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Wildcats coach Bill Snyder conceded as much after his team's closer-than-it-looked 35-17 victory Saturday at No. 15 Texas.

This comeback, like the win a week earlier over Iowa State, was inspired by great defense and special teams. The defense forced six turnovers, which a sputtering offense turned into 16 points. And the special teams contributed another electrifying punt return for a touchdown by David Allen and blocked a field-goal attempt.

"I thought we were just tremendous on defense and our special teams were especially good,'' said Snyder, whose team improved to 4-0 with its 18th consecutive Big Twelve victory. "But I thought we did a pretty rotten job on the (offensive) side of the ball.''

In other words, K-State might look like a Top 10 team on paper, but on the field its offense hardly resembles one of the nation's elite teams.

But the Texas offense didn't have a great day either after it was exposed as being vulnerable to the blitz. In other words, Texas might hang around in the Top 25, but an offense capable of putting up big numbers against weak opponents like Baylor is suddenly suspect. K-State defenders came hard and often at quarterback Major Applewhite, forcing him to throw three interceptions and fumble three times.

They fired at him up the middle, through the A-gap between the center and the guard. And they came from the outside with the safety blitz, which surprised the Texas offense a bit.

"We hadn't really seen them do that,'' Applewhite said. "But it's legal,'' he added rather sardonically. "You can do that.''

Applewhite entered the game with a Texas-record streak of 136 passes without an interception, which led the nation. That ended with his third pass of the day, which wound up in the arms of Lamar Chapman. On the third play of Texas' second drive, Applewhite was blitzed and fumbled, leading to a an early 6-0 lead on a pair of field goals on a record-breaking day for K-State kicker Jamie Rheem.

If Applewhite thought he was having problems, it was even worse for K-State quarterback Adam Helm. He was hailed as a savior in last week's 35-28 win over Iowa State. But in his first career collegiate start in front of 83,082 fans at Texas Memorial Stadium, Helm turned three-and-out into an art form. In the conspicuous absence of the running game the Wildcats rely on so heavily, Helm had trouble passing the ball, finishing with one completion in five attempts before he was mercifully replaced after four series.

Major Applewhite struggles against Kansas State on Saturday. (AP)

Jonathan Beasley, who got the hook against the Cyclones, survived his own rough start to finish the game. K-State's running game was awful early, gaining zero yards on 17 first-half carries. But Beasley's quickness and his ability to throw on the run took some pressure off a ground game that finished with just 95 yards.

With Allen's 74-yard punt return, a 37-yard interception return by linebacker Mark Simoneau and a school-record five field goals by Rheem producing 27 points, Beasley's job was simply to control and protect the ball. And he did it well enough.

Undaunted by his early mistakes, Applewhite led the Longhorns to a 14-9 halftime lead. And despite his problems he managed to stay on his feet enough to complete 19 of 37 passes for 271 yards and a touchdown. It was the 16th consecutive game he surpassed 200 passing yards with at least one touchdown. And he had big plans for the game film.

"Look at it, learn from it and throw it away,'' he said. "Our offense just didn't play well. Congratulations to our defense. They played great. But if we don't turn the ball over, we win the game.''

Allen might want to keep a copy of it, though. His sprint down the right sideline untouched into the end zone with 8:47 left to play in the third quarter turned the game around and left everyone wearing the hook-'em-'horns burnt orange incredulous that Texas would even think about punting the ball in Allen's direction.

Surely Texas coaches saw Allen's 94-yard run in that second-half comeback just a week ago. Surely they knew the junior from Liberty, Mo., is the only player in NCAA history to run punts back for touchdowns in three consecutive games. Now, as they surely know, Allen shares the NCAA record of seven with Nebraska's Johnny Rodgers and Oklahoma's Jack Mitchell.

Well, they didn't mean to, Texas coach Mack Brown said when asked about the punt to Allen.

"We were trying all game to kick the ball out of bounds,'' Brown said. "But that one missed by about five yards off. Did he out-kick the coverage? I guess he did, because I didn't see any coverage.''

Like Snyder, Brown praised the defenses of both teams. Like Snyder, he's a little worried about his offense. They should be. Until they get those problems turned around, both teams are Top 25 imposters.

Game films don't lie.