{"id":70355,"date":"2024-12-24T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/?p=70355"},"modified":"2025-09-20T14:38:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T18:38:24","slug":"kansas-state-and-rutgers-face-off-in-rate-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2024\/12\/24\/kansas-state-and-rutgers-face-off-in-rate-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Kansas State and Rutgers Face Off in Rate Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kansas State and Rutgers will face off in this year\u2019s version of the Rate Bowl, formerly known as the Insight Bowl.\u00a0 Assuming most players play and not opt out, this is a solid matchup in the desert. This year\u2019s Rate Bowl is the only bowl matchup between the Big Ten<\/a> and the Big 12 conferences.\u00a0 Rutgers enters the game with more momentum, winning three of its final four games of the regular season.\u00a0 Kansas State started very well this year before slowing in the second half of the season, going 3-3 over the final six games.\u00a0 The running game will be key, with both teams boasting a top-flight runner (assuming they both suit up for the game).<\/p>\n

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano may be going back to his roots on the defensive side of the ball.\u00a0 Defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak departed Rutgers after the season to become the head coach at UMass.\u00a0 Schiano did not reveal who would be calling the defense for the Rate Bowl.\u00a0 In his Sunday presser, he noted that the situation is fluid and said \u201cWe have plenty of good coaches that can call the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kansas State (8-4) and Rutgers (7-5) Face Off in Rate Bowl<\/h2>\n

When & Where: <\/strong>Thursday, December 26th<\/sup>, 5:30 pm ET, in Phoenix, Arizona (Chase Field)<\/p>\n

Last Game\u2019s Results: <\/strong>Kansas State lost its last regular season game, 29-21 at Iowa State.\u00a0 Rutgers closed out the regular season with a win, defeating Michigan State 41-14 on the road.<\/p>\n

Regular Season Results: <\/strong>These two teams found themselves on opposite trajectories this season.\u00a0 Kansas State finished the year with a record of 8-4 and peaked at #13 in the Top 25 rankings.\u00a0 The Wildcats started at 7-1 but finished 3-3 in the final six games.\u00a0 On the other hand, Rutgers (7-5 overall) started 4-4 before going 3-1 down the home stretch.<\/p>\n

Series History: <\/strong>This is only the second time these teams will face off.\u00a0 In the 2006 Texas Bowl, Rutgers defeated Kansas State 37-10.<\/p>\n

Bowl History: <\/strong>Kanas State has played 25 bowl games, winning 11.\u00a0 The Wildcats have alternated wins and losses in their last four bowl games and won last year\u2019s Pop-Tarts Bowl 28-19 over NC State.\u00a0 Rutgers has played in 12 bowl games so far, winning seven.\u00a0 Last season, the Scarlet Knights defeated Miami 31-24 in the Pinstripe Bowl.\u00a0 This is the second time that Rutgers has played in the Rate Bowl.\u00a0 The first time, when it was still the Insight Bowl, was the first bowl game of Schiano\u2019s first tenure with the Scarlet Knights in 2005.<\/p>\n

Kansas State Takes on Rutgers in Rate Bowl: Key Players to Watch<\/h3>\n

Kansas State Running Back DJ Giddens<\/h3>\n

The Kansas State offense is fueled by its rushing attack.\u00a0 That ability to move the chains on the ground is highlighted by DJ Giddens<\/a>.\u00a0 As head coach Chris Klieman commented in his Sunday press conference, \u201cRunning the football has been our staple.\u201d\u00a0 Giddens leads the Wildcats this season, producing 1,343 yards on 205 carries, an average of just over six-and-a-half yards per carry.\u00a0 His seven touchdowns led the team, and he topped 100 yards rushing in seven of 12 games.<\/p>\n

Speaking specifically of Giddens, Klieman called him a \u201cpure every down running back.\u00a0 He\u2019s got really good hands out of the backfield.\u201d\u00a0 Catching the ball out of the backfield, Giddens is third on the team with 21 catches and 258 yards receiving and has a receiving touchdown as well.\u00a0 For his efforts this season, Giddens received second-team All-Big 12 honors.<\/p>\n

It is still to be confirmed if Giddens will suit up for the Rate Bowl.\u00a0 Assuming he does, he can have a big day against the Rutgers rushing defense.\u00a0 His ability to combine this with the ability to catch the ball out of the backfield makes him a player to watch.<\/p>\n

Rutgers Running Back Kyle Monangai<\/h3>\n

Kyle Monangai<\/a> has been a major contributor to the Rutgers offense over the past few seasons.\u00a0 He has run for 1,279 yards on 256 carries, an average of five yards per carry.\u00a0 He added 13 rushing touchdowns.\u00a0 Through the air, Monangai had 14 catches on the year, with one receiving touchdown.\u00a0 For his efforts, Monangai was rewarded with first-team All-Big Ten honors.<\/p>\n

Rutgers has produced quality running backs in recent history.\u00a0 This started with Ray Rice.\u00a0 Rice helped define the success of Schiano\u2019s first tenure at Rutgers.\u00a0 He went on to have a successful NFL career including a Super Bowl ring.\u00a0 Another strong rusher with Rutgers ties is Isaiah Pacheco.\u00a0 At Rutgers, Pacheco rushed for 2,442 yards and 18 touchdowns in four seasons.\u00a0 He has gone on to success at the NFL level, including a Super Bowl championship with the Chiefs.<\/p>\n

Monangai is likely to play in the Rate Bowl, which would not be a surprise.\u00a0 He has consistently put the team first and has been a great leader for Rutgers.\u00a0 Monangai will look to close out his college career on a high note.\u00a0 Speaking of Monangai, Schiano said, \u201cHe\u2019s an even better person than he is a football player.\u00a0 He\u2019s a great example for our program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having a first-team All-Big Ten selection in the backfield would elevate any offense.\u00a0 Monangai\u2019s ability to make plays against the Kansas State defense, which boasts Defensive Lineman of the Year and first-team All-Big 12 defensive lineman Brendan Mott<\/a>, makes him a player to watch in this game.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kansas State and Rutgers will face off in this year\u2019s version of the Rate Bowl, formerly known as the Insight Bowl.\u00a0 Assuming most players play and not opt out, this is a solid matchup in the desert. This year\u2019s Rate Bowl is the only bowl matchup between the Big Ten and the Big 12 conferences.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5172,"featured_media":70399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,5,7361,35671],"tags":[33682,7983,2956,4361,614,34540,7099,9371,588,34539,34541,455],"class_list":["post-70355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-big12","category-bigten","category-bowl-games","category-kansas-state-wildcats","tag-2024-big-12-football","tag-big-ten-football","tag-chris-klieman","tag-college-football-bowl-games","tag-greg-schiano","tag-insight-bowl","tag-isaiah-pacheco","tag-joe-harasymiak","tag-kansas-state-wildcats","tag-rate-bowl","tag-ray-rice","tag-rutgers-scarlet-knights"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70355"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70400,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70355\/revisions\/70400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}