Manhattan ? Kansas State coach Ron Prince is the first to admit that his team is far from perfect.

Sure, the Wildcats are coming off a 47-20 beatdown of Colorado on national TV. They’re in the heat of the Big 12 North race, and they even jumped back in the Top 25 a week after falling out of the rankings.

But there are still quite a few weaknesses bothering Prince and his players, most notably the team’s inability to stop the run in the last two games.

After allowing an average of 79 rushing yards during a 3-1 start, the No. 25 Wildcats (4-2 overall, 2-1 Big 12) have given up a combined 358 yards on the ground in games against Kansas and Colorado. The Buffaloes sliced their way to 188 yards Saturday, most of those coming from Hugh Charles’ career-high 171-yard effort.

“We’re not happy,” safety Marcus Watts said. “That’s something we can’t do if we want to win in this league.”

One concern has been the defense’s struggles with tackling.

Kansas running backs Jake Sharp and Brandon McAnderson, for example, repeatedly shed arm tackles on the way to 158 combined yards in the Jayhawks 30-24 win over Kansas State on Oct. 6.

The problem hasn’t been getting to the ball carriers, defensive end Ian Campbell said. It has been finishing the job once the Wildcats get a hand on them.

“When that first guy makes contact and he doesn’t bring him down, they’re getting those yards after contact,” Campbell said. “That’s three or four more yards after the two or three they already may have gotten. Do that all game and that’s first downs.”

Last week, Charles found a lot of open space in the middle of the field, breaking five runs of 17 yards or more.

Prince said the open holes against Colorado were partly a product of the game plan. The Wildcats were committed to shutting down the big play on the outside. In turn, they were forced to sacrifice some of their presence in the middle, resulting in the long rushes for Charles.

“There was a way that we were going to have to win the game, and it was going to be giving up some yards,” Prince said.