K-State coach Bill Snyder calls out kick returner after costly fumble against TCU

It’s been a rough season for Kansas State and coach Bill Snyder.

The Wildcats fell to 3-6 on the season with a 14-13 loss at TCU on Saturday. The margin of victory was courtesy of a missed extra point in the fourth quarter by KSU kicker Blake Lynch and TCU’s first touchdown of the game came after a fumbled punt return.

TCU was forced to punt on its first possession of the game. Isaiah Zuber fumbled the punt and the Horned Frogs recovered. Four plays later, TCU was in the end zone.

Snyder was asked about the special teams after the loss. He decided to single out Zuber rather than take collective blame.

“It wasn’t special teams as much as it was an individual,” Snyder said. “You take away the turnover that gave the winning touchdown and we’re talking about a different thing right now.”

That’s extremely harsh, especially for a touchdown that came in the opening minutes of the game. Kansas State had plenty of time to recover from it and could not. It’s not like Zuber fumbled a punt inside of two minutes and TCU kicked a game-winning field goal.

Snyder is the man who made Kansas State football relevant and, at 78, deserves the chance to go out on his own terms. But with his team facing the prospect of no bowl game unless it wins its final three games and the coach making comments like this on top of a previously reported internal power struggle over who should start at quarterback, perhaps the time for Kansas State to get a new coach is getting very near.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

Follow @NickBromberg on Twitter

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