik Murphy’s first start at quarterback. With sophomore starter Quinn Ewers set to miss more time with a shoulder injury, Murphy once again will look to keep the Longhorns’ playoff hopes alive in a pivotal home matchup against No. 23 Kansas State. 

While Texas leads the all-time record versus Kansas State with a 13–10 advantage, Kansas State has been a thorn in the side of the Longhorns, especially prior to 2016. From 2006 to 2012, the Wildcats had the Longhorns’ number, winning five straight contests in that span.

However, since 2016 it has been all Texas, with the Longhorns riding a current six-game win streak over Kansas State.

The Wildcats and Longhorns first squared off in 1913, when Texas shut out the Wildcats 46-0 in Austin. The universities played just three times between then and their first game as founding members of the Big 12 in 1998, resulting in a 2–1 record for the Longhorns.

Since 1998, the conference rivals have played each other 19 times, with Texas leading at 10–9. In 2022, the Longhorns secured a nailbiter in a 34-27 win behind 243 total yards from former running back Bijan Robinson and a pair of touchdowns from now-junior wideout Xavier Worthy, notably marking the second road win of head coach Steve Sarkisian’s Texas career.

Kansas State, who has appeared in the AP Top 25 for the first time since Week 3, is coming off a 41-0 beatdown of Houston, which Texas had trouble with just a week prior. The Wildcats are reigning Big 12 Champions, knocking off then-undefeated TCU for the first conference title since 2003.

The Wildcats are winless against Texas under current head coach Chris Klieman, who has gone 36–22 in his tenure since taking over in 2019. Bill Snyder, who coached prior to Klieman, is recognized as Kansas State’s greatest coach of all time, accounting for over 40% of the total wins and pulling an abysmal program out of the mud after first getting hired in 1989.

A day after Snyder retired in 2005, Kansas State announced it was changing the name of its stadium to Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium. He returned to coach the Wildcats again in 2009, coaching another nine seasons and leading Kansas State to be co-champions of the Big 12 in 2012. He retired for good following the 2018 season with 215 wins to his Kansas State career.

While Texas has had the edge recently, Kansas State has given the Longhorns trouble historically and will look to spoil Texas’ farewell tour in Austin this weekend. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST.